You can tell from the preview that this film just might deliver
more than the standard, mind-numbing suspension-of-disbelief-fest
we've come to dread in a Stallone flick. If nothing else, he has
a new look. He's traded in his bandana and tank top for expensive
suits, shades and a goatee. The picture looks grainy and edgy,
and has a distinctively "low budget" vibe (although
it couldn't have been too shoestring; the credits listed about
2 dozen stunt men!).
Get Carter is a remake of a 1971 thriller, starring Michael Caine, who also has a significant role in the update. It's a revenge yarn that softens up and tries to be reflective. This is a good thing. Although I didn't buy everything I saw, I generally accepted Jack Carter as a real character and was drawn into his interactions with a number of other believable characters, including his sister-in-law, his niece and a smattering of seedy low-lifes who are collectively responsible for his estranged brother's demise.
This may not be saying much, but Jack Carter is the most complex role you've ever seen Stallone play. He's basically a thug at the beginning, and there's a lot of ugliness evident throughout the film (even his face is dark and weathered). His soft spot takes awhile to emerge, and even then, it doesn't always prevail.
The supporting cast was very effective. Kudos to Michael Caine, Alan Cumming, Mickey Rourke and Rachael Leigh Cook, who all made their characters come off the screen.
The movie also gets points for ambience. Set in Seattle, it has a gray, rainy feel, and the locations feel real. (Turns out, Vancouver, BC is a good Seattle fill-in.)
Complaints? The styling was generally cool and edgy, but it got a bit overly zealous, at times. Stallone couldn't walk 10 feet without some kind of camera twist or editing skip. Okay, guys, enough, already! Director Stephen Kay seems to have just a little too much "rock video" in his system. And, of course, the story doesn't line up, 100%, all the time. Some of the twists do seem... a tad arbitrary, perhaps?
Even so, the movie drew me in better than I expected. It was stylish, interesting, and exciting, which is all the trailer ever really promised. (Gotta love them car chases!) The modest depth of the characters and the slight attempts at insight are kind of a bonus. If you want to like Stallone, but couldn't stomach such brain-dead features as "Demolition Man", "Cliffhanger" or "The Specialist", heads up! "Get Carter" has some protein.
(Alas, he's not out of the woods, just yet. I saw a trailer for a Stallone race car movie that looks like it might just accomplish the impossible: make "Days of Thunder" look profound by comparison. Wow...)