action
it mostly played like an crime thriller, while the ending played like an action movie.
shareI found it to be cleverly subversive of action films in general.
(SPOILERS)
The film plays out and ends, more or less, like a typical action movie--all the "bad guys" die in the end and the "hero" once again earns the respect of his pig-headed superior and is reinstated. The so-called hero even utters a pithy one-liner to the mortally wounded drug dealer as he rushes off the deal with the henchman ("Sorry, Bruno"!)
In your standard action fare, this would be considered the "good ending".
However, the ending is clearly portrayed as anything but good as it's revealed the "heroic" agent is headed down a very dark path indeed. Consumed by hatred, he's been given over to his own depraved mind (Romans 1:28). No wonder his big showdown was not with the repentant drug dealer Bruno--the main guy he was after--but rather the likewise depraved and unrepentant henchman Charlie.
Kind of makes you look at action "heroes" who leave a trail of bodies in their wake--dudes like John Matrix (Commando) or John McClane (Die Hard franchise)--in a whole new light.
It felt blasphemous and cheesy with those scenes.
I thought it was brutally honest and a fairly accurate portrayal of the pitfalls of sin.
Yes, it is sad when you see someone so consumed with fear, anger, and hatred that he willfully refuses the Truth when it's literally (in this case) staring him in the face.
That's reality for many lost people, unfortunately.