At the start of The Bag Man, you get excited to see Cusack returning to his hit-man- persona ala Grosse Point Blank. Unfortunately, the film is nowhere near the caliber it should be. This is a film that rolls in dread and tries to put a Tarantino-esque spin on an age old storyline, needless to say, it doesn't work. As you watch the film and get further into the story, the central question of "what's in the bag" becomes less and less interesting and appealing. Despite a flat story, The Bag Man features strong performances from John Cusack and Rebecca De Costa which keeps the audience intrigued, even if the story doesn't. Robert De Niro can play a gangster in his sleep, so I can't exactly praise him for his performance here. Although, it is Robert De Niro so any screen presence he has is still good, just not as good as everybody wants him to be. The rest of the supporting cast, such as Crispin Glover and Dominic Purcell are mediocre, at best.
Overall, this film doesn't quite work the way we want it to. It sags in the middle and then gets a pick-me-up at the end. It doesn't click like it should, which is frustrating considering the talent behind the film. The Bag Man wants to be the best Tarantino movie that Tarantino never made. Instead, it looks and feels like a cheap direct-to-DVD mess with an A-list cast.
