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A Better Way To Die

2001, Movie, R, 101 mins

A Better Way To Die: Review

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In addition to serving as this film's hunky leading man, fledgling filmmaker Scott Wiper also serves as its talented but unfocused director and clever but undisciplined screenwriter. And over all, that's not a bad score for a young triple threat. After his partner dies in a botched drug sting, Detective Boomer (Wiper) quits the force and heads off to make a fresh start with his girlfriend, Kelly (Natasha Henstridge), in the Midwest. Meanwhile, shadowy mob informant Harrison James (Jefferson Moore) is in trouble: He's got a disc containing information about government secret-sellers, and a domestic spy ring, the Chicago Police and an FBI unit headed by Agent Dexter (Lou Diamond Phillips) all want to get their hands on it. Harrison tells his ex-wife, Salvi (Mirjana Jokovic) that his life is in danger, and she hires a private eye named Flash (Joe Pantoliano) to track him down. Flash gives a lift to Boomer, who's been carjacked en route to his new life, and suddenly he's enmeshed in the complicated affair because he has the misfortune to sound exactly like Harrison. After Flash is killed, Salvi begs Boomer to obtain information by masquerading as Harrison over the phone. Boomer narrowly escapes a mobster named Cleveland (Andre Braugher), who's working with the spy ring, and finds — to his horror — that he can't convince anyone he isn't the real Harrison, who has inconveniently died at the hands of a sniper. Boomer finds the disk hidden in Harrison's shoe, and after the domestic traitors murder Kelly and kidnap Salvi, he agrees to trade the disc for Salvi's freedom. But Boomer can't tell the villains from the good guys, and the identity of the spy ring's mastermind — a man who doesn't believe in leaving witnesses — is only one of many shocks in store for him. Apparently aware that his script is wildly implausible, Wiper wastes no time whisking his hapless protagonist out of the frying pan and into the fire. Although Wiper doesn't tie up all the loose ends, he demonstrates a flair for flashy dialogue and a gift for absurdist paranoia. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
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