Body Count (1998)
5/10
Flawed, but Underrated.
12 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Pike (Ving Rhames) is released from jail, Crane (Forest Whitaker), his old partner in crime meets up with him, they plan to rob an art museum, of 15 million dollars of paintings, Pike and Crane are joined by Chino (John Leguizamo), Booker (Donnie Wahlberg), and Hobbs (David Caruso). The heist goes according to plan, but it backfires (thanks to Chino shooting two security guards), Crane gets killed in the process, the rest of them manage to get away, with Crane dead, Pike takes charge, and plans to go to Miami by himself, to meet the buyer, and collect the money, he instructs the others to lay low until he returns (good idea), but the others protest, and it becomes a road trip, one that does not go well, with discontent among the thieves (mostly between Hobbs and Chino) and a hitchhiker (Linda Fiorentino) who has ideas of her own, it gets pretty predictable from this point, but it pays off by the time the film ends.

The cast is pretty solid, Ving Rhames does a great job as the one who tries to keep things from getting out of control, he carries this film. Forest Whitaker also does a good job with his part. David Caruso also is good, you wanna hate this guy, but he grows on you, plus he has most of the good one liners. John Leguizamo's character comes off as super annoying and unlikable, you just want him to shut up. I can't say much about Donnie Wahlberg's character because he gets killed off early in the trip, but he comes off as one of the sane people. Linda Fiorentino does good in her part.

This film is predictable yes, with the familiar premise of a robbery gone awry and everything that follows, it has some good performances from the cast (even though some of the characters are unlikable), some good dialogue, and a great music score. The film does feel a bit rushed at times, but I can't complain too much. I like it for what it is.
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