The Plot…<\/strong><\/p>\nEx-CIA operative John Creasey (Washington) is in a bad way.\u00a0 He’s burnt out, out of shape and drinks too much.\u00a0 Creasey’s guilt over past missions makes him question living.\u00a0 Then an old CIA buddy, Paul Rayburn (Walken) throws Creasey a lifeline.<\/p>\n
Samuel Ramos (Anthony), a wealthy Mexican, needs protection for his young daughter Pita (Fanning). Kidnappings in Mexico are on the rise.\u00a0 Ramos’ insurance policy requires a full time bodyguard.\u00a0 Creasey is reluctant to take the job, but needs the work.\u00a0 Initially cold and professional to Pita, she slowly wins him over.\u00a0 Creasey stops drinking as much.\u00a0 His attitude towards life improves.<\/p>\n
Then the unthinkable happens.<\/p>\n
As two crooked Mexican Federales block the street kidnappers come for Pita.\u00a0 Creasey kills four but is shot repeatedly as Pita is kidnapped.\u00a0 Negotiations for Pita’s return go on as Creasey recovers.\u00a0 Ten million dollars is the demand for Pita’s return.\u00a0 When the ransom drop goes sideways, the money is taken, but Pita isn’t returned.<\/p>\n
The family gets a call from the kidnappers.\u00a0 Because of the ambush, Pita will be lost forever.<\/p>\n
Still not fully recovered, Creasey promises to kill everyone involved in Pita’s kidnapping.<\/p>\n
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nScreenwriter Brian “LA Confidential”<\/em> Helgeland was in a video store.\u00a0 He asked the clerk to recommend a good movie. “Man on Fire”<\/em> (1987) was suggested.\u00a0 The clerk who suggested the film was Quentin Tarantino.<\/p>\nFor filming in Mexico, bodyguards were provided for the stars.\u00a0 Tony Scott had been warned his production had been targeted.\u00a0 Several crew members ended up being robbed at gunpoint.\u00a0 Mexico City’s Chief of Police served as a consultant.\u00a0 It was his hope the movie would raise awareness about the rash of kidnappings.<\/p>\n
The novel takes place in Italy, but when this version was being made, Mexico had become infamous for kidnappings.\u00a0 So the location was changed.<\/p>\n
If you enjoy noir, then Man on Fire<\/em> is for you.<\/p>\nDakota Fanning is amazing in this role.\u00a0 Watching her and Denzel Washington in their scenes is like viewing a masterclass of acting.<\/p>\n
Christopher Walken has a great line when he says about Denzel’s character: “A man can be an artist… in anything, food, whatever. It depends on how good he is at it. Creasy’s art is death. He’s about to paint his masterpiece.”<\/em><\/p>\nMan on Fire<\/b><\/i><\/em> (2004) <\/strong>rates 5 of 5 stars.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stallonezone.com\/zone\/logo\/zview_a.png\")
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Man on Fire (2004) Director: Tony Scott Screenplay: Brian Helgeland based on MAN ON FIRE by A. J. Quinnell Stars:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,17,51,54,65,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-celebs","category-crime","category-movies","category-trivia","category-z-view"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37332"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37352,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332\/revisions\/37352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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