"Suspensful with a twist that‘s predictable."
Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino together again. That in itself will probably bring in some fans. For good reason. These two guys are just phenomenal actors. I know that's the reason I went to see the movie because the story is just your average "whodunit" plot. We've seen it countless times before so there is nothing worth mentioning there. But the acting is. So here we go.
The movie begins with some Internal Affairs agents reviewing a taped confession of Robert DeNiro's character, Turk. He's confessing to 14 murders he has committed in his twenty years as a cop. As he tells the story of how he and his partner, Rooster (Al Pacino) were assigned to find the serial killer, we go along for the ride knowing all along that Turk is the murderer. Or do we?.
Even though we see Turk flat out confessing to the murders in the taped confession, we can't help but think that maybe something more is going on. As the story progresses, we start wondering that maybe he's not the guy afterall. But why would he confess? What would he be hiding? Or... maybe he is the killer and we are just reading more into his story. Those are the questions that you will be asking yourself throughout the movie. Is he really the guilty party? And if he's not, then who is?
As I said before, the movie is a typical "whodunit" cop movie. Nothing great or special... especially the ending. When we do find out who is doing the killing (I won't reveal it here), it's almost no surprise... unless you asked yourself so many questions and put so many doubts in your head that you confused yourself. But that will probably not happen. I think the majority of those who watch the movie will figure out who the killer is around two-thirds of the way through. If they REALLY wanted to pull a twist on us, they would have used the idea I came up with as I left the theater. For those who have seen the movie and want to know what twist ending I came up with, read the *spoiler* in the last paragraph. Let me know what you think. If you haven't seen the movie... THEN DON'T READ THAT PARAGRAPH.
The acting is superb. But then again, look at the star status of this movie. We have amazing actors. Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Denney, Carla Gugino, and 50 Cent. Okay... maybe not 50 Cent. Just thought I'd throw him in there. There is great interaction between their characters and the experience of these great actors easily shows. DeNiro and Pacino once again work great together. Leguizamo and Wahlberg are amazing as the two cops assigned to the case along with Turk and Rooster. Gugino is spectacular as the girlfriend who likes sadistic sex with her partners. She plays the cop by day and freaky sex addict by night perfectly. And Dennehy, who is most famous as the hick sheriff who kicked John Rambo out of town in First Blood, nails his part as the precinct's captain.
The Director, Jon Avnet, did a pretty good job in the direction of this movie, but I think he made a couple of little flaws. One, he really doesn't do a very good job in disguising the killer... though he DID try. And two, he spent too much time with our two heroes in the freaking couch with a psychologist. Those scenes were not really needed. Other than that, I had no problem with his direction.
The visuals were rather good. The special effects in the murders were done quite well. After a couple of murders where the victims get suddenly shot in the head, I found myself squinting and expecting a sudden gunshot every time someone was walking down a sidewalk or hallway by themselves. Expect the unexpected was my motto all of a sudden. Nice job.
Overall, the movie is a good watch. But just like most "whodunits", one viewing is enough. Why? Because you already know who the killer is the second time around. There's no fun in that. Maybe if they have two or three alternate endings, the dvd will be worth a watch too. We'll just have to wait and see. Now... speaking of alternate endings. I have a better ending for this movie (in my opinion), so those who have not seen the movie.. STOP READING HERE. Those who have seen it... read my spoiler below.
**SPOILER**
If you're reading this, then you've seen the movie and know that Al Pacino is the actual killer. The movie supposedly has a twist ending at the end, but honestly.... How many of you were actually fooled? Not many huh? Well what if this had happened... Once Pacino was killed and the Internal Affair guys exonerated DeNiro, if the movie continued another 5 to 10 minutes. We see Leguizamo's and Wahlberg's characters get murdered. Then we go back in time to the scene where Pacino kills 50 Cent... and see what really happened. We see DeNiro actually shoot 50 Cent in the head then turns around and points the gun at Pacino. He confesses to the camera like he did and Pacino makes a run for it. DeNiro catches up to him and kills him. Holy shit... DeNiro WAS the killer and he fucking gets away with it. I think after the movie made us think Pacino did it, we would never have expected THAT. I would've left the theater much happier. So what do you think?
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