"I'm not your problem. I'm a businessman."
When this movie was almost over, Frank White (Christopher Walken) says these words - and causes you to think about the troubled world in which we live. After all, hasn't this character heard the sayings "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." or even "Live by the sword (gun, in this case); die by the sword."? I truly don't think that he has...
Upon first look, the world that this movie revolves around is filled with darkness, destruction, and drugs - without a strong hero, since Roy Bishop (played by Victor Argo) is rarely in this picture, except to sit around, hunting and pecking at his keyboard, or looking at the action taking place with too much indifference (or so I felt). Also in this film, you have Jimmy Jump (Larry Fishburne) playing Frank White's number one; Thomas Flanigan (Wesley Snipes) and Dennis Gilley (David Caruso) taking the part of cops. All brilliant actors.
The villains in this picture drop F-bombs without batting an eye, snort cocaine like it's candy (which leads to other, also inappropriate, activities), and shoot so many bullets you're left wondering if they know anything else. In essence, I truly don't think they do, because it's the only life that they've ever known. The cops are left to deal with it, which leads them to dropping their own F-bombs, then a group of them deciding to unleash their rage against Frank White and Co. I looked at my sister, who was watching it with me and said, "They're going to get killed. How often do you see it in a movie where the younger guys release they're rage, die, and leave the older guys to 'do the job right?'"
I think that, in the scenes he was in, Dennis Gilley stole the show for me. I've always liked David Caruso's acting - especially how he can be cool, calm, and collective Horatio one second; and a confused, enraged Irish cop (on this movie) the next. I wished that they had cast Caruso as the heroic lead, because he's always so engaging to watch.When Thomas Flanigan dies, Dennis's reaction was so brutally honest that you were feeling right along with his remorse - and it upsets you to know Frank White will be going after him.
Christopher Walken is one of those actors who has a unique voice, as well as a unique presence. When he's in a film, you don't know whether to love him or hate him; even then, you don't know what he's going to do - hit you or hug you. Going into this movie, I was determined to hate him, but there were parts where you question how unlikable he is, even after he kills people - even after he starts getting his thugs to get the drugs. The scenes that come to mind are the ones where he's staring through the city - once, when he feels on top of the world, the King of New York; the second, when he knows that the world is against him.
I didn't start hating him until he killed Dennis Gilley, and shows up at Roy Bishop's house, preaching at him about how "I've never killed anyone who didn't deserve it." Pfft! Hypocrite! By that point, I wanted to scream at the screen and go, "You're a cop killer!" In the end, though, he acts like a fool, sitting in the subway, wanting to shoot it out with Bishop - or so you would think. A great actor can tell you a lot with just their eyes - and that's what Walken did: he revealed that Frank White wanted to die.
Something I was thinking while watching this film:
"Though a king may have his castle, his riches, and his throne;
What is a king without his people - what is a king alone?"
In the end, I think that's what crushed Frank: being alone.
So... I know in reading this that you're wondering "You said early on, 'Upon first look...' What about second look?" I leave that up to you to watch - provided that you can see through the layers of darkness and into the core of this movie, and - of course - old enough to watch an R-rated film.
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