Shooter

An expert marksman (Mark Wahlberg) is coaxed out of seclusion by colleagues who need his help in preventing a plot to kill the president. But he soon realizes he's been set up when he's framed for the assassination attempt. Can he elude the law long enough to bring the real culprits to justice? Danny Glover and Michael Peña (World Trade Center) co-star in this political thriller based on a novel by Stephen Hunter.

Shooter twists and turns with an elaborate conspiracy that is very convincing, though of course the writers wimp out and take the cheap road of drawing international oil into the plot (can't writers think of an original plot device?). However, this is hardly a drawback since the rest of the film is solid as a rock. The film really puts you into the shoes of a sniper and gives an impressive overview of the mindset that it takes to be as accurate as someone of the character of Swagger.

The only real distractions in the film would be Elias Koteas, whose psycho performance is heavy-handed and does not fit the film, and Kate Mara who has little to do throughout the film but appear upset or in distress. The film could have done without either characters or their respective actors. As well, some of the character relations seem forced at time, particularly in the relationship between Michael Peña's character of Nick Memphis and his FBI confidante Lourdes, played by Rhona Mitra. Their almost effortless camaraderie comes off as less than convincing.

This is not a thought provoking thriller but rather a reasonably good movie which does not end up insulting your intelligence.

Rating: 3/5