If you pay me enough, I'll probably kill anything that breathes.
If you pay them enough, they'll probably star in anything. Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Dolph Lundgren have fallen from grace these past few years,
plummeting from the heights of Oscar wins and muscular big movie lead action roles, respectively, and into the straight-to-video bargain bin. They're
the new Steven Seagal, former big names reduced to taking any work they can find, no matter the quality of script or likelihood of wide success
(though in Dolph's defense he's beginning to ride a new wave of mainstream success with The Expendables 2). In
One in the Chamber (so named for an unfired round in the barrel of a gun), Gooding sulks and Lundgren hams it up. The difference in
approach is obvious, though certainly the actions are driven more by plot than personal attitude. Gooding's character is one of those "reluctant
villains" who wants to escape his world and settle down (there's even a mystery love interest) while Lundgren plays the villain who loves his work and
finds his thrills in the violence he so expertly dishes out. Of course they come to blows, and there's the messy backdrop of the Eastern European
mafia to confuse matters more than is necessary. The movie works as a serviceable time-killer. It's a pretty straightforward direct-to-video Action
flick, one easily judged by the cover and just
good enough to warrant a watch on a really slow day. Plus, it has Lundgren at his very best. Really.
.50 caliber Good-ing-ness.
Ray Carver (Cuba Gooding, Jr., Sacrifice) is a hit man working out of Prague. He's a "fixer," a man
who solves problems between warring mob families behind the trigger of a gun. He's been hired by the Suverov crime family, headed by Mikhail
(Andrew Bicknell) and underboss Bobby (Leo Gregory). They're upset that the Tavanian family, headed by Vlad (Alin Panc) and underboss Demyan
Ivanov (Louis Mandylor), is working with Czech drug czar Nicholi and thereby upsetting several years of peace between the families. The Suverovs
have hired Ray to wipe out the Tavanians. In a sniper attack, Ray kills several men, including Vlad. Demyan survives and vows revenge. He hires
Ray away from the Suverovs to target the Tavanians, a job Ray reluctantly accepts. Ray's been wanting to turn things around, become closer to a
girl he keeps an eye on from a distance, Janice Knowles (Claudia Bassols). But Ray is forced to take the job, even if it might cost him his soul and
ignite an
all-out war in Prague. In retaliation, the Suverovs hire the legendary and mysterious hit man Aleksey "The Wolf" Andreev (Dolph Lundgren, Masters of the Universe) to take out Ray and the Tavanians once and for
all.
It might sound easy and repetitive, but the truth is that One in the Chamber is a classic "seen one, seen 'em all" sort of cinema affair. It's
one
of the new wave of direct-to-video pictures that strive for heightened character development in addition to heart-stopping action. And like so many
others, it comes up short of both goals. Gooding's character is a brooding sort who quotes scripture and yearns for a better life. He doesn't like his
job,
but he does it for the money. Plus, he manages to keep an eye on his love interest, a woman over whom he obsesses, taking her picture and
precisely
placing it in a scrapbook. The depth the script efforts to give the character proves rather shallow; it doesn't go very far, and it never strays far from
cliché,
either. Gooding gives it the old monotone try, playing the part with a stoic, almost emotionless front, empty behind the eyes and searching for a
soul
and a way out. That's what the character calls for, and Gooding plays the part well enough. The problem is that there's no energy: can't have an
action hero -- even one in the guise of a villain -- with near zero personality. On the flip side is Lundgren, who turns in, arguably, the best
performance of his career. He acts like he was born
to
play this part, looking suave and having fun with killing his prey with precision, right down to the last bullet, knowing his skills are just better than
theirs and by a large margin at that. He lights up the movie, energizes an otherwise dull affair, and is the quintessential "root for the bad guy"
character if only because he breathes life into a movie that otherwise has but a faint pulse.
Aside from its wishy-washy character roster, the main attraction to a movie like One in the Chamber is its action. Sadly, it's rather standard
stuff. It's the usually array of shoot-em-up and beat-em-up elements audiences have seen countless times before, usually better, and oftentimes
significantly so. The movie crafts its action with little perceptible urgency. It aims for a blend of stylish, serious, and energetic, hinting at all but
never quite finding firm footing with any. The gunplay sees the characters blasting one another with moderate intensity, the best "firefight" coming
early on when Cuba's character blasts his targets from afar with a .50 caliber rifle, causing not only bloody mayhem but destroying the enemy's
surroundings. Lundgren's calm, cool, and collected gun battles are pretty much one-sided, and his effortless approach is the movie's action highlight.
There's a good rumble between the video stars partway through the movie, but most of the rest of the action is of the garden-variety DTV type.
Director William Kaufman (The Hit List, another Gooding DTV vehicle) doesn't depend on too
much handheld and instead
seems content to allow the action to play out on its own terms rather than try and make the camera a piece of the puzzle. That's a plus, but he also
doesn't do much more than a freeze-frame with identifying text to sort out the many eastern European mob players who are essential to the plot
but a bit of a challenge to keep straight without taking notes and hitting the pause button with regularity.
One in the Chamber makes its Blu-ray debut with a high quality 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. Anchor Bay's video presentation impresses
from start to finish with bright, even colors and consistent, eye-catching details. Though there's minor blocking and some light shimmering on a few
skyscrapers at film's open and, later, on a gray striped shirt, the transfer proves proficient and a pleasure to behold throughout. Details are exceptional
across the board. Close-ups reveal an amazing amount of facial information, right down to the finest pore and line. Clothes are equally well displayed,
and the transfer captures natural and manmade environmental details with remarkable precision, such as chipped paint and scuffed wooden surfaces.
Colors are bold and bright but true-to-life. There's nothing garish, and the transfer handles bright red furniture and The Wolf's loud casual shirts with
effortless precision. There's a hint of unnatural warmth at times, but flesh tones are mostly true and blacks honest. The HD video source yields a hint of
glossiness and flatness, but not to any sort of distracting level. Though the audio's a disappointment (see below), this video transfer rocks.
One in the Chamber features a disappointing Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This one doesn't excel beyond a midlevel lossy
presentation. It's toned down and front-heavy, not at all immersive and certainly lacking in body and verve. The deliberately scratchy opening title
music plays with fair front end spacing and good clarity, but not much raw volume. It's almost to the point that it seems timid and reserved, a trait that
sadly carries on over to the action scenes. Gunfire is downright puny and sounds as if it's disinterested in reality, or at least effort. Even shots from
Ray's .50 caliber rifle just sort of plop into the soundstage with no real power. The gunfights are ripe for more, but muddled, tame, and even sometimes
hard-to-hear shots rule the day. The same goes for explosions; where's the strength? Fortunately, the track does allow a hint of city ambience to float
into the backs, and dialogue plays smoothly and without much trouble in terms of clarity and volume. Otherwise, this one's a big old disappointment.
Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of One in the Chamber contains only one extra, 'One in the Chamber:' Behind the Scenes (1080p, 9:45),
a feature that offers Gooding, Jr. and Lundgren discussing the plot and the story's themes. It also contains a good amount of raw behind-the-scenes,
on-set footage. A DVD copy of the film is also included on disc two.
One in the Chamber isn't a terrible movie in the grand scheme of things, and it's saved from oblivion by a deviously wonderful performance by
Dolph Lundgren in what is arguably the best work of his lengthy career. He alone is reason to catch the movie. The rest of it's rather bland, including a
stiff performance of an equally stiff character by Oscar winner Cuba Gooding, Jr. The plot is dull, somewhat overly complex, and the action's
unremarkable, but do check out
One in the Chamber for Dolph's great work. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of One in the Chamber features good video,
disappointing audio, and only one supplement. Rent it.
Blu-ray.com and Anchor Bay Entertainment are offering three members an opportunity to win a copy of One in the Chamber, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Dolph Lundgren. Director William Kaufman's assassin vs. assassin action thriller arrives on Blu-ray on August ...
