On M List of Movie Reviews

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)

---

A Man Apart (2003)

Rate: 1
Viewed: 5/08

5/08: Here's a cardinal rule for Hollywood: when you decide to produce a movie, don't ever cast Larenz Tate.

It's the death wish for A Man Apart. The poor, shoddy direction by F. Gary Gray also ruins the film. Why is it that people are named Gary Gary, Gray Gary, Gary Gray, and Gray Gray plus some initial somewhere in the name?

F. Gary Gray isn't a competent director and needs to get people who know how to handle the camera properly. I couldn't see what's happening in many scenes because I wasn't clued in to some of the subplots. Additionally, I was unsure of the identity of various characters and whether they were a cop or a villain.

I'm surprised that Larenz Tate's and Vin Diesel's characters, Demetrius Hicks and Sean Vetter, are former gangbangers converted to DEA agents. At the same time, they have gangbangers for friends. That's preposterous. Sean Vetter is impossible to root for because that sort of lawlessness he brings to the table is recklessly brash and dangerous and goes against common sense. He doesn't care about other people's lives, either.

I thought I was safe for a while until the final ten minutes when Vin Diesel's male boobs began to appear through his white T-shirt. Give him a wig, and he'll win the Best-Looking Transvestite award.

All in all, the title A Man Apart is erroneous as it should be called A Film Came Apart.

---