He’s a big man and he needs a hug

A Man Apart

Starring Vin Diesel, Larenz Tate, Geno Silva, George Sharperson… A Man Apart

Starring Vin Diesel, Larenz Tate, Geno Silva, George Sharperson

Directed by F. Gary Gray

“A Man Apart” is the best movie Sylvester Stallone never made. Or was it Steven Segal? Well, either or.

The film is as generic an action flick to be found this side of a Stallone, Segal or Rutger Hauer movie, with an equally unoriginal plot, seen a hundred times during the past decade.

A cocky cop makes the big bust, celebrates said bust, has tragedy befall him then takes matters into his own hands, first as a cop then, once he’s stripped of his badge, as a vigilante man on a mission.

The cop in this case is Sean Vetter, played well enough by Vin Diesel who, at times, seems to be channeling Bruce Willis’ look and Stallone’s attitude. He has the obligatory friend/partner, Demetrius Hicks (Larenz Tate), who’s straight-laced as can be until it comes to Vetter; then the rules are out the window. And along for the ride is Big Sexy (George Sharperson), a gang-banger who used to roll with Sean and Demetrius during their banging days and provides them with guns and manpower when they reach the inevitable rouge cop stage of their mission.

The rest of the plot isn’t important and is best left for audiences to discover on their own, though it can be reasonably inferred from the previews.

“A Man Apart,” like so many other current films populating megaplexes today, is a film with a little from this film, something from that one, a pitiful “Usual Suspects”-like twist and nothing original to say.

The action scenes are exciting, at least initially, but by the end of the film they cease to be fun and become annoying and manic. Worse still, the film ends, all told, three times. After the first ending, the hackneyed “Usual Suspects” twist is tacked on, after that ending, a hokey sentimental scene is added and then the film finally ends.

Despite how bland and, at times, visually oppressive the film is, there is one aspect of “A Man Apart” that works. Diesel’s performance is surprisingly good. He rises above the blah material and, admittedly, two-dimensional character to create someone who works on a deeper, subtle level that isn’t impervious to pain and emotion.

His first standout role in “Saving Private Ryan,” though short, was memorable for the same reason. Diesel was the big action-type who talked big and hit hard, but underneath that was a human being, not a caricature. Hopefully, he’ll pick roles in the future that allow him to grow as an actor rather than drag him down into self-parody where so many one-time relevant action stars reside.

Thanks mostly to Diesel, “A Man Apart” is still a fun movie to watch, but it really isn’t worth paying to see. Your local video store offers the same movie done exponentially better at a fraction of the price.