SHOOTER

Mark Wahlberg is a fugitive on the run in the action picture SHOOTER. Wahlberg is former marine marksman Bob Lee Swagger. Swagger lost his spotter, and best friend, during a failed mission overseas and has since retired away to the mountains in the western United States. Enter U.S. Colonel Isaac Johnson, played by Danny Glover. Johnson has discovered a plot to assassinate the president and asks Swagger to assist him in catching the would-be assassin. Swagger’s better judgment gives way to his sense of patriotism, but little does he know he’s being set up. Swagger becomes Johnson’s fall guy, in an apparent assassination attempt, leaving Swagger on the run with no where to hide.

If you’re a cynic of the United States government, and a believer that one man’s innocence is worth the lives of tens of innocent men, SHOOTER might just be the movie for you. This overly contemptuous action thriller views our country through tainted glasses and serves up a collection of preposterous, G.I. Joe moments. Director Antoine Fuqua, an adept action director, requires one to suspend their disbelief one to many times in order for SHOOTER to hit the mark. This extremely poor man’s THE FUGITIVE fails by not keeping the back story straightforward. The premise is simple, the performances standard, but the screenplay, written by Jonathan Lemkin and based on the novel by Stephen Hunter, feels compelled to provide puzzling explanations for the governments actions. These reasons are lame and detached, providing little depth or understanding. After a lengthy and incoherent explanation in the film’s final moments, SHOOTER ends with a bloody and unsatisfying taste of vengeance.

Grade: D+