Shooter (2007)

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Writers: Jonathan Lemkin, Stephen Hunter

Composer: Mark Mancina

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Michael Pena, Danny Glover, Kate Mara, Elias Koteas, Rhona Mitra, Jonathan Walker, Louis Ferreira, Tate Donovan, Rade Serbedzija, Alan C. Peterson, Ned Beatty

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Yesterday was about honor. Today is about justice.

Plot: A marksman living in exile is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the President. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he goes on the run to find the real killer and the reason he was set up.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

I'm mixed about Wahlberg. Sometimes he's good and sometimes he's just awful.  I really didn't expect to like this movie nearly as much as I did but I dug it.  Swagger (Wahlberg) is a smart dude and his actions do not disappoint nor does the story.  Speaking of actions, isn't what someone does in order to define a villain (or hero) a hell of a lot more important than anything else?  Danny Glover (as Col. Johnson, one of the top bad guys in this picture) plays a bad man but the actor, for whatever reason be it his own decision or that of someone else, consistently speaks with a soft, whispery, gravely voice.  It's completely uncalled for and annoying as fuck.  He's a really good actor who shouldn't have to employ such cheap tactics to sell his character.  It would have been more effective if he dropped the pretense and allowed the character's action to say what needed to be said and perhaps play the character less menacing which could have made the guy even more effective as a villain.  It's like the trend in Bond villains over the franchise where most of the villains have some kind of physical defect.  It bugs the piss out of me.  Anyway, despite Glover's low raspy voice, it's a good film and events play out naturally if not sometimes unexpectedly.  I really liked the mountaintop confrontation and everything that followed.  I was VERY satisfied with the final act.  It's much stronger than most films would have delivered, making it easy to recommend.  The Paramount DVD has a good anamorphic widescreen print with extras including a commentary from the director, a 22 minute making of doc, a 7 minute featurette on one of the shooting locations (Independence Hall), 7 deleted scenes (12 minutes) and non-anamorphic widescreen trailers for ZODIAC and BLACK SNAKE MOAN.