"Get Carter" And Suffer the Consequences by Homer Yen (c) 2000
"My name is Jack Carter, and you don't want to know me" says our brooding anti-hero (Sylvester Stallone). Take his advice! To know this guy is as rewarding as being thrown over a terrace. And to watch this film is almost as painful. "Get Carter" is a gloomy looking, unimaginative film that offers no joy.
Jack Carter is as tough as tough guys come. He works out of Vegas as a self-described 'financial adjuster'. Explaining his duties, he says, "people make promises and break them. I help them remember." He has a chiseled body full of tattoos. He has the weathered look indicative of a man who has seen his share of hard times. He speaks in a hushed but menacing tone of voice. In other words, this is Sylvester Stallone acting like...Sylvester Stallone. And like most of his previous roles, his character is a shallow, one-dimensional thug whose modus operandi is to talk tough, hassle a few hapless people, find out what he needs to know, and then dispense his own kind of justice. With the charisma of a pit bull, being tough is all that Jack Carter knows.
Yet, even tough guys know when to put family first. As the story begins, we learn that Jack's little brother has died in a car accident. The police attribute it to heavy drinking. However, Jack is suspicious, believing that he was 'taken out'. He takes a break from his Vegas duties and tries to see if he can find the truth. As he pokes around, he runs into several lowlife characters. They include a shady business partner, a prostitute, a dweebish millionaire molded after Bill Gates, and an oily owner of a porn website.
Any one of them may know something about his brother's death. All of them have the means of carrying out the deed. But don't expect an exercise in sleuthing where well-placed clues lead Carter to the truth. He's all brawn and no brains, so there are no epiphanies during his investigation. Instead, he uses intimidation to muscle his way forward, cycling through this circle of suspects. Flustered with his lack of progress, he cycles through them again and again. This all gets tiring fairly quickly. By the time the film launches into its final act, we're numb from its pedestrian pace.
Oddly, as a tough-guy thriller, it starves us for action. Admittedly, there is one nifty chase sequence, but this is related to a tangential and needless plot (Carter's Vegas ties send thugs to retrieve him). The story also fails to generate any kind of emotion. Stallone has the personality of a slab of stone. And the look and feel of the film is perpetually downcast. The weather is constantly overcast or rainy. Meanwhile, most shots take place at night, in dimly lit rooms, or in dark alleys. It's just impossible to get stirred about that kind of atmosphere. As a result, "Get Carter" amounts to nothing more than a flat thriller, bereft of clever moments and devoid of any excitement. You're better off leaving this guy alone.
Grade: D
S: 1 out of 3 L: 2 out of 3 V: 2 out of 3
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