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A Man Apart

Vin Diesel plays a DEA agent with revenge on his mind.

FILM FACTS

Starring: Vin Diesel, Timothy Olyphant, Jacqueline Obradors and Geno Silva
Director: F. Gary Gray
Rating: R for graphic violence, profanity, drug content and sexuality
Genre: Crime, Action

Discuss this film | Official movie site

See showtimes (R) 109 minutes

Grade: B-

Verdict: Old-school action flick with a heart -- and better than all the Chuck Norris movies combined.

By BOB LONGINO
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Vin Diesel wants you to know he can do a lot more than flex.

With little effort he can already out-act Seagal, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, Stallone and, especially, Chuck Norris.

That's not saying a lot. But in these days of loud, all-blowed-up action movies, it can be enough.

"A Man Apart" is Diesel's latest, and unlike last summer's "XXX" and "The Fast and the Furious" from the summer before that, it is vintage old-school heroism. In other words: an action film wrapped in head-lowered heartache, rabid revenge, a few furious fists and near melodrama.

Give director F. Gary Gray ("The Negotiator," "Set It Off") props for not making a completely clichéd glop of cinematic hokum. "A Man Apart" does have moments of mental conflict, a few actual characters and a concerted reach for something more dramatic than a good, bullet-riddled gunfight.

Diesel plays Sean Vetter, a U.S. drug agent very good at his job and very much in love with his wife. He's so giddy with goo-goo eyes for the gal you just know she's marked for death.

After the majorest of drug cartel busts, a new, mysterious drug lord emerges. He's known only as Diablo and he leaves calling cards. Like his name sliced into the back of a dead dealer. It isn't long before he goes gunning for Sean. And that's when our hero's missus bites the big one.

Sean and his partner, Demetrius (Larenz Tate), then hunt the diabolical Diablo. As you'd expect, all hell breaks loose. That includes a nicely staged gunfight; a funny, four-legged drug sniffer (it's a Chihuahua); and an ugly cuss with tattoos for eyebrows.

Director Gray stuffs his flick with so many named locations in California and Mexico, so many military-garbed henchmen, so many deals and conferences and discussions, you'd swear he thought he was making "Traffic." This movie's a lot dumber than that one. But it's also a lot smarter than, say, Seagal's earlier dead-wife revenge thriller, "Hard to Kill."

"A Man Apart" sort of lures you away from its somewhat predictable story line. It also takes its time to try to say things about life and love that other films in the genre simply won't bother with.

"A Man Apart" was filmed almost two years ago, and it's been touch-and-go whether it would ever make it to the big screen. First, the original title, "El Diablo," came under fire from the "Diablo" video game maker. Later, distributor New Line Cinema reportedly found fault with the film's ending and wanted a redo. That was apparently done around the filming of "XXX."

What one imagines must be the redone scene is a bit of a puzzler. It really looks and feels like nothing else in the movie. And it's more in line with what you'd expect to see in a film starring Seagal, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, Stallone or, saddest of all, Chuck Norris.