Scott LeBrun You're often taking a risk with Steven Seagal cinema, ever since his hubris got the best of him with "On Deadly Ground". Here the veteran action star plays a typical Steven Seagal character, in a formula-bound plot that attempts to travel far on the odd-couple pairing of Seagal and the usually comedic actor / filmmaker Keenen Ivory Wayans. The two make for a generally agreeable team, even if the movie overall is pretty forgettable.Seagal and Wayans play Jack Cole and Jim Campbell, L.A. homicide detectives working the case of a particularly sick serial killer dubbed The Family Man. Jack is a New Age, spiritual type who frequents a Chinese restaurant and wears beads, Jim is a wise cracking sort who tears up whenever watching "Casablanca". At one point during the murder spree, there are killings that don't quite match up with the rest of them, making Jack think that they're actually the work of a professional; there's more going on here than the actions of one lone maniac. Things get personal for Jack when his ex-wife is one of the latest victims, and he is suspected of the crime.The script by Kevin Brodbin fluctuates between dialogue that is amusingly dumb and dialogue that is just plain bad. Some modest chuckles are generated, but no real comedy fireworks. This contrasts with some slasher movie type killings, and the standard one-sided fights we come to expect from a Steven Seagal joint. Director John Gray tries to inject some style here and there, such as a fight sequence staged inside a burning apartment.There are some first-rate character actors here: Bob Gunton, Brian Cox, John M. Jackson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Peter Jason, Richard Gant. Sexy lady Michelle Johnson of "Blame it on Rio" fame is completely wasted in a nothing role, and Jason is seen much too briefly. Wendy Robie of 'Twin Peaks' has a cameo, and the delectable Nikki Cox turns up as Jasons' daughter. The assemblage of talent does keep this watchable enough.Overall, the story is pretty silly, although I guess Brodbin deserves some credit for trying to make this a little more than the usual "cop vs. killer" thriller scenario.Five out of 10.

mariondowning-427-469344 Bad bad movie. Just another performance where Segal had to put in no effort other than flail around like a martial artist and Wayans was not funny (even though he is supposedly a comedian). This movie sounded like "The Last Boy Scout" (TLBS) when the character "Maynard" was mentioned (even more so when Wayans said it while sounding like his brother who was in TLBS). Except in TLBS the Wayan brother was a comic sidekick and the lead actor was sympathetic and funny unlike Segal's character in this who just seems to be fighting against everyone (even himself) for illogical reasons.Why does Segal's character always have to come from some eastern roots or be linked with some eastern philosophy (e.g. Buddhism in this case)? Doesn't make me believe he is the invincible fighter when seeing him un-co-ordinated and floundering around like someone in a "sumo costume" would move. His character always has their badge taken away by a yelling police officer and you know it's going to happen before it happens. NB. Steven Segal also had so much fake tan that he looked like a Halloween pumpkin. Watch at Halloween and you might enjoy seeing a pumpkin partially come to life.

videorama-759-859391 The Glimmer Man is a little gem, and it's unlike, any other film our bad lead has done. And that's a cool quality about this must see action action vehicle, with a much interesting plot set around the more than one killer scenario, though it's Steve, again doing more physical damage to other humans. Seagal, a cop of course, is assigned to a a great sidekick and co star, Keenon Ivory Wayans (really, you couldn't got a better duo and they work off each other) where they investigate these ritualistic murders, where there's more to it, but I'm not gonna spoil it. Seagal's past just comes back to haunt him, and when his ex wife are killed. Of course, here it becomes personal, but Seagal's character shows much more restraint, somehow, until the revenge finale at the end, where Seagal squaring off, with that tall lanky, bad dude, provides one of the best revenge moments ever encountered, where I'd probably say it's my favorite. If you're a Seagal action fan, and you haven't seen this, you need a good walloping. It has thrilling action and humor. In the acting stakes, Seagal is really surpassed this time by real thespians, (Brian Cox and Bob Gunton) where Wayons is pretty good too. Don't miss this one on any account. I wish they'd really make credit/bank cards like that. Robberies would really go down.

david-sarkies Not really a very insightful movie that one can study for hours and think about a lot. Rather this is more of a typical Hollywood action movie. Cops are partnered in regards to opposing personalities (which I love because when done properly, especially in this movie, it creates a really relaxed atmosphere), cars blow up at the sightest touch, and the hero runs around killing heaps of people and blowing up heaps of buildings and the captain at the end says, "Cole, I owe you an apology." Cole (Steven Segal) is playing his usual ex-special forces come cop or something role. Almost the same role that he played in Under Siege and On Deadly Ground (and no doubt numerous other movies before and after). As is typical, Steven Segal will encounter a horde of bad guys and he will typically beat them all up single handedly, and then walk out of the room dusting himself off.The plot is interesting though. Segal is a cop that hunts down serial killers, but has a rather sordid past: not only is it somewhat unknown, his recent past in regards to tracking down serial killers is tainted for he shot one when on a roof of a building in New York and there were no witnesses. Now he is in Los Angeles and a serial killer is attacking again, but this time there some one is going around killing people and using the serial killer to cover his tracks. As one delves in deeper, one uncovers a plot involving the Russian mafia.Once again, as it typical of a Steven Segal movie, there is lots of action and lots of martial arts. That alone would have been quite boring; one sees cars and petrol tankers blowing up every time one turns on the television. What made this movie cool was the backchat between the partners.