Featured Movies
Partners
Sniper
Two Marine sharpshooters - one old, one pea-green - are sent to Panama to 'take out' a prime target. Thriller-cum-action movie starring Tom Berenger and Billy Zane
In a kinder world, Tom Berenger might be considered the last great star of the Hollywood west. Dedicated to the genre even when everyone else seemed to have lost interest, the Platoon star has an impressive list of horse operas under his belt. Last Of The Dog Men, Gettysburg, 'Johnson County War', 'Into The West' - they're not all crackers but they've provided a good environment for an actor who seems very at home on the range. Which makes it all the sadder that to most people, Berenger's just that bloke in Sliver and Major League who's become the king of straight-to-DVD entertainment. Berenger's descent seems to have been exacerbated by Sniper, a dull movie apparently designed as a passing-the-torch exercise. But rather than the young Billy Zane using the opportunity to rise to high estate, he promptly found himself in as much of a predicament as his senior co-star - his follow-up film was soft porn pic Lake Consequence. At least Zane would recover to secure supporting roles in megamovies like Titanic. Berenger, on the other hand, would have little to look forward outside of TV Sniper sequels and dross like D-Tox, the Sylvester Stallone movie that all but bypassed British cinemas. Sniper's failure is all the more disappointing for the film having a half-decent idea at its centre. As Sam Mendes's Jarhead suggested, the role of military assassin couldn't be further removed from the gung-ho image a lot of people have of army life. Rather than a telling examination of a difficult trade, director Luis Llosa (Anaconda) settles for a sub-standard buddy movie that, in its own dumb way, endorses the US's skullduggery in Central America. We all deserve better, Tom Berenger included. Verdict There's a good movie to be made about the stealth and patience of the professional assassin. Sadly, Sniper isn't it. |
