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After
an eight-year absence, George Romero, one of the horror film's grand masters,
returns. BRUISER doesn't live up
to Romero's best work, but it's not a complete disaster, either.
Let's just hope we don't have to wait as long for Romeros next
film!
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The
original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DAWN OF THE DEAD and MARTIN are enough to
insure George Romero a permanent place in the horror movie hall of fame, but
his most recent efforts: DAY OF THE DEAD, MONKEY SHINES, the first segment of
the two part anthology TWO EVIL EYES and THE DARK HALF have left me cold.
Could it be that Romero, like fellow aging horror-meisters John
Carpenter and Tobe Hooper, is losing his touch?
Well, after nearly eight years and at least a dozen aborted projects,
he's back with BRUISER, a film he wrote and directed the old fashioned way:
with a minimal budget and a cast composed largely of unknowns (FARGO'S Peter
Stormare is the biggest "star"), thus allowing himself total control.
The result? As I said,
it's no disaster, but it isn't exactly a success, either.
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Henry
has problems: his wife doesn't respect him, his friends dump on him and,
worst of all, he's stuck in a job he despises.
He's plagued by murderous visions that occur unexpectedly throughout
the movie's first 20 or so minutes it's clear this nutcase is going to
snap, and it's probably best not to
be around when he does.
What
follows is a gorefest that falls somewhere between DEATH WISH and HALLOWEEN.
Romero is nothing if not intelligent, and he's clearly trying to make
a serious statement about contemporary alienation, but his noble intentions are
torpedoed by clunky dialogue (such as Henry's climactic declaration that "I
finally stood up for myself!") and a main character who, as played, blandly,
by Jason Flemying, just doesn't work, either as a Travis Bickle-styled anti
hero or Dirty Harry-styled avenging angel.
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This
is quite a slick exercise, packed with extremely well handled action and
suspense sequences. The shock
scenes, of which there are quite a few, are also flawlessly executed,
particularly the fantasy murders of the beginning, which come without notice
and are quite effective. Romero is
still one of the sharpest talents in the business, but I just wish he had
better material to work with.
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BRUISER
Le Studio Canal
Director: George Romero
Producers: Peter Grunwald, Ben Barenholtz
Screenwriter: George Romero
Cinematography: Adam Swica
Editor: Miume Jan Eramo
Cast: Jason Flemying, Peter Stormare, Leslie Hope
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