Unités d'Elite

Without any real success or box office backing Curtis "50" Cent Jackson has still managed to churn out a film career, with most of in straight to video action films. This time though he has aligned himself with some big star power in the form of Robert DeNiro and Forest Whitaker, but is it enough to deliver that extra punch to step this cop thriller or will it just be another forgettable addition to the genre?

Freelancers follow a young cop who joins in with a group of rogue cops led by his father's ex-partner. When the truth about his father's death is revealed it pushes him to finally make sure justice is served. This isn't a bad movie, but it isn't anything different than every other cop movie that has come along over the years. Jackson does a decent job here, but just doesn't have the chops to really sell the emotional aspect of the character. He works well for the action, but as soon as he has to deliver some sort of emotion it just comes off non-existent. Whitaker and DeNiro both pretty much phone this one in, but thanks to their amazing talent still manage to deliver some interesting characters. The story is pretty straight forward, but wants to try and deliver twists and turns where it is pretty obvious as to where it is all headed. In addition there are some aspects of the story that just come off a bit unbelievable in the system. There's some decent action moments here but nothing that really stands out to help push this along.

Overall this is a pretty generic delivery into the cop thriller, but thanks to the star power behind it at least feels a bit bigger than the straight to video release it got. If you are a fan of this genre or any of those involved give it a try, just don't expect anything all that new or original.

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This movie is an overall quite entertaining and mostly fast paced action thriller that though lacks of depth. The story simply features too many stereotypes and is therefor sometimes even mildly amusing even if this surely wasn't the intention of the makers of this b-movie.

The film is about three crooks that get out of prison and get to work in the corrupt New York City Police Department. Soon, they get involved in the local crime scene and must learn how to survive in tough circumstances where nobody's left whom they can trust in. At the same time, the main character portrayed by a weak but not completely bad Curtis James Jackson III wants to resolve the secret of his father's assassination that he witnessed as a child.

The problem with this movie is that it almost has no clear guiding line and some events happen without any logical reason whatsoever. Sometimes, the characters rapidly change their moods and appear almost schizophrenic which is very odd. Apart of a slightly stronger and even quite entertaining ending, at least three quarters of the movie go straight to nowhere or are highly predictable. Most of the actors and especially the cop roles are simply not credible at all and even happen to be quite ridiculous. Sometimes, the movie just feels like a longer 50 Cent video clip with senseless violence, gratuitous sex, a very minimalistic story line and some cameo appearances by a couple of good actors such as the strong Robert De Niro or the now deceased and surprisingly convincing actor Pedro Armendáriz Junior where one ends up asking oneself why these gifted guys are starring in such a bad movie.

In the end, there isn't much interest in watching this film. Especially the story is quite random and predictable. The low budget flick features almost more shots of nocturnal New York City every ten minutes that are taken from a plain than gripping action or suspense scenes. The only reason to watch this flick are the solid appearances of Robert De Niro as well as Pedro Armendáriz Junior or if you simply are a big fan of 50 Cent. Objectively seen, his acting is of a rather average quality and lacks of emotion and quality but he surely has a quite cool image and mostly promotes himself and his music in this movie. You can grab this flick at a cheap price for a loan if you have not much else to do and want to switch your brain off for one hour and a half but apart of that there definitely isn't much in this.

OK for a Saturday evening film, when the washing up is done and all quiet in the house, this will keep you fit as you slide into a deep sleep without the aid of a milky drink and a chocie biscuit. Firstly Mr whitaker looks decidedly lost in this film not a role for the Last King of Scotland more like Mc duff! De Niro just there for the money and film credits (he has done 163 now) and Mr 50p made a good effort, he hit most of his marks and looked slightly interested in the unfolding story, but his facial expressions changing every 17.6 became most annoying put me off taking him to serious as a lead role (has he got some form of Palsy? in that case he did well)

Story was the same as previous stories, the only difference they were told better and with more conviction from the characters (yes Vinnie i mean you). Best part of the film, as when i got up to search for some more washing up. all work and no play.

OK, I recognized a few names in this movie: Robert De Niro, Forrest Whittaker, Dana Delaney, and 50 Cent. Based on the aforementioned names, I rented this movie. The bottom line is I got duped. The movie is below-average in every aspect:screenplay, acting,and directing. Basically, the whole film feels generic and half-assed. What is surprising is that the characters are all superficial and one-dimensional. This is to be expected from the likes of 50 Cent and some of the supporting characters, but from Robert De Niro and even Forrest Whittaker, it is incomprehensible.

In the past, the name Robert De Niro would have conjured up memories of incredible movies from the 70's and 80's such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Godfather 2,Mean Streets, The Deer Hunter, etc. However, Robert De Niro has not made a quality film in almost a decade. What happened? Has wealth and fame completely enervated his passion for acting?

Very Disappointing.

The strength of this film is found in the secondary cast who support a film with pretentions but whose main weakness is the lack of charm and dramatic capacity of Curtis Jackson. When someone is good at something they will always be and that is perfectly visible in people like Whitaker, De Niro or Pedro Armendáriz Jr. Who had his swan song in this film. With tense and well-directed moments, the film's tone tends to fade at the end, where the entire weight of the film falls on Jackson, who is very limited to carry out a script that he could and should have been better. If it weren't for the secondaries it would be a bad movie.