Say what you will about Bruce Willis, but I love seeing him onscreen.
I’ve been a HUGE fan of his work for well over 25 years now, ever
since I watched him weekly on MOONLIGHTING way back in 1985. Although
he’s done some bombs (what actor hasn’t), I still find his portfolio of
work beyond entertaining, and these little-known gems like FIRE WITH
FIRE are no exception. This film is well done, has a great cast, and is
definitely worth watching.
If you are not familiar with FIRE WITH FIRE, here is the plot synopsis courtesy of the LIonsgate press release:
After witnessing the brutal murders of a convenience store owner
and his son, firefighter Jeremy Coleman barely escapes with his life.
As he is forced to testify against a crime lord, he is placed in the
witness protection program under the watch of the U.S. Marshals Service.
As his new identity becomes compromised, Jeremy is forced to take an
unexpected course of action in order to get his life back and save the
lives of those he loves.
Ok, so I suppose I should mention that Bruce Willis only has a
secondary role in this film. The main character is portrayed by Josh
Duhamel, who I also enjoy watching, but whose filmography is not quite
as lengthy as Willis’s. Both actors shine onscreen, as does co-star
Rosario Dawson, but I have to admit that it is Vincent D’Onofrio who
steals the show with his portrayal of the villain Neil Hagan.
D’Onofrio’s character is a southern-bred white supremacist with
sociopathic and psychotic tendencies; D’Onofrio does an amazing job with
this role and haunts the audience throughout the film with this stoic
iciness.
FIRE WITH FIRE is shot well and the plot is intriguing, engaging the
audience and putting them right alongside Duhamel for the duration of
his plight. I particularly like how plausible the plot actually seems;
there’s no hyped up or amped up, stylized violence in here…the fight
scenes are gritty, the emotions are focused, and the characters are
realistic. In short, the events in this film could actually be real.
Surprisingly, there’s a nice bit of gore in here as well. In one
particularly gruesome scene, Duhamel’s character interrogates a man by
hammering a chisel into each of his fingers; this obviously results in
cutting the appendages off, which in turn elicits a projectile-vomiting
spew from Duhamel. I enjoyed this scene for its realism, but also for
its graphic depiction of what that situation might actually look like.
My sole complaint about FIRE WITH FIRE is that the ending is a bit
abrupt, and I would have liked to have seen it played out a bit more.
The film is only 97 minutes long, so pushing it to two hours for the
sake of fleshing out the ending more might have paid off. This isn’t
enough to detract from the enjoyment of the film, but it is something
that popped into my head as the credits started to roll.
Still, FIRE WITH FIRE is an entertaining thriller and a definite win
for me. I recommend checking out; my wife watched it with me and she
enjoyed it, so this might be a good date-night movie. Regardless of who
you watch it with, give it a shot.
via Matthew Scott Baker, 11.2.12
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