Shooter and Where it Leads

I went to the movies today. That's something I don't do very often... go to the movie. I was hoping to see Grindhousethe newest Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodeiquez "double feature." I have a thing for movies of this nature. Strange and off beat. I also like "exploitation" films, too and this kind of fits in that category, I think, but, darn the luck-- Grindhouse wasn't shown until four o'clock and I didn't feel like waiting around. So, I decided to give The Shooter a try. I didn't know much about it, but I'd seen the previews and it looked like a movie I might like, you know one of those movies that is geared towards the 18-35 year old male (I fall into that category). It looked like a good a balls out kind of movie. It didn't have quite the fun quotient of say The Rock but it had its moments.

I must say this off the bat: it is a bit over the top in its violence. I, personally, don't need to see heads explode as bullets pass through them, but realism is a must now adays so there you are. On the whole, I liked the movie. It was paced well and had just enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. Though, I found myself getting lost once or twice, I was able to catch up. In movies like this one must be able to turn off their powers of disbelief. If you don't, can't or won't you just won't enjoy the movie. There are some far-fetched scenes.

The Shooter is about a former Marine sniper, Bob Lee Swagger, who is a bit disenfranched about his government (cliche, I know) because of something that happened in the past (Rambo type start to the film). He is recruited by the CIA, or the FBI, or one of those alphabet soup agencies to help them catch an assassin who is planning to kill the president, but in actuality they are setting him up to take the fall. Let's just say that that is the start of a lot of bad things that happen. I'd go into it further, but then I'd have to ruin the surprise.

I must say that Mark Wahlberg (aka Marky Mark) continues to impress me as an actor. He really is very good. He "holds his own" as they say. Also, Michael Pena does a great job as a rookie FBI agent, but I got him confused with Michael Beach, who stared as Ira Hayes in Flags of Our Fathers. They look an awful lot alike.

Here's what drives me nuts about going to the movies: the cost and the 15 minutes of advertisements/trailers. The trailers don't bother me too much, but its the ads the drive me bonkers. I really shouldn't bug out too much about the cost, though, because after I dropped my seven bucks to get into the movie I spent another 10.50 to get myself a Coke and think of nachoes, I was hungry. I feel like I'm a captive. At least I wasn't subjected to the anti-pirating PSA's they had a few years back. I'm also kicking myself because I forgot my MovieWatchers card.

I'll try and see Grindhouse soon, but I also want to see The Hoax mainly because Clifford Irving appears in an amazing film called F for Fake, by Orsen Welles. And the movie The Hoax is about Clifford Irving's world renown con: an authorized bio about the excentric billionare Howard Hughes.

So, to bring this back to its original thesis: The Shooter is a pretty good flick. You don't have to think too hard, it has some good one liners and some great shootouts. Its violent, but I don't remember much vulgar language. Oh, and it was good to see Danny Glover back in the movies. I hadn't seen him in a while. So, if you have a few extra bucks in your pocket go check out The Shooter.