"A Man Apart" review

A Man Apart (2003)

Directed by F. Gary Gray
Writing credits Christian Gudegast Paul Scheuring

Vin Diesel .... Sean Vetter
Larenz Tate .... Demetrius Hicks
Timothy Olyphant .... Hollywood Jack
Geno Silva .... Memo Lucero
Jacqueline Obradors ....Stacy Vetter

It was so close. The crowd was cheering. They were on their feet chanting: Go Diesel Go! The game was in reach. But there was a tragedy. Vin Diesel fumbled the ball on the 1 yard line. The crowd is dejected.

"A Man Apart" was a classic Steven Seagal formula flick from about 1987-1990. A cop on the edge. A wife who was even closer to the edge because she had the audacity to marry this cop. The violent death of a close family member which gives an unemotional man the chance to get in touch with his feelings and blow some lowlifes away. The formula was there. The violence was there. There were some good shootout scenes. But Vin Diesel and Co. did not understand the proper way to end a revenge movie.

*SPOILER ON ENDING* *READ NO FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO SEE THIS FLICK*

OK, so Vin Diesel is tracking down the dirtbags who killed his wife. He's breaking laws and busting skulls. I was enjoying myself. So he tracks his nemesis to Mexico. There he is. It's Diesel vs. cartel drug dealer. The man who ordered his wife's death! The man he's been searching for through the entire flick! The main man's goon squad is all around him too. So what does Diesel do? He has this lowlife arrested?!!! What was the point!? What was the point of working outside the law to track him down just to turn around and be a cop again? AAAAAHHHH!! Weak! Foul! Fumble! You call this revenge? Diesel's wife is spinning in her grave!

If Steven Seagal, (late 80's version), was in Diesel's shoes, he would have driven a jeep through the middle of the restaurant, shot everyone there and then broken the big bad guy's arm, shot him and thrown him down a well. HEY! Put revenge in your revenge flick! What does it mean to shoot a cop's wife nowadays? Oh wow. Drug dealer goes back to prison. That'll show him. Yeeaaah.

SCORE: 1.5 out of 4 slacking Diesels