Avenger

This is a story we would all like to live, if not then you do not live in the "real world". We all want to get even with the person that did us wrong, the only problem is we would never get away with this. We would all like too but we can not. We all have dreamed of getting back at a friend/neighbor or ex and we try and think about the ultimate revenge but this is the best that it can be. I guess we can dream. Maybe some day we can all try and make a statement that this film makes until then have a great life and think about how you all treat people, cause if you treat someone wrong you maybe be avenged, then maybe Sam Elliot may visit you.

I liked it. Sure it was kinda silly and certainly flawed but it entertained me for 2 hours. Mostly this is due to Sam Elliot; always a compelling screen presence. The first half of the movie pulled me in and seemed somewhat believable. Then there was the second half. Like the part with the pilot and how carelessly Dexter endangers her. That was a total amateur move and at odds with his previously established professionalism. This is when the movie started going off the rails for me. That and the cartoonishly evil senator willingly to do whatever it takes to complete Project Whatchamacallit. Then the ending, again Dexter displays amateurism and was lucky, ridiculously lucky, to get away with what he did. But, then again, stuff blew up real good. Hey, it was an entertaining enough flick and if it ever turns into a TV series I'll watch it, but then again I used to watch MacGuyver.

I read the book twice. It is very well written as are most of Frederick Forsyth's books. When I heard the movie was out, I made a special effort to watch it. What a disappointment. This made-for-TV movie deviates in many details from the book. Of course it is not unusual for a screen play to deviate from the book it is based upon. However, in my opinion, there was no need to have this screenplay deviate from Forsyth's book. The location and description of the "home" of the bad guy is gutted in the movie. The scenes where the bad guy is brought to task are a sad parody of the book. The "secret" that is revealed at the end of the book was omitted in the movie, which means the whole use of the "secret" becomes a disconnect. And, as much as I like Sam Elliot as an actor, in this case the part of Cal Dexter was seriously miscast. I will not bother to watch this movie again. My recommendation: read the book and skip this movie.

You can see it is a television movie. There is not much quality to it. They didn't put a lot of effort making this movie. Maybe with a higher budget the movie could have been better. You could do something decent with the story, even though it's one of those typical I'm-a-good-guy-with-a-conscience-and-take-all-the-bad-guys-down-by-myself. It's a revenge action movie, but one without a budget, and I'm sorry to say not great acting. Sam Elliott has been better in other movies but in this one it's all cliché and average. It's clearly been made to entertain a television public on a rainy day. It's watchable but that's about it. I would rather pick another movie if you haven't seen this one. I'm sure you can find better without having to search too far.

I am actually not surprised that some people liked this movie, it's the same thing with the junk food, the more you eat it, the more you want it. The same principle applies here, and there will be some happy customers at the end. So, if you like generic, mindless movies, where unbelievable characters do unbelievable things, you'll like this movie. The premise of the movie is something that was recycled many times over. Forsyth is considered to be one of the most popular authors. However, being popular does not make you a good writer. Even in the 'Jackal', his much acclaimed book, the characters of the OAS are portrayed in a flat, one dimensional manner (you keep wandering why there are people who are willing to sacrifice themselves for a such a cause), but this was (mercifully) not the focal point of that story, and it did not stick out that much. (>>>This part may contain spoilers<<<) The 'Avenger', on the other hand, is focused on such a premise, and we learn very little about the main character and nothing about the main villain, or his fight, except that he is a psychopathic killer (together with his fellow Serbs, a fact speaking how much generic the script is). Forsyth uses the stereotypes left and right, to the point that there is no single original part in his story - first, you have a strong silent hero, who actually might be a hidden psychopath himself (considering his Vietnam past), played by Sam Elliott. Sam Elliott is a lovable actor, a perfect cowboy, but here he does not belong (least because he is over 60 and walks like he needs a hip replacement). His daughter is killed by a foreigner, who happens to be a Panamanian serial killer (because Americans are not capable of such crimes, or because we would relate in an unexpected way to an American serial killer? - no, in Forsyth's lack of imagination, this was a way to show a man beyond the reach of justice). Sam is out to avenge a man killed in Bosnia together with his girlfriend by psycho-killer Serbs (incidentally, there were also six children killed during the same incident, because this is how many children Serbs need to kill in order to be hated?). The girlfriend happens to share the last name with the former president of Croatia, showing the depth of the source of Forsyth's information ("the research", says Forsyth, 'there I was one day sitting in my living room, drinking tea and reading the newspapers, and bam!, there it was, in front of me, my new book!'). The plot never thickens, and the sequence of predictable events follows. The directing is mediocre and did not help in improving the experience (one of the most annoying things were the flashbacks with a 'whoooosh' sound). The action scenes are done without much thought or skill (first fight with the guard who actually ambushes the main character would be, in normal life, the end of the story). In all honesty, there are some bright moments - the CIA director, portrayed by James Cromwell was one of them. If somebody told me that he is, indeed, a CIA director, I might believe. He became an archetypal chief of a governmental institution and he is good at it. Timothy Hutton repeats his role from the 'Nero Wolfe Mystery', but with the sinister twist - that is, he twists arms here. Not enough for me to like the move, or even get close to it. On a good day, I would give it 3/10. But this is not my good day, and Mr.Smith gives it 2/10...