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	Man On Fire
	Tony Scott Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Giannini, Rachel Ticotin, Jesús Ochoa, Mickey Rourke 2004		Trim a half-hour from the violent revenge thriller "Man on Fire," rewrite the more formulaic lines spouted at moments of high drama, and tweak a few gratuitous performance quirks. That might have made this Denzel Washington vehicle more than just another elaborate potboiler. It's a worst-case-scenario movie about an alcoholic ex-Special Forces soldier named Creasy (Washington) who's hired as a bodyguard for a precocious little girl from an upper-class family in Mexico City. The teeming Mexican capital is depicted as a hotbed of ransom-driven kidnapping plots, and the parents (Radha Mitchell, Marc Anthony) of nine-year-old Pita fear their daughter is a prime target. Although Creasy is unstable, he's entrusted with Pita. She takes to the surly bastard and, reluctantly, he bonds with her — sure signs that trouble is imminent. For all his weaknesses, Creasy is a guy that you don't want to cross. Of course, there's no show unless he's set off. Washington is the heavy lifter, but the casting of adorable, accomplished-beyond-her-years Dakota Fanning as Pita was pivotal in creating empathy with the anti-hero and his charge. Director Tony Scott knows how to set up tension and deliver action. The actors, including the great Christopher Walken and Giancarlo Giannini, do the rest to make "Man on Fire" seem more significant than it is.


	Wednesday, December 18, 2024





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