Man on Fire

The next film we will be looking at is the 2004 wrongfully bashed by critics, “Man on Fire.” When we first meet Creasy, played by Denzel Washington, a tired ex-Special Forces Marine whose training and past deeds we can simply, his feeling is one of general exhaustion and misery. Hoping to escape from everything, he comes to Mexico to be with his old friend and partner Rayburn, played by Christopher Walken, a man who is enjoying the good life, surrounded by girls. He understands Creasy is a man who needs a job more than he needs to be in a relationship and Rayburn quickly finds him one, or at least, an interview for one.

With four kidnappings a day occurring, it’s a little worry that Mexican businessman, Samuel (Marc Anthony), and his American wife, Lisa (Radha Mitchell) are trying to replace the bodyguard they fired. Creasy meets first with Samuel who prepares him for the more important meeting with Lisa. Informing of the qualifications she’s been looking for, Creasy is hired, meets the child, 10-year-old, intelligent as a tick, Lupita, played by Dakota Fanning, a kid with a quick and intrusive head. Her attempts to get to know her bodyguard go twisted when Creasy rejects the child’s attempts at friendship, staying away from any bond that he’ll later regret. He’s the patient professional with a drinking problem, and keeps his emotional distance from this attractive child.

He doesn’t fear for her life, but he wants to end his own. At one point, he tries to shoot himself in the head but the bullet doesn’t fire. Shocked and confused about surviving his own suicide, he looks for meaning and purpose. That comes with Lupita. Jules Brenner said in his review, “For the rest of the first act he completely connects with her and a bond develops between them that is a satisfying wonder to behold.” He trains her for the swim meet at school, taking her from barely third place to first.

Just as they’re getting closer, we get the inevitable feeling that this is a set up for something bad. With all the talk about the kidnapping for riches, we know exactly what is going to happen. When it happens, Creasy kills four corrupt cops in their kidnapping attempt before the surviving ones succeeds in kidnapping her. Brenner noted, “He also takes a bullet in a very serious place, putting him out of commission for awhile. When he learns that the $20 mil ransom exchange went bad and that it's too late to save Pita, the expert on very personal assassination has been unleashed, vowing to take down anyone who had anything to do with the kidnapping.”

His story is brought to the attention of newspaper reporter Mariana, played by Rachel Ticotin, who helps him identify some of the suspects from clues. Creasy then gets them one by one and uses interrogation techniques never seen on NYPD. Brenner said, “Each thug he tracks down furnishes a lead to the next as Creasey works his way up the food chain of the dreaded organization known as "hermanidades." To be one means never to be punished for a crime... any crime, no matter how ruthless and depraved.”

Brenner continued, “This is a first rate revenge yarn, the key to which is to involve us with the people and with the loss that is being revenged. That gets us on the side of the guy doing the avenging and, because of Washington's superb gifts and stores of charisma, he can be casual in the way he exercises them. Because of the value we feel for the loss of the girl, he can do no wrong. We are with him. His tirade of merciless payback and the bloodiness of his punishments raises cheers.”

Screenwriter Brian Helgeland is a man on fire. Brenner said, “He turns in a masterfully structured screenplay which capitalizes on our natural desire to right a wrong and punish the guilty. His first act slowly and assuredly gets us into a man on the end of his rope whose feeling of self worth is revived by love for a little girl. Which makes it all the more dynamic when he goes after the people who took her. The intensity of our feeling of support for his actions depends entirely on how much our feelings are touched by the development of that relationship.” The script was based on the novel by A.J. Quinnell.

Brenner mentioned, “Praise for the writer doesn't minimize the powerfully effective direction by Tony Scott who, if he's to be criticized for anything it would be his visually overflashy scene segues.” However, he got all the other aspects exactly right.

This is a really powerful movie that I think everyone will enjoy if they see it. When you see just how much Denzel loses it when Dakota Fanning gets kidnapped, you could probably relate to this if you were in charge of protecting someone’s kid. Check it out and have a time that you’ll never forget once you watch this.

Look out next week to see what I will finish “Denzel Washington Month” off with.