Aaaahhh Vin Diesel. I have seen him on Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien and I swear he is a poorly programmed robot. I mean most of the time he looks and acts human, but these weird inexplicable tics come up often enough that something is not quite right. He laughs way too hard at the tiniest joke, as if wanting to say “I get that it’s a joke”. He sometimes claps and bends at the waist to express just how much he gets it. He agrees with everything that the interviewer says with total seriousness, often when the interviewer is basically reading the back of the DVD cover back at him:
Interviewer: “Well Vin, in this film your name is Zack Largo, and you play a…”
Vin: “Yes. Spot on Conan. My name is Zack Largo, even though in real life it isn’t! How about that? The director told me this is standard practise. You’ve done your research haven’t you?!?”
And of course I have painted myself into a corner here with the analogy, Vin’s acting is…. Well… Robotic. The man doesn’t say his lines as much as he recites it:
And. Then. We. Will. Go. To. Dinner. Understood?
All this is why A Man Apart is so apt for Vin, as it seems to be written by scriptwriting robot V2.4, and directed by a guy who followed an index rather than a standard plot structure.
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Cliché #1 – Vin and his team are not your average cops.
Vin and his team are closing in on a dangerous criminal in Mexico.
Cliché #2 – You never really stop the bad guy when you it appears that you nail him early in the film.
When dangerous criminal #1 lands in prison (hey Vin always gets his man) it is business as usual, as he continues to run shit from the inside.
Cliché #3 – Dangerous criminal #2 is more vicious and ruthless than Dangerous Criminal #1.
A new bad guy, dangerous criminal #2 arrives on the scene and starts aggressively taking turf, killing everyone in his way.
Cliché #4 – He swears revenge, whatever the cost.
Vin loses someone close to him.
Cliché #5 – The hero can’t act because he is restrained by the law.
Vin gets close to a bad guy. Real close. They talk and trade insults and threats.
Cliché #6 – The Hero is the only one who gets the blame.
There is a shootout with Vin and a bad guy. Many cops are killed, some bad guys and civilians. Everyone is shooting.
Vin is turfed from the force.
Cliché #7 – The Hero goes “off-the-radar” to nab Dangerous Criminal.
He will avenge the death of his wife and solve the case regardless of the cost.
Cliché #8 – Does the Hero “really care too much?”
Vin’s “not your average cop-buddies” disregard all procedure and legality and help him.
Cliché #8 – Lots of people get gunned down, justice gets served to those that deserve it.
A necessary cliche…
Vin and his buddies do years of police work in about a week by ignoring protocol and the law. Most of all Vin does it all his way. Shucks, I just wish there were more like him.
Final Rating – 6 / 10. The dialogue is often laughable, the tone too serious for what is essentially a shlocky effort and the clichés are abundant.
