Review

MAN ON FIRE
In Hollywood, payback pays. From Death Wish to Kill Bill, audiences have
always lapped up revenge, whether it's served cold, hot or reheated. Tony Scott's Man
On Fire knows this and knows exactly how to feed an appetite for destruction. In fact,
it's hard to remember a more outrageous wallow in holy retribution. When we first meet
our `hero' Creasy ( Denzel Washington), he's a hard-drinking ex-government operative
trying to shake his demons in Mexico City, where he accepts a job as bodyguard to an
auto magnate's young daughter (Dakota Fanning). Pita (Fanning), the sunny blonde
cherub he's charged with protecting, slowly melts his heart. She teaches him how to
smile; he teaches her how to swim and their relationship keeps growing. The first half of
the film is moody exposition; then it abruptly shifts gears as Creasy unleashes the
relentless killing machine he's kept locked up inside.
The morality in this redemptive thriller is as simple as it comes. The cops are
corrupt and the criminals are ruthless. We're talking operatic brutality on a Biblical scale:
rocket-launcher punishment, severed fingers cauterised by lighter, sliced ears and a
bomb-up-the-bum colonic interrogation. It's almost rousing when Washington's avenging
angel leaves his calling card: ""Forgiveness is between them and God. It's my job to
arrange the meeting." Sandwiching every zinger with a brace of clichs, the script (by
Brian Helgeland, whose Mystic River took a far more painful look at vengeance) is
bolstered by a committed cast. Radha Mitchell and Rachel Ticotin are particularly smart
at shading in their slender roles and, as Creasy's buddy, Christopher Walken has a riot
with lines like: ""Creasy's art is death. He's about to paint his masterpiece." Washington's
stoic persona becomes a channel for volcanic force, and a cast of prosChristopher
Walken, Giancarlo Giannini, Mickey Rourke, and Rachel Ticotinsupport him with
relish.
Man on Fire is a moral drama about replacing an unacceptable evil with one that
is acceptable. But like many of the Scotts film, Man on Fire is over-directed and chaotic.
The visuals shift drastically from needless slow-motion to emphasize key shots to a
hyperactive camera that prohibits the viewer from witnessing the action. But Man on Fire
si still a rousing, furious action-drama. Most importantly, the hero is a man we want to
get behind. His intentions become the hopes of the viewer and when he gets the job done
we have every reason to cheer. If Creasy, a man whose profession is murder, and Tony
Scott, who has never shown heart in his storytelling can be both redeemed, then the film
is as munch about the power of redemption as it is about vengeance.
BRATU ANDREEA ALINA.
ANUL II, GRUPA 3
.