Damaged

I couldn't say why the writers wanted Samuel L Jackson in Scotland. Possibly Gianni Capaldi, one of the three writers and co-star, simply wanted to meet him.

A local Scottish detective (Capaldi) has a US cop (Jackson) help with a case due to the similarity of some murders in the States. He then enlists the help of a Frenchman (Cassel) and former colleague who happens to be in London and the unlikely trio attempt to solve the mystery as more murders occur.

The premise is implausible. Jackson phones in his performance. Foreboding moments are neon signs. The twists and ending are unsatisfying.

There are a couple of good performances from Laura Haddock and Kate Dickie as the wife of the Scottish detective and detective Kessler respectively but they by no means lift the film above average.

It really was an unsatisfying conclusion. In itself the reason for the review.

I had to see this movie, because it featured two of my favorite actors, Samuel L Jackson and Vincent Cassel, but what disappointment it all turned out to be...

The bad: this movie was cheaply made and it shows! Everything from photography to sound and supporting actors looks and is mediocre. The only good thing going for it are these 2 stellar actors, but even they cant elevate a cheaply made product into something worht watching.

More bad: there is NO real supsense or thrill. And that is the whole point of this sort of movie. It should have been exciting, but it turned into quite a sleeping pill. And what's with Vincent Cassel trying to talk English? Kinda cringeworthy...

So with me being the movie person that I am I thought I was going to enjoy this way more then I actually did. The problem is any movie person has seen this story before so many times prior. I dried out alcoholic cop that is great at their job, but not reaching their full potential because of the alcohol and some life issue that is causing them to be miserable. This story is no different. A cop from Chicago is now in Europe working. He's very good at his job but the story doesn't really seem to care. The film is just ok. It's like watching a made for TV movie. It's just ok. I don't think I would recommend or view again.

Movie in English and modern times, set in Scotland, but apart from the establishing shots, it's not possible to confirm location by watching the movie.

Plot: Unlikely investigation of Chicago police office being transfered to "Scotland" to conclude an investigation into a grisly serial killer who's kill signature follows through to Scotland.

What new in the movie genre is the slow burn on the plot. Well sit back, this one takes slow burn to new heights. The Scottish detective stumbles along and draqs the viewer with him and a yawn fest.

The resolve is as unsatisfying as the logic and missed clues pepering the movie. Jackon's performance is way below the standard we hold for him, and it does put a dissappointing stamp on a dissappointing outing.

I think the storyline could actually have been made into a decent movie but in the end they managed to produce one of the worse movies I have ever seen. I normally do a good job of managing to avoid really bad movies by I was lured in by the Aish list cast and the synopsis and ended up watching this without looking at IMDB first. I started off wondering why a Scottish policeman carried around a gun but by the end, the direction and the editing had been so poor that in the end I didn't care what happened. I did manage to guess who the baddy was but only because it couldn't really have been anyone else.