Rating: R | Runtime: 124 minutes
Release Date: March 23rd, 2007 (USA)
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director(s): Antoine Fuqua
Writer(s): Jonathan Lemkin / Stephen Hunter (novel Point of Impact)

I’m gonna see it through.

Director Antoine Fuqua has a style and filmography that I’ve enjoyed in the past. He delivered some action-packed movies with story and popcorn pyrotechnics in both Training Day and King Arthur. So, I’ll admit that I was a bit underwhelmed after seeing the trailer for his new film Shooter. But since he hadn’t let me down yet, I decided I would at least give it a shot.

I’m glad I did because it’s a well told, nicely paced actioner that knew what it wanted to do and lived up to its goals. We’re never led into a situation that twists somewhere to risk taking us out of the reality of its hero being framed and willing to do anything necessary to find justice. Fuqua tells us who the good guys and bad guys are at all times. There’s never an opportunity to second guess someone’s motives because he’s willing to appreciate our intelligence and spin a linear tale of revenge that’s trying to set things right against a corrupt government.

A big part of the film’s success lies in Mark Wahlberg’s performance. I’ve never been a real fan of his acting prowess, but I must give him credit for getting better every time I see him. He was pretty horrible early on in movies like Fear. Sure he had a great turn in Boogie Nights, but he was basically playing himself—a younger man new to the entertainment industry and trying to understand his role in it all. Only when he came out with his best role in I Heart Huckabees was I finally able to say, “This guy may be able to do the job after all.”

Wahlberg is wonderful as Bob Lee Swagger on this journey to find out who is behind the conspiracy that led to his being framed in a Presidential assassination plot. The role may not be very demanding where range is concerned, but that’s okay because he does everything asked of him to be believable as an ex-army sniper. All the weaponry jargon that spews from his mouth may sound like gibberish, but he sells that he knows what he’s talking about.

The supporting cast helps prop up the film too. Michael Peña is great as the FBI agent who sees something isn’t right and willingly seeks to uncover what truly happened the night of the shooting. Ned Beatty has a nice turn as a corrupt Senator even though I kept waiting for him to mumble “yes sir, Mr. Luthor.” And mention must be made for the fantastic Elias Koteas. He’s electric when given a role he can run with and plays the villain perfectly here. Between slimeball moves and a hilarious scene at the end, (I love that he takes his belt off in the background to try making a tourniquet when most actors would probably just squirm since they aren’t the focal point), you must love him.

Besides its competent acting and some nice camerawork, (when Wahlberg enters what he knows is a trap, the camera composes each view of him in a way that shows a vast space behind him to make us think someone is coming to take him out), there are some problems. The story is conveniently gets where it wants to go by taking the genre’s usual liberties, but it’s effectively straightforward. I didn’t mind, though, because it’s better than trying to be something you aren’t and ruining any credibility you might have had.

What I do mind is bad acting. I thought I would be pulling my hair out listening to Kate Mara’s fake hick accent during the trailer, but she wasn’t bad. No, the weak point was Danny Glover. Whether it was his decision or the director’s, the lisp caused by his mouthpiece was terrible. At first I wondered if he was wearing dentures, but you can see a clear mouthpiece on his bottom row of teeth that caused this speech pattern. I cringed every time he opened his mouth.

At the end of the day, though, Fuqua delivers the action and his actors do the job to pull it off. Shooter is by no means a masterpiece, but who actually goes to these types of movies expecting one? If you have two hours to spare and want to be entertained with a minimal amount of brainwork, I can think of many worse things to do besides checking out Wahlberg’s one-man fight against the tyranny of influential people in high places.

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Michael Peña as Nick Memphis and Mark Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger in SHOOTER (2007).