His Name's Jack Carter, and you Don't Want to Meet Him

Actually, you do.

Get Carter (2000), a re-invention of an extremely weird-looking Michael Caine 70's film of the same name, is one of the only revenge films that I support - because it's not actually a revenge film. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Rachel Leigh Cook, John C. McGinley, Alan Cumming, Michael Caine, and Mickey Rourke, Get Carter tells of a weekend in the life of Las Vegas loan shark enforcer Jack Carter (Stallone) as he travels back home for his little brother's funeral. The official line is that Richie was drinking and driving, which immediately fires Jack's suspicious side - he knows his brother didn't do that sort of thing, and besides, Richie was a family man, leaving behind a wife and teenage daughter, Doreen (Cook). Jack's search eventually leads him to a punk internet mogul (Cumming), and, of all places, the world of online porn - even more suspicious now, as this is definitely not something Richie would have been involved in. So who killed him? And why? On top this investigation, and his strained relations with Richie's widow (Miranda Richardson), his boss back in Vegas is pretty pissed at him for taking off for the weekend - and when a mob loan shark is pissed, they don't just give you a pink slip and tell you not to bother showing up for work on Monday.

To say more would ruin not only good flow, but a story that's as well-crafted as it is relevant and heartbreaking. Half the story is detective/enforcement work; the other half focuses on estranged uncle Jack's relationship with his equally wounded niece, Doreen. Don't let an irrational prejudice towards old-school action heroes deter you: Get Carter is one good movie. I might even call it great. Though it could be called a revenge film, it leans rather towards vengeance - which is not at all the same thing - and justice. Stallone's Old Testament theology towards those actions is in full sight here, as much as in any of his pure action films (which Get Carter is not). Something very interesting to watch for is who Jack does and doesn't kill. On top of that, I can't think of another film that not only addresses the epidemic of online porn, but does it in a way that's effective without being exploitative towards the women being exploited. On top of that, it's also, on multiple levels, a redemption story. The script is solid, the acting is sharp, the violence is as violent as it should be - in other words, no glossing over just how ugly someone getting the crap beaten out of them is. What more could you ask for from a drama? There are a few brief, melodramatic editing hiccups, but to let them tarnish the whole of the film would be silly. An afternoon or evening with Get Carter should be plenty to flush any irrational hatred of Sylvester Stallone out of your system - there's no grounds for calling this picture, or his performance, bad on any level.