MovieChat Forums > Pistol Whipped (2008) Discussion > Was anyone else surprised with Seagal's ...

Was anyone else surprised with Seagal's acting in this?


Now let me clarify, this is SEAGAL here. It is quite easy to be surprised by him on an acting level if you don't expect much, hell his fight scene performances too. The guy is really lucky to be able to carry around the weight and height he is at, do all the things he does (including being an active cop in New Orleans) without any known back, knee, etc. kind of problems. From what I hear he actually does eat fairly well but who really knows? There have been many fighters and martial arts that had glandular problems (Tex Cobbs, a heavyweight boxer, regularly went 15 rounds but looked like Butterbean, or worse, for an example.) Anyway, I think what really got many of us on the whole "Seagal is fat" thing is we actually saw it happen, each movie he got a little puffier, until Exit Wounds, where he was skinnier then he was in even Hard to Kill. People thought he had turned around, then something happened, less then a year give or take later, he did that movie with Ja Rule. And he was starting to bloat up again.
With Samo Hung (SP?) this was never really the case. He was always a larger man, but he played off of it. He started with some comedy, I think even being called "The Fat Dragon" etc., but he made it work, he made it look good too. Some of the greatest fight scenes of all time can be attributed to both of these heavyweight fighters with such vastly different styles. But the biggest seperator for me is Seagal always seemed to have more potential, and he let his head get too big. I've seen great glimpses of him having a ball playing the roles he was comfortable with. He just never let himself grow outside of that comfort zone. I don't know if he sold-out, stopped caring, or if he geniunly believes he is putting out a halfway decent product. It kinda pisses me off that I am this 23 year old disabled boxer that would, train, train hard to be in Seagal's position and I have no idea if the fool appreciates what he has. He honestly has a talent for aikido, martial arts, fighting, etc. But there are so many god damn stories about this guy you don't know what to think. I wouldn't be suprised if there was a movie made about him in 20 years that ended up being more interesting then anything he put out lol.
At least we can attribute him to bringing a very interesting style and almost helping bring stuff like Taken and Bourne into fruition with his special-forces style fighting instead of your basic karate, or kung fu that was on display by the dozens.

Now he gets to Pistol Whipped, an almost 20 anniversary of when he started his film career. And he is showing a smidgeon of promise yet again. His chemistry with the young girl in this was great, I really bought the scenes he was in with her. The martial arts was not there, hardly, the gun fighting was fair at best, but it was entirely watchable. Seagal and Hennrikson both put in good performances for what they had.
I wish Seagal would try doing this type of character more often. Accepting his age, and shape, taking a faltering hero role would be great for him. JCVD (the movie) really showed Jean Claude as a human being with some great chops if given the right material. I think Seagal can have the same happen to him. It doesn't have to be even near what JCVD was in style or substance.
But I would really dig seeing him pair up with a rising action star, and get his ass handed to him, get really beat down by this person early on. Make it look like there is no redemption for himself, then later on Seagal humbles this guy. Yeah, its a basic formula, but one Seagal has not tried. A medium that work for him if you ask me.

Sorry about the long-drawn out post. I did not mean for that. But state what you think if you so please. Thanks!

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