Review of Already Dead (1998) by Steve P — 16 Feb 2008

Ron Eldard (Black Hawk Down) plays Thomas (Mr.) Archer whose son is killed and wife brutalized. Suddenly, the detective working his case says he has been re-assigned and the case will be dropped (??!!!).

The cop gives Mr. Archer a card to see a therapist (Christopher Plummer). Instantly, I smelled "set up." And so it went, the entire film filled with flashbacks in order to let us know what happened to place Mr.

Archer in his present circumstance. A circumstance that opens with scenes ala Hostel! In the process of slowly torturing the captured (by off-duty cops frustrated with the justice system, duh!) killer (Ron Eldard) Mr.

Archer discovers it may be the wrong man. The remainder of the film has the 2 team up to defeat the bad cops and discover their high tech operation wherein they see pix that prove this was all a setup in order to get Mr.

Archer's money. Lo and behold, guess who is really behind all of this? Well, I have already given away too much. This film is suspenseful but full of "plot" holes throughout, expecially during the "chase" where weapons that are confiscated when run out of bullets, mysterious extra clips show up out of nowhere and when a group of cops discover another cops dead body, instead of speeding up the chase, actually stop long enough for the "good guys" to make it through several scenes.

Another scene where our heroes wander around in a semi-lit room for what seems like forever and we are given the impression that they have reached a dead end when suddenly, after what seems to be at least an hour, they simply wander out another door! 3 stars only for the suspense of wondering whether or not they were going to get out of there alive or kill each other trying to do so.