Until Death (film)

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Until Death
Image:Until death. jpg
Directed by	Simon Fellows
Produced by	Boaz Davidson Moshe Diamant Randall Emmett George Furla Avi Lerner Danny Lerner Matthew O'Toole Trevor Short John Thompson David Varod Les Weldon
Written by	Dan Harris
Starring	Jean-Claude Van Damme Gary Beadle Mark Dymond Selina Giles
Cinematography	Douglas Milsome
Editing by	Matthew Booth
Release date(s)	19 January, 2007
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Until Death is a 2007 crime action drama film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme who plays a dirty cop hooked on heroin whom everybody hates. After nearly dying in a gunfight he falls into a coma. Months later he recovers and gets a second chance. Internet film critics highly praised Van Damme's performance for his dramatic portrayal as a drug-addicted cop as it showed a major performance shift from his stereotypic action hero roles he usually plays.

[edit] Plot

New Orleans narcotics detective Anthony Stowe (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a heroin addict who is teetering on the edge of oblivion, and he couldn't care less.

At the moment, Stowe is trying to bring down his former partner Gabriel Callahan (Stephen Rea), who has become a drug kingpin. Callahan is trying to take over the New Orleans underworld.

Stowe botches a sting operation against Callahan, resulting in the death of fellow cop Maria Ronson (Rachel Grant), whose fiancee, fellow cop Van Huffel (Adam Leese), is furious at Stowe. And Chief Mac Baylor (Gary Beadle) has a chat with Stowe about it.

Van Huffel confronts Stowe, and Van Huffel almost gets beat up. Later, Stowe's wife Valerie (Selina Giles) tells him that she's pregnant, but that he's not the father.

Valerie, whose marriage with Stowe is on the rocks, has been seeing a man named Mark Rossini (Mark Dymond). But he may not be the father either. Stowe thinks Callahan may be the father.

The only thing keeping Stowe from total collapse is his dogged pursuit of Callahan. But Stowe drunkenly stumbles into an ambush masterminded by Callahan, and gets shot.

Stowe undergoes emergencey surgery, and lays in a coma. After he opens his eyes, he is transported to his and Valerie's house to recover.

Seven months after getting shot, Stowe has recovered a lot. Stowe's coma has led to his decision to become a better man, and to right some wrongs.

Stowe has recovered enough to try to get his job back, but that's the one thing that Chief Baylor doesn't want to give him.

Valerie packs up to move out of the house so she can live with Mark, but after realizing the change that Stowe has undergone, she later decides to leave Mark and come back home.

While Stowe is out, and his friend Chad Mansen (Wes Robinson) is visiting, some of Callahan's men show up. They kill Chad, and kidnap Valerie. Stowe returns to the house, and finds Chad's body.

Van Damme promoting the film in 2007

Callahan's right-hand man Jimmy (Stephen Lord), the man who shot Stowe, takes Stowe to a warehouse where Callahan is waiting...and holding a gun on Valerie.

Stowe's friend Walter Curry (Trevor Cooper), a former cop, arrives to help him kill all of Callahan's men, including Jimmy, as Callahan tries to get to his helicopter.

Just as Callahan is about to reach the helicopter with his gun still on Valerie, Stowe grabs Callahan. In the European dvd ending, each fire a shot that kills the other. Valerie cries out. At some point in the future, we see Valerie and a now 3 year old daughter. they place flowers at Stowes grave.

In the North American dvd ending, Stowe fires at Callahan and raises his daughter with Valerie several months after, now a good person.