A Better Way to Die

Scott Wiper. Scott Wiper... The name doesn't ring a bell does it? Neither did it to me. I was browsing my friends DVD collection and came across this little gem. On asking him what was it like he said just watch it and see. So I did and found it highly enjoyable.

Scott Wiper is a young actor, writer, producer, director and has gathered himself a cast that would be at the top of any hollywood directors wish list. Joe Pantaliano, Lou Diamond Phillips, Natasha Henstridge and Andre Braugher. All involved in this movie are showing the acting talents that they are capable and are clearly having fun and this fun exerts itself over the viewer.

Scott Wiper is Boomer, a chicago cop, who becomes disenchanted with the big city life after a bust. He embarks on a road trip to get to former girlfriend, who still loves him, in the picturesque village of Cedar Falls. Then all hell breaks loss...

This film is notable for a few things. Wiper as lead actor, writer, and director, Joe Pantaliano in a typically strong performance as a bizarre one-armed detective named Flash, and how wiper has managed to create a movie that looks big budget on an obviously low budget. The fantastic locals and the brilliant action scenes hint at a director who could accomplish big things given the time and the money.

At times i was thinking that Boomer's day couldn't get any worse but this helps us in feeling more sympathetic towards him in his quest to get home.

Finally i highly enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to any self respecting fan of the action genre. A definate winner 8.5!

When the movie started i thought that its gonna be just another one of those stupid ones where the most important thing is a car blowing up. That would be my guess but as the story developed after 15 minutes, the movie got better. A variety of good characters made it even better and a touch of humor even more. But this does not mean that things wont be blowing up. The story is also developing pretty good and it takes unexpected turns as the good guy turn bad and the bad ones turn good. The whole concept of a dude being in the wrong place at the wrong time is good and till the end you'll just be waiting for it to hit you with another new situation that you haven't seen before, nor later.

A BETTER WAY TO DIE is an entertaining, albeit mindless, low-budget action film. Like many films in this direct-to-video niche, there's no rhyme or reason to why things happen in DIE, except simply to say that things happen because it leads to other things happening, such as the constant gunfights and other action-related sequences.

Basically a string of shootouts and violent deaths linked together by an afterthought of a story, A BETTER WAY TO DIE is still quite entertaining. That is, if you manage to turn off your brain and realize that the reason cops never show up is because it would ruin the next upcoming gunfight.

Of note is Lou Diamond Phillips, who continues his string of Cheesy Villains in these direct-to-video action films. What has happened, Lou?

5 out of 10.

As a serious crime drama, this totally sucks. But if viewed as a spoof on the genre, it's quite amusing. Every cliche is squeezed into the plot; much of the action is over-the-top. If they were trying for a hard-core, gritty flick to be taken seriously, they flopped. But if seen as a less-slapstick variation on films like Clive Owens' underappreciated Shoot'Em Up, it plays a lot better.

Nothing particularly unique about this movie, but it held my attention all the way through. Solid acting, direction, reasonably interesting story, good cast of characters; about the only complaint I would make is that I always felt like I was missing something. That's not specific enough to be of much use, I suppose, but it's as close as I can get to verbalizing my complaint. I give this one 6/10; watch it if you don't have anything else to do.