Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 13, 1991 TAG: 9104130439
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On the other hand, it is at times more convincing and smarter in its small touches than it needs to be. The large touches, such as character motivations and plot resolutions are another story.
Director John Flynn and writer David Lee Henry feel compelled to give action hero Steven Seagal a private life outside of his more consuming occupation of revenge-seeking cop.
His marriage is on the rocks and there's a rush job - an unconvincing one - to save it. It's the same old dedicated-to-the-job cliche that's abundant in cop movies. And it's not the only cliche here. But predictability comes with the territory in this kind of formula movie; any originality is a bonus.
This is obviously a vehicle for Seagal, a martial-arts expert-turned actor. Seagal plays Gino Felino, a tough kid from the old Mafia dominated neighborhood who winds up in police work. Seagal is actually a pretty good actor when it comes to this kind of role. He's economic, ironic and convincingly tough.
When a fellow cop and old friend is murdered by another guy from the old neighborhood, Gino is determined to nail the killer on his own - apparently with the blessing of his boss.
Played with harrowing conviction by William Forsythe, themurderer is a drug-crazed, mad-dog, would-be mafiosi who finally loses all control and sets forth on a killing spree settling old scores and shooting innocent bystanders with determined abandon.
He's aided by a small army - one that mysteriously grows despite huge casualties inflicted on it - of vicious degenerates. This is no doubt intended to give Seagal plenty of bad guys to maim imaginatively.
The details and language of New York's low lifes are vivid and the violence is explosive and unsettling. It almost seems as if the filmmakers wanted to turn a formula cop movie into a Martin Scorsese examination of the New York underworld. Though obviously not another "Goodfellas,""Out for Justice" is made a little more interesting because of this approach.
What is lacking mainly is consistency, though. Just when the dialogue begins to seem fresh, characters pop up with dumb things to say. And the humor is at times too broad and too bad to be compatible with the down-and-dirty realism the filmmakers are shooting for.
It's definitely superior to the Jean Claude Van Damme bloodfests, but despite a game attempt, "Out for Justice" is still too bloody and typical to transcend the genre. `Out For Justice': 1/2 A Warner release at Valley View Mall 6 (362-8219) and the Towers Theatre (345-5519). Rated R for language and extreme violence; 95 minutes.
by CNB