Sacrifice

Was there anyone really clamoring for a reuniting of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Christian Slater, especially considering their previous team-up ("Lies & Illusions") was one of the worst direct-to-DVD movies of recent years? To make matters worse, this production is not only Canadian, but it's written and directed by one of Canada's worst filmmakers (Damian Lee). To be fair, the end results are somewhat better than "Lies & Illusions". For a cheap Canadian movie, the visual look of the movie is slicker and more expensive-looking that you might think. And it's nice to see a Canadian movie actually set in Canada (though at times the movie seems reluctant to admit that fact.) But overall, the movie is very forgettable. The combination of Lee's bad direction and inadequate screenplay make a number of moments in the movie somewhat incoherent. Gooding's performance is nothing special, and Slater is unconvincing and unintentionally amusing playing a priest. The movie isn't aggressively bad, but it creeps along at a sluggish pace because there simply isn't enough story here.

Come on, Cuba and Christian! I know you've screwed up your careers enough to be now stuck in direct-to-DVD productions, but surely you could still find better scripts than this! Sure, I know you have bills to pay, but you could at least volunteer your services for a great director's independent film between making schlock like this.

The plot: A cop on the edge tries to protect an informant and his young sister after they turn on a dangerous drug lord.

Cuba Gooding, Jr, Christian Slater, and Kim Coates have been making direct-to-video action movies for a while now. Although none of them have reached the rock-bottom depths of Michael Madsen's career, it's still kind of depressing to see them toiling in such derivative, low budget B movies. This is the first time that I've seen any of these fine actors actually take on a project that seems more appropriate for Michael Madsen.

If anyone in the world is the proper demographic for these kinds of movies, it's me. I have a fondness of gritty, low budget exploitation, and I'm capable of lowering my standards to levels that most people find intolerable. I don't care overmuch about budgets, I'm fairly forgiving of plot holes, and I don't mind a bit of bad acting or bad special effects. However, movies like Sacrifice test even my patience. This is not the kind of movie that's going to give Christian Slater or Cuba Gooding, Jr a comeback. In fact, it's just going to reinforce their "has-been" status.

I know that most people don't like Cuba Gooding, Jr's recent output, but I thought some of them were quite underrated. Shadowboxer, for example, was a good movie. Hero Wanted was flawed, but it was certainly enjoyable enough for a direct-to-video release. Sacrifice makes Hero Wanted look like pure genius. I'm beginning to think that Cuba Gooding, Jr has simply given up, and he doesn't even care any more.

Sacrifice is for Cuba Gooding, Jr die-hards only. If you have a strong tolerance for B movies, you'll probably find it tolerable, but the only real draw are the B-list leads, who are rapidly falling down into the C-list territory.

Sacrifice has a pretty solid story going for it. A haunted cop befriends a priest at a local church all while dealing with his next case. The story takes off with a drug dealer who wants out and is denied that option, so he steals a statue filled with drugs and hides it in a local church. Now the dealers are after him and Cuba Gooding Jr must protect the dealers little sister.

The direction shines in parts and in other parts it seems very dull. Without going into much detail of the story, the film could have been much better with different music and more solid editing. The film is edited as if it is a TV movie.

Pros: Solid Perormances from Cuba Gooding Jr, Christian Slater, Devon Bostick, and Kim Coates.

Good Ending Shootouts and very good emotional ties between characters.

Cons: The editing, it really hurts the films. The music does not fit and is quite cheap. Some supporting players are very bad in their performances as well. The statistics in the opening and end credits are boring and take away from the story.

All in all its fairly entertaining especially in the last 20 minutes, but editing may make you cringe in spots.

Wow, what a trainwreck. Where to begin...I suppose by this time you have more than recognized Cuba's downward spiral but teaming him up with Slater is an even more embarrassing turn for both actors. Slater has been pawning off his creepy yet campy style for years now and occasionally pulls of an entertaining performance (Dolan's Cadallac, He was a quiet man), but here he just swims in the dreck. Horribly miscast as a priest, he can do little more but smirk at the camera and look at his shoes. Devon Bostik is laughable as a drug dealer - I mean really, Wimpy's kid's big brother is now a tough guy? Just a total mess and a shame for all involved. I had hopes that Cuba would rebound at some point, but he seems determine to join Wesley and Steven Seagal in the DTV "worst of" series. Seriously, don't waste your time or money on this, bad bad bad.

I am always interested in a Cuba Gooding Jr. movie, as his personality can carry even crappy plots. I feel bad for Cuba as the last few films he has made have been TV movie dramas at best.

This movie is no exception as the film work and writing are slow and dull. Though there were a few good scenes, such as the scene when Cuba visits the snake man.

I would advise against watching this movie, it is a drama/action film, but is missing the action and drama to keep you interested beyond the first 20-minutes.

Though I was able to watch the entire thing, I do feel it was overall a waste of time and I wish I had not seen this film.

It reminds me of a late night HBO rerun movie that you might watch if you have nothing else to do, and even then you probably won't walk away from the film even remembering that you saw it or anything interesting in it.

Though I love Cuba's acting, and I hope he hits a few more home runs in his career, this is not one of them.