'Linewatch' is a Cuba Gooding Jr dtv title that gets praise for being above decent. The truth is it only looks good in comparison to his worst paycheck movies. Cliché scriptwriting 101, underwritten characters, no great bits of action. It asks viewers to commit to a huge suspension of disbelief and for no reward.
Sgt. Michael Dixon (Gooding) is a six year Border Patrol veteran who's discovery of dead illegals in the back of a storage truck leads to a hunt for the coyote who abandoned them. A backwater house, brief shoutout, his partner gets critically wounded and he lets someone he recognizes get away. In the immediate aftermath, Dixon's boss Cpt. Warren Kane (Dean Norris) shows up looking for clarity and Dixon plays dumb. Turns out he used to be in a street gang and now that they know he's alive, Kimo (Omari Hardwick) the leader is going to use their ex-member to serve their drug running purposes.
This is where the barrel of cliches come rolling out. They go on to hold his wife & daughter captive as leverage. Kane knows somethings up. The evidence from the scene doesn't add. Dixon continues saying nothing and trying to figure a way out from underneath all of this without asking for help or revealing his past. You know doing what the gang asks him isn't going to be that simple.
'Linewatch' is decently made and the acting on display isn't bad, but the whole thing is average. Cuba plays a character that is supposed to be street smart, but he certainly doesn't feel that way. The ending supplies a run-of-the-mill shootout and a dumb conclusion that fits right at home with the subpar story on display here.
Sgt. Michael Dixon (Gooding) is a six year Border Patrol veteran who's discovery of dead illegals in the back of a storage truck leads to a hunt for the coyote who abandoned them. A backwater house, brief shoutout, his partner gets critically wounded and he lets someone he recognizes get away. In the immediate aftermath, Dixon's boss Cpt. Warren Kane (Dean Norris) shows up looking for clarity and Dixon plays dumb. Turns out he used to be in a street gang and now that they know he's alive, Kimo (Omari Hardwick) the leader is going to use their ex-member to serve their drug running purposes.
This is where the barrel of cliches come rolling out. They go on to hold his wife & daughter captive as leverage. Kane knows somethings up. The evidence from the scene doesn't add. Dixon continues saying nothing and trying to figure a way out from underneath all of this without asking for help or revealing his past. You know doing what the gang asks him isn't going to be that simple.
'Linewatch' is decently made and the acting on display isn't bad, but the whole thing is average. Cuba plays a character that is supposed to be street smart, but he certainly doesn't feel that way. The ending supplies a run-of-the-mill shootout and a dumb conclusion that fits right at home with the subpar story on display here.