Get Carter: Movie Review, DVD Review (2000)

Directed by Stephen Kay, written by David McKenna, 102 minutes, rated R.

(Originally published 2000)

Stephen Kay’s remake of Mike Hodges’ seedy, noirish 1970 classic “Get Carter” may feature Sylvester Stallone in his first major film in three years, but don’t call it a comeback. Call it a dud.

“Get Carter”? Get real. The film is a conceptual nightmare, a train wreck of bad acting, bad directing and uneven production values that try their best to back the nearly non-existent plot: a Las Vegas mob enforcer (Stallone), convinced his brother’s car accident was no accident, goes on the hunt for those who did the killing.

Pepper that slim premise with Stallone wincing at the camera in his idea of emoting, or grunting “You don’t want to know me” to anyone who will listen, or, better yet, pairing him opposite a real actor’s actor--Mickey Rourke--and you have an idea of how high the testosterone level is in this movie, and how low your expectations should be for any of it to work.

Three years ago, when Stallone appeared in James Mangold’s “Cop Land” opposite Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro, it seemed as if the man who had become a star in the ring as Rocky, and then gone on to become a staple in big-budget action films such as “Rambo” and “Daylight,” had decided to break away from the genre that had made him and try his hand at more serious work.

His commitment in “Cop Land” was clear--not only did he take a huge pay cut to appear in the film, but he also added 40 pounds of fat to his nearly 50-year-old frame.

It was a highly symbolic move--by getting rid of his famously chiseled body, Stallone was, in effect, neatly leaving behind the films that had buoyed his career for 20 years. But now we have “Get Carter” and with it, Stallone reverting back to type. None of this is as bad or as embarrassing as Stallone’s worst movie, “F.I.S.T.,” but it makes “Rhinestone” seem like the crown jewel in his career.

Grade: D-