Verdetto finale

Wow, just wow. Kind of left me speechless once I got to the end. Okay... here goes. This is an unintentionally fun and entertaining film. Surprisingly brutal kills in this, but at the same time ridiculous. This is also a film where suspending your disbelief is a must. I think the entire production were probably on the same drugs that Denzel's character was forced into. They all sat around, high as a kite, and attempted a discussion on how this movie should be made, probably sounded great at the time, but was just gibberish. Honestly, Denzel and John lithgow were pretty much carrying this film, because the story was just insane. All that being said, I still got so much entertainment from this. Laughed so many times, shocked they actually went everywhere with this film. This isn't for everyone, but if you go into this with the right expectation, you'll come out liking it.

Early in the movie there was a discourse between Nick Styles (Denzel Washington) and Odessa (Ice-T) that was a prelude to Denzel Washington in his Oscar role in Training Day. Seeing that was very exciting. Now, unfortunately, the rest of the movie wouldn't be on the level of Training Day but it was still good.

Earl Talbot Blake (John Lithgow) was put behind bars in 1984 by Officer Nick Styles. From that day until Blake was able to secure his release in 1991 he'd been planning his revenge. The revenge was well coordinated and pretty much flawless. A little too flawless.

I appreciated Blake's commitment, preparation, and execution. It was a creative plan he authored to not simply kill Styles, but to destroy his life. But the plan was so grandiose and so elaborate that it defied all reason and feasibility. As I've mentioned in other reviews: elaborate plans that rely on so many moving parts and rely upon predicting the precise actions of another human being are just too far-fetched and unrealistic for me to swallow.

Still, even with that aspect and flaw I thought the movie was good. It offered action, a decent plot, and of course good acting from Washington and Lithgow. Washington was the suave, upwardly mobile cop turned DA while Lithgow was the seething psychopathic megalomaniac with a burning desire to destroy his enemy. They were an excellent mesh.

It's so bad, it's good? I don't even know how to explain the absurdity going on in this movie. From the power guy/bad guy having cake with the babysitter to everyone believing a dubbed video of the protagonist passed out screwing a hooker is real. Everyone close to him IMMEDIATELY turning on him for absolutely no reason whatsoever to god knows what because I haven't even finished this train wreck. I don't know if someone really wrote the most terrible script in the world or half this movie got left on the editing room floor. God it's bad.

This is a typical Denzel Washington film: well-acted, rough language, a racial theme and an involved story that holds your interest. A lot of his movies fit those categories.

Washington plays a preacher's kid and its nice to see he has such respect for him.So many times, Hollywood portrays fathers and especially clergymen in a bad light. John Lithgow is the villain and is such a crazy over-the-top loon he's fun to watch. There are no lulls in this story, yet the action scenes weren't overdone.

It gets predictable in the end but I like the analogy in the film to the classic movie, "White Heat."

I was sorry to see a few things: once again, white people are all the bigots; Lindsay Wagner, television's nice lady of the past, now using very profane language here and looking hard.

Overall, this sometimes looks like a "B" action film more than a classy one but it's still an interesting crime film that sports a few different angles. It may not be one of Washington's better-known efforts, \but it is still entertaining.

A rookie cop becomes a media sensation after a video camera captures him shooting and capturing a psycho killer. The handsome, smooth talking cop becomes a celebrated district attorney and even potential political candidate. He now has a beautiful wife and two great kids.

Meanwhile the psycho killer follows his career from prison, seething with hatred, eventually to make a bloody break from prison, fake his own death, then begin a systematic attempt to ruin the D.A.'s life by a series of incidents in which people, including his own wife, will question his sanity. The D.A. will soon be on the run from the law, having to team with old street gang members in order to clear himself.

Denzel Washington is the cop/D.A. and John Lithgow, incredibly, the psycho killer who seemingly can't be stopped. Lithgow even has a mortal combat sequence with Jesse "The Body" Ventura in which he is the quite easy victor. Really? Lithgow besting Ventura mano a mano? Ice T plays the chief gang member.

This film starts well enough but becomes increasingly over the top as it proceeds and then, well, just plain dumb. Action fans who just want to go on a free wheeling ride and don't care about logic may enjoy it while others may be turned off by a film that becomes pretty hysterical in its presentation, particularly the climax with television cameras there to record all the action.

In the prison Lithgow has a cell wall covered with photos of Washington, a reflection of his clear obsession with him. But prison authorities don't seem to care. What kind of prison is this? His combat scene with Ventura, with all inmates cheering them on, continues for three or four minutes. No prison guards around to stop them? What kind of prison is this? When a prison break is made power tools are used as weapons, including a power saw for one spectacular way for a uniformed guard to die. What kind of prison is this? Washington's power as an actor comes through sporadically but he can't make the material seem any better. There are a couple of scenes in which he is stripped down to show how semi beef cakey he was at the time. There is also a moment, to show what kind of film Ricochet is, in which one character has a spectacular fall, landing on a spike which rips through his body.

Washington's deadpan response, "You get the point now, don't you?" It's a cheap jokey cringe worthy moment, reminiscent of Sean Connery's 007.