L'ombre blanche

This movie is actually the proof that all you need to make a movie in Hollywood is a lot of unnecessary stupid action and a good ending story about 2 cops lynching bad guys. All 2 women in this movie that have a line other than 'aaaah', are dumb and over-sensitive. A few scenes that illustrate the originality of the script writers: bad guys in a car chase end up underneath a fuel truck, which explodes in a sea of fire... good guy falls out of a window, but can hold on to a ridge... cop:'do you know the doctor?' - girl: 'I don't need a shrink' - cop:'I never said he was a psychiater'...

Another aspect is the morality in this flick. On the one hand smokers are being prevented from lighting a cigarette, but on the other hand a cop can shoot someone in foot and hand during an interrogation. Of course this reflects the all-american point of view on the world: if you think someone is bad, you can beat the hell out of that person, without thinking twice.

Anyway, I know this movie might be fun for 80% of the American population, but I'm pretty sure this movie went 'straight to video' in Europe!

A cop with an attitude is partnered up with a new-age cop with a shady past and amazing martial arts skills, to investigate a serial killer who crucifies his victims. Campbell sees it as a fairly straightforward case of a religious nut obeying orders from God; but Cole sees something else in some of the murders– a sense of purpose and order that hints at a bigger plot. Going back to his handler at the CIA gets him nowhere but brings him to the attention of Frank Deverell and the Russian mafia. With so many people gunning for them, can Campbell and Cole stay alive long enough to get to the bottom of it? Although any film that contains both Seagal and a Wayans brother will hardly be an easy sell to me, I still decided to give this film a stab because I do like a solid action movie every now and again. Plot wise this film is about as weak as I had expected with a messy narrative that never really convinces and just seems like a couple of half-baked ideas crammed into one story with little concern with logical linkage or development. The hope seems to have been that enough action and energy would stop us seeing the holes – sadly this doesn't work. The film has enough action to be worth watching but it isn't really anything special, although fans of Seagal will be used to this consistent standard.

The cast are just as average as you would expect. Seagal delivers everything with a total lack of emotion that is explained away by him being a totally calm Buddhist, as opposed to him just not being a very good actor. Physically he is pretty good here and his fight scenes do actually show a man with skill (as opposed to the out of shape man we have been shown almost waddling recently). Wayans tries to be a tough comic relief but his performances just reinforces the feeling of this being a formulaic mismatched cop movie; even if he is impressive in some of his action scenes as well. Neither of them are that good but they are certainly no worse than a lot of the reluctant buddy cops movies out there. The support cast should have been better but people like Gunton, Cox and Tobolowsky just sink into the mess rather than helping to raise it.

Overall this is a watchable "Friday night" style thriller that you will quite enjoy if all you want is watchable action surrounded by messy and clichéd plotting and delivery with "par for the course" acting. If you are after anything more than this then you'll be sorely disappointed as this is a weak film with an unimaginative plot, poor performances and only just enough action to be watchable if you're in an undemanding mood.

A not so good action thriller because it unsuccessfully trends the same water as early Steven Seagal films because there is not a very good set piece. Steven Seagal plays the same kind of character that he has played since Above the Law. In my opinion the performance of Keenen Ivory Wayans is wasted in such an average film and belongs in a much better film. Bob Gunton is okay as the main heavy. The best acting in the entire film belongs to Brian Cox who is very frightening in the role of the murderer. My favorite scenes are the fight scenes with the Russian mafia. One of the film reasons to see The Glimmer Man(1996) is for the brief appearence of the beautiful and voluptupus Nikki Cox. Its too bad that there were not more scenes with her in them.

It was here the trend of Seagal starring in more economically budgeted movies with drab scripts that seriously lacked action. (And that were never screened for the critics!) Though the fight sequences here aren't has badly done as in his subsequent movies (the editing is less frenzic), they are few and far between. As a result, action fans will really be bored, especially since the story is so drab, despite it involving a serial killer who's especially sadistic. New twists to the story only occasionally come, and they are usually so murky that eventually the viewers will be confused as to who is doing what (and why.)

Seagal and Wayans never quite generate the necessary chemistry, despite the fact that their characters are opposed in their views and practices. Although they occasionally have some mildly amusing dialogue, the level of dialogue is generally bad, sometimes mind-bogglingly so.

It's easy to see why this didn't do much at the box office, and why Seagal increasingly became frustrated with Warner Brothers, eventually leaving them. (Though he returned for EXIT WOUNDS for some reason.) Seagal needs to not only stop playing the same basic character in each of his movies, but stop choosing scripts that recycle the same basic elements we see in almost every one of his movies. If he does that, there is a possibility he could remove the stigma of being a glorified "B" movie actor.

in my opinion this is one of Steven Seagal's better films,due in large part to having Keenan Ivory Wayans as a co star.they have good chemistry together.it's also one of his darkest films,at least of those i have seen to date.but there some funny moments to balance things out,comic relief,if you will.the fighting scenes are pretty are good,and as brutal as usual for a Seagal flick.you won't really find much new here,but if you're a Seagal fan,or a fan of the genre,this should keep you satisfied for the most part.by now,with Steven Seagal,you know what you're getting,or at least you should know.i was entertained for around 90 minutes or so.for me,The Glimmer Man is a 7/10