A Man Apart

By Shafer Hall

Despite what the film's television trailer would have you believe, A Man Apart has reviewers calling for Vin Diesel's head on a stick.

Vin Diesel (born Mark Vincent) stars as a narcotics agent on the edge after drug lords kill the love of his life in a failed attempt to bump off Vin. The smashing tag line reads "When they took his love ... they took his life. On April 4th, he's taking it back." Fine. That's certainly more than any of Vin's fans need to get them into the theater.

Which is exactly what it boils down to: if you are a Vin Diesel fan, you should see this film.

So, if it's that simple, then why are movie reviewers so upset? The obvious answer is that movie reviewers are by necessity writers, and writers are a pedantic bunch who don't really know how to have a good time, particularly when it involves guns and ammo.

Yes, it gets bogged down a bit when Vin furrows his brow and tightens his lips in what could either be heartbreak or a medical condition involving his stomach lining, but these woes are healed in the wake of many, many rounds of ammunition unloaded very quickly.

There isn't a movie that's been made more times than A Man Apart: two cops go after drug lords. Repetition of form commands comparisons, primarily to Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, etc., but secondarily to Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, and anyone in Hollywood history whose character has taken up a gun against those who ail him.

Vin Diesel - many love him, many hate him. The reason for this vast disparity is that moviegoers are essentially a savvy bunch - they've seen it all. At some point in any moviegoer's life, there comes a time when he or she can no longer suspend disbelief on their own. They need to be coaxed, slowly, into another world where they can forget about their own.

A Man Apart does no coaxing. But many, many things explode.

BETTER THAN 'TOMMY BOY'?
Anger Management

By Shafer Hall

In Adam Sandler's new film, Anger Management, he plays a businessman who is misguidedly sentenced to therapy after a misunderstanding aboard an airplane. The results are meant to be humorously heartwarming for the audience and therapeutic for the characters involved.

Sandler's therapist, played by Jack Nicholson, chews up the scenery as though it is made of Saltine crackers. A vulgar and vaguely fascist character, Nicholson eventually pushes Sandler's milquetoast over the edge.

When the lights came up in the theater after Anger Management, the audience's murmur was punctuated by proper nouns like "Waterboy," "Billy Madison," "Happy Gilmore," and less frequently "Mr. Deeds" and "Big Daddy," and all of these generally preceded by the phrase "not as good as…"

As witnessed, there exists an irresistible compulsion among those who see an Adam Sandler movie to immediately compare it to all Adam Sandler movies prior. This impulse seems as natural for movie audiences as breathing, but odd in comparison to audiences' reactions to the films of Harrison Ford, say, or Ed Begley, Jr.

Anger Management is yet another Adam Sandler film in which a socially-challenged main character discovers himself in an unlikely fashion, making it a fun and almost universally appealing film to watch.

Sandler is a compelling and wildly popular young actor. That his popularity stems from his powerhouse (to be kind) or "hammy" (to be unkind) performances is only mildly debatable. Certainly his acting influences his popularity, more or less.

What is essential to Adam Sandler's popularity, however, is the fact that he is unafraid to make the same movie over and over again, after having found a formula that befits his style as a performer, and that appeals to a very, very wide audience. Keeping true to this core 'formula' makes for the only real difference between Sandler (affectionately called "Sandman"by his fans) and Begley Jr., whose fans were unavailable for comment (likely because Mr. Begley hasn't had a mainstream film hit in anyone's recent memory).

Give to Sandler what is Sandler's. His fans will laugh - you can bet heavily on it, for solid precedent has been established. They will then go home and watch The Wedding Singer on video tape and think wistfully about their youth.

And by the way, Marisa Tomei is sublime, and audiences will surely leave the theater with the unalterable conviction that they should marry her.

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