BLACKJACK
Behold: the first gay action hero!
Actually, there may be other gay action heroes that predate Dolph Lundgren's Jack Devlin, but I've never heard of 'em. I rented this one with the expectation of it being basically Woo Lite, the kind of movie John Woo puts together on his coffee breaks while filming more A-list fare. And for the most part, that's what was delivered, but I had no idea this movie was gonna be so...uh...unconventional.
The plot's this - Devlin, a big blond badass who uses razor-sharp playing cards as weapons, is called in by an old friend to protect his daughter from what appears to be the Russian Mob. In the ensuing, inevitable melee, Jack is temporarily blinded by a flash grenade and develops a fear of the color white.
Yeah, that's what I said.
Later in life, after said friend (and wife) die and Jack's left with custody of the girl, he involves himself in the protection of a stalked supermodel, who Jack's former lover (played against type by Fred Williamson, usually holding a cigar...maybe that's not that far off type after all) was critically wounded trying to protect. Thus begins a cat n' mouse game between Jack and the stalker/sniper.
Jack's romantic life is generally kept pretty cryptic in this one, but the film makes it clear that the romantic part of his relationship with Williamson is behind him, and that there's a new man in town. Thomas, played rather cheesily by Saul Rubinek, lives with Jack, cooks his meals, cleans his apartment, and can't decide if he's a Frenchman or if he's just pretending to be a Frenchman.
Thomas is a lot more "flaming" than the unexpressive Jack. Jack himself comes from the Rupert Everett school of gay men - the men want him, but the women want him more. His psychiatrist, the supermodel, even the counter girl at Motel Six, all want a piece of Jack's action, but he's got too much integrity to be anything but a one-man man. The abortive kiss at the close of the film confirms that Jack isn't going anywhere.
The action's pretty good overall, if kind of sparse. The superspectacular leap I saw in the trailer isn't nearly as spectacular in the movie - maybe my memory's a little wonky. There's a number of weird moments, too, like when Jack shoots a guy, who falls over a railing...and for no other reason than to smash something extra, Jack kicks a glass table directly underneath the falling body. There's also a weird scene where Jack's tied up by the villain (who, like Thomas, can't decide if he's got an English or Southern accent) and is forced to watch as the villain shoots a bunch of scarecrows (!), knowing that his lover's inside one of the scarecrows (!). Another weird scene is when Jack and the supermodel first meet. High on drugs, she attempts to cast herself from the roof of a building, but he pulls her back...and then throws away her drugs...and then...they dance. Really. Then she chews him out and lets him know who's boss.
Heterosexual relationships in this movie are generally played as doomed (the dead couple), dangerous (the supermodel's ex-husband) or just plain false (Fred Williamson and his "straight" life). Lundgren is, surprisingly, quite good in his role, for the most part...light-years ahead of everything else I've seen him in. Let's put it this way - if Dolph Lundgren doesn't make you groan and roll your eyes with every single line, he's doing a great job. The kid doesn't really contribute anything to the film, and neither does his shrink, who spends most of her screen time pouting at him, presumably wishing he'd convert.
Nits aside, it's an interesting film, and probably worth a look just to see Dolph Lundgren and Fred Williamson play men we never thought they'd play.