42 lines
3.0 KiB
Plaintext
42 lines
3.0 KiB
Plaintext
" my name is jack carter , and you don't want to know me " says our brooding anti-hero ( sylvester stallone ) .
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take his advice !
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to know this guy is as rewarding as being thrown over a terrace .
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and to watch this film is almost as painful .
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" get carter " is a gloomy looking , unimaginative film that offers no joy .
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jack carter is as tough as tough guys come .
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he works out of vegas as a self-described 'financial adjuster' .
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explaining his duties , he says , " people make promises and break them .
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i help them remember . "
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he has a chiseled body full of tattoos .
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he has the weathered look indicative of a man who has seen his share of hard times .
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he speaks in a hushed but menacing tone of voice .
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in other words , this is sylvester stallone acting like . . . sylvester
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stallone .
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and like most of his previous roles , his character is a shallow , one-dimensional thug whose modus operandi is to talk tough , hassle a few hapless people , find out what he needs to know , and then dispense his own kind of justice .
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with the charisma of a pit bull , being tough is all that jack carter knows .
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yet , even tough guys know when to put family first .
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as the story begins , we learn that jack's little brother has died in a car accident .
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the police attribute it to heavy drinking .
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however , jack is suspicious , believing that he was 'taken out' .
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he takes a break from his vegas duties and tries to see if he can find the truth .
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as he pokes around , he runs into several lowlife characters .
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they include a shady business partner , a prostitute , a dweebish millionaire molded after bill gates , and an oily owner of a porn website .
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any one of them may know something about his brother's death .
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all of them have the means of carrying out the deed .
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but don't expect an exercise in sleuthing where well-placed clues lead carter to the truth .
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he's all brawn and no brains , so there are no epiphanies during his investigation .
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instead , he uses intimidation to muscle his way forward , cycling through this circle of suspects .
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flustered with his lack of progress , he cycles through them again and again .
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this all gets tiring fairly quickly .
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by the time the film launches into its final act , we're numb from its pedestrian pace .
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oddly , as a tough-guy thriller , it starves us for action .
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admittedly , there is one nifty chase sequence , but this is related to a tangential and needless plot ( carter's vegas ties send thugs to retrieve him ) .
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the story also fails to generate any kind of emotion .
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stallone has the personality of a slab of stone .
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and the look and feel of the film is perpetually downcast .
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the weather is constantly overcast or rainy .
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meanwhile , most shots take place at night , in dimly lit rooms , or in dark alleys .
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it's just impossible to get stirred about that kind of atmosphere .
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as a result , " get carter " amounts to nothing more than a flat thriller , bereft of clever moments and devoid of any excitement .
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you're better off leaving this guy alone .
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