neumu [ cinematronic ]




	A Man Apart
	F. Gary Gray Vin Diesel, Larenz Tate, Timothy Olyphant, Gino Silva, Jacqueline Obradors 2003		Action movies constructed around the pursuit of violent revenge will always be in fashion, as long as Hollywood has enough gunpowder, fake blood and durable tough-guys to burn. Consider "A Man Apart," starring Vin Diesel of "XXX," "The Fast and the Furious" and "Pitch Black." He's a camera-friendly hard-ass on the way up. His physical grace, his stop-you-in-your-tracks glare, and his way with a terse line served him well up to now. But "A Man Apart" is such a drag that Diesel could be doughy, stultifying Steven Seagal, and there would be little difference. The script is dull and circuitous; the fights and shoot-outs rehash those in better films; the dialogue is obtuse or trite. Diesel is Sean Vetter, a rugged, no-bull DEA agent who was recruited from a Southern California gang. (He's got street cred, bro.) He and his unit bust a drug kingpin in Mexico. Shortly thereafter, Sean's loving wife is killed in a home invasion. Quicker than you can say "Rest in pieces," the widowed super-cop is out to settle the score, pistols blazing. His partner (Larenz Tate) tries to keep Sean from losin' it, but there's no stopping the inevitable: viewer numbness.