Comeuppance Reviews
Matt Conner (Seagal) was a good cop, but he got kicked off the force. Now a gambler and alcoholic, he still wants to be a good dad to his daughter Becky (Jordan). When a shadowy figure known only as "The Old Man" (Henriksen) offers to clear his gambling debts in exchange for a few "favors", i.e., killing some gangsters around town, Conner agrees. Now dealing with complicated alliances between The Old Man's henchman Blue (Calderon), Drea (Goldsberry), and fellow cop and husband to his ex-wife, Lt. Steve Shacter (Wilson), Conner has only his wits, propensity for violence, and considerable girth to help him through this mess.Connecticut is a small state and not a lot of movies (at least with high visibility) are shot here. So the good news is, they shot a movie in our lovely state. The bad news is...it's Pistol Whipped! Yes, Steven Seagal comes to the Nutmeg state, and, well, left with all the Nutmeg. While, oddly enough, the CT can boast having the movies Friday the 13th, I Spit on Your Grave, and Last House on the Left shot here, thus becoming a hub for twisted "video nasties" of the 80's, how far we've fallen when we now have to play host to a sullen Seagal.While shot in the towns of Bridgeport, Stamford and Norwalk (all fairly close to New York City), for some reason Matt Conner (or perhaps Seagal making an acting choice) has a Cajun accent. On top of that, he whispers most of his lines unintelligibly. You actually need the subtitles on the DVD. And when you read what he supposedly said, you say, "he said that? I didn't hear it." How did the subtitle people know he said that? And we watched it in surround sound! Dripping water was louder than Seagal's voice. Ot whoever's voice it was. You actually need the subtitles so you don't miss lines like "Clean as a Safeway chicken!", whatever that means. But the point is, it seems Seagal was trying to channel the coolness of Michael Madsen here. But Seagal is so low-energy, he makes Madsen look like Richard Simmons.But it's funny to watch not only his daughter, but the characters of Drea, and his ex-wife fall for his mumbly, unlikable charm. On top of struggling with the gangsters, he's also struggling with his weight issues, as his flowy bowling shirts prove. But we don't want to be mean and pile on with the "Seagal is fat" narrative (any more than we already have), because there's plenty of other things we can talk about. Such as his odd hair, for example.Now, for Seagal standards, this movie is okay, but because it is an action movie from the 2000's, it must have CGI silliness, fast motion, editing tricks, and green screen stuff. All of which, needless to say, detract from the movie. We suppose it was trying to be gritty, but the overall effect is more cheap and junky. Plus, the movie is repetitive and goes around in circles. And it's repetitive. It would have been cooler if Lance Henriksen played the Matt Conner part, and Seagal played "The Old Man". It was nice of Henriksen to show up for the few days he must have been there, but the movie could have used more of him.You probably have a decent idea of what to expect with Pistol Whipped (Spoiler alert: no one gets actually pistol whipped in the movie), so if you can convince a friend or two to spend some time with a newer Seagal (and a lot of alcohol), this might just be the pick for you. Go Connecticut! For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com
nvillesanti
In the past ten-plus years, Steven Seagal has been making Shake and Bake flicks, in other words low budget movies that go directly to VHS, or DVD, and this one is no exception. After watching the horrendous "Attack Force" I promise I wouldn't see another movie with Steven Seagal on the cover. Well after almost an hour at the video rental and not being able to find anything to see, I just had to rent something. So after hesitating for ten minutes, I decided to give Seagal another chance. On my way home I was kind of prejudice about the Pistol Whipped, I mean come on, just read the title "Pistol Whipped" it sound like a bad action/porn movie. Well after watching at least the first ten minutes, the movie became quite interesting.Pistol Whipped tells the story of Matt (Steven Seagal) an ex-cop who was released from the force after being suspected of stealing evidence money, which obviously he didn't steal. Succumbed in depression, Matt loses his job and family and spends most of his time drinking and gambling which leaves him with the astonishing dept of over a million dollars. Yes, a million dollars, and somehow he still drives a brand new SUV. One night after losing in a poker game he comes across Blue (Paul Calderon), a mysterious man who works for a man only known as the Old Man (Lance Henriksen). The Old Man buys Matt's debt so he can do his dirty work. This brings Matt to uncover the secret regarding who really rob the evidence money from which he was accused.The movie has a pretty decent plot and good action. One thing, this is a Steven Seagal movie, so don't expect award winning performances. The movie was really good and quite enjoyable. I would recommend Seagal to spend less time in the "All you can eat buffets" and spend more time on the treadmill.I wouldn't recommend this as a must buy, but I would definitely recommend as a must rent.