By Jay Betsill
Bruce Willis (the iconic star of Die Hard) and Cole Hauser (the iconic star of Yellowstone) headline “Acts of Violence,” an action movie that centers on three brothers in Cleveland who are thrust into action when the youngest of the brothers’ fiancee is kidnapped by thugs who work for powerful drug dealer/human trafficker Max Livingston (Mike Epps).
Hauser plays Deklan Macgregor, a war veteran coping with post-traumatic stress, who rarely sees his younger brothers Brandan (Shawn Ashmore) and Roman (Ashton Holmes). Brandan is happily married to Jessica (Tiffany Brouwer) and Roman is engaged to Mia (Melissa Bolona).
When Brandan takes Roman to the local strip club for a pseudo bachelor party, Mia accompanies her girlfriends to a local nightclub for her bachelorette party, where she attracts the attention of Max’s tough guys. When she rejects their advances that includes offers of drugs, Mia goes outside to call Roman. While she is leaving a voice mail, Max’s goons forcefully kidnap her into the back of a van.
The kidnapping sets everything in motion as it brings Detective James Avery (Willis) into the mix since he has been trying to build a case against Max’s brutal operation. While he warns Deklan that vigilantism is against the law as he knows they are going to search for Mia, he is simultaneously frustrated by the lack of support from his superiors.
The extremely predictable screenplay takes some serious topics and brushes them aside in the name of shootouts and one-liners such as Willis dropping “Sayonara” as he watches one of Max’s henchmen fall from the roof of a building.
Many of Willis’ recent movies have only featured him sleepwalking through a few scenes, leading one to believe that he only worked on the film for a few days, but he shows up for business in this one as a cop who was once a ‘Dirty Harry’ type and still has little use for the bureaucrats in charge.
The biggest reason to give this movie a look is Hauser, who gives a strong performance as Deklan, the troubled veteran who steps up for the family knowing that the likelihood that they will never see Mia again if it is left up to the police.
Of note, this is the third collaboration with Willis and Hauser joining A Good Day To Die Hard, Tears Of The Sun and Hart’s War.
“Acts of Violence” gets a marginal recommendation for fans of Willis and Hauser and those who aren’t expecting to see anything original but are looking to kill 84 minutes.
“Acts of Violence” is currently streaming on Netflix and available for rent on Amazon Prime.
ACTS OF VIOLENCE (Rated R)
Scale of 1-10 – 5
