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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:	1999
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Brian Helgeland
Genre:	Revenge thriller
Starring:	Mel Gibson
Rating:	3/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120784/
Tagline:	No More Mr. Nice Guy
Favourite line:	"Crooked cops. Do they come any other way? If I'd been just a little dumber, I could have joined the force myself."

Humdrum, by the numbers action thriller which attempts to make more of itself than it actually is by utilising some less than subtle film noir leanings.
Set in Chigago, that most atmospheric of American cities, this sees Mad Mel playing an ex US Marine turned bad, attempting to exact vengeance against a fellow hood who ripped him off, shot him and stole his girl.
Bad move.
Especially when Gibson lives through the shotting, and comes back to town to claim the money he is owed.

Gibson plays his usual self, and his is a reasonable turn, but it's the script that really lets this down. Never quit knwoing whether to be darkly comic or sadistically over the top, this flaps between the two, achieving neither.
There's a good cast on show, with cameos from luminaries Kris Kristofferson and James Coburn, as well as sado-masochistic seductress Lucy Liu (yummy).
Enjoyable enough fodder, but I'd only watch it the once.