On G List of Movie Reviews
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Guilty by Association (2003)
Rate:
1
Viewed:
5/25
5/25:
Yep, I've been a victim of bait-and-switch.
The cover of Guilty by Association shows Morgan Freeman, and it looks like a serious crime drama à la
Seven and Kiss the Girls. Well, he
appears for the first three minutes, but the cheap video quality and title design have me mystified. Then, a bunch
of wannabe rappers take over, and the rest of the way is film school bullshit with totally improper police
procedures and an occasional appearance of Morgan Freeman to remind me that he's still around.
What the hell? Afterwards, I checked out the back cover, and it said, "When gang wars spin out of control in
downtown Washington, D.C., one man steps into the battlefield to hunt down a ruthless killer." Really? But
nothing like that happened in the film. "Innocent victims are caught in the cross fire and it's up to one man,
Police Lieutenant Redding (Morgan Freeman), to take matters into his own hands and stop the needless deaths
before it's too late." Double really? Wake me up when he has. The tagline is apropos, and I should've heeded
it: "Sometimes first instincts are wrong."
Many reviewers felt enraged for being hoodwinked and said the following: "You might think that Morgan Freeman,
one of the better actors there is, should be a bit more selective when choosing scripts. This script uses his
name and face just to get sold," "I like Morgan Freeman, but this whole movie, and especially his supposed part
in it, is a fraud. I HATE gang-banger gibberish and subliterate street jargon, and that's all this movie is,"
"The doggie style scenes did it for my grown up daughter. It was the final straw in an already straw-ridden
catastrophe," and "All that can be concluded from this poor effort is that Morgan Freeman must have owed someone
a BIG favor."
All in all, the proper title should be Guilty by False Marketing.