Shooter Review
by [email protected] (dnb AT dca DOT net)March 27th, 2007
SHOOTER
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2007 David N. Butterworth
**1/2 (out of ****)
Gunnery Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger (retired) is an ex-marine on an exacting mission, a sharpshooter with a score to settle in "Shooter," an Antoine Fuqua film.
Dubbed "expendable" by the U.S. military brass after a failed assignment in Ethiopia took the life of his longtime "spotter" Donnie Fenn (spotters provider their sniper partners with vital geographic and atmospheric data that can impact a bullet's trajectory over distances of up to a mile), Swagger holes up in his Adirondacks hideaway with his big slobbery dog Sam until a government shirt with a speech impediment, Colonel Isaac Johnson, shows up with a couple of goons in a big hulking SUV and makes Swagger an offer he momentarily considers refusing--"some men don't know what to do after their belief system is taken away from them."
Johnson has credible intelligence that there's about to be a long-range sniper attempt on the President's life during a rally in some prominent Eastern port city and Swagger is the only man experienced/knowledgeable enough to think like the would-be assassin--"he's the best there is." (Philadelphia wins the location lotto because Washington, DC "would be suicide" and apparently "there isn't a good place to get a shot off from" in Baltimore. Philadelphia is also more cinematic, arguably, a fact to which all of those swirling helicopter shots of City Hall, Liberty Place I/II, and the Ben Franklin Bridge would attest.)
How *would* Swagger pop the Prez? Where would he set up shop? What brand and caliber rifle would he use? By leveraging Swagger's fieldwork expertise the Feds believe they can get to the killer before he fires off that fatal shot to the Commander-in-Chief's cranium.
If you've seen the trailer for "Shooter" (or not), you'll remember (or realize) that all of a sudden it's Swagger who finds himself the No. 1 suspect in the assassination attempt following some 11th-hour double-cross. Swagger, who takes a couple of bullets to the shoulder in the takedown, manages to outmaneuver just about everyone as he flees the scene of the crime, all except a rookie FBI agent, to whom he briefly blurts out his innocence. Agent Nick Memphis, as it transpires, turns out to be one of Swagger's biggest allies when some nifty Googling on the young recruit's part corroborates Swagger's likely innocence. The shooter's only other friend is his ex-old army buddy's wife Sarah down in Kentucky blue grass country. She sews him up with some deft running stitch tied off with an embroidery knot (Swagger's words not mine!). Shirted once more, Swagger dons some army surplus fatigues, paints his face khaki, and sets out to determine who framed him and why.
Hot off his Oscar(r) nomination for "The Departed" (he now has as many wins as fellow thespian Peter O'Toole!), Mark Wahlberg settles comfortably into the role of all-out action star, a runnin', jumpin', shootin' hero who bleeds a little, loves a little, and bounces about the City of Brotherly Love like he's a South Philly bartender trying out for the Eagles starting line-up (see: "Invincible"). Call him a Marky Marksman if you will...
"Shooter," adapted from Stephen Hunter's novel "Point of Impact," is an unremarkable action flick but it's rarely dull, moves with ease, and Philadelphians will certainly appreciate the way in which their fair city maintains pride of place.
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David N. Butterworth
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