Get Carter (2000 film)

Get Carter

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Stephen Kay
Produced by Mark Canton
Neil Canton
Elie Samaha
Screenplay by David McKenna
Based on Jack's Return Home 
by Ted Lewis
Starring Sylvester Stallone
Miranda Richardson
Rachael Leigh Cook
Alan Cumming
Mickey Rourke
Michael Caine
Music by Tyler Bates
Cinematography Mauro Fiore
Edited by Jerry Greenberg
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • October 6, 2000
Running time
 102 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $63.6 million
Box office $19,412,993

Get Carter is a 2000 American thriller film, a remake of the Michael Caine 1971 film of the same name, and directed by Stephen Kay. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Miranda Richardson, Rachael Leigh Cook, Alan Cumming, Mickey Rourke, John C. McGinley, Michael Caine, and Rhona Mitra. The film was released in the United States on October 6, 2000 (see 2000 in film).

The film was released by Warner Bros., which had recently acquired the distribution rights via Turner Entertainment to the original.

Plot

Mob enforcer Jack Carter returns home to Seattle, Washington when he hears that his brother, Ritchie, has been killed in a drunk driving accident. While he starts investigating Ritchie's murder, his mob partner in Las Vegas, Con McCarty, covers for him with the mob boss, Fletcher. Carter was having an affair with Fletcher's girlfriend, Audrey.

His first stop in his investigation is with loan shark Cliff Brumby, the owner of the club that Ritchie managed. However, Brumby does not believe Jack's allegations of murder, but does tell him that Ritchie was having an affair with Geraldine, an associate of local boss Cyrus Paice.

Jack cannot get anything from Paice, who unknowingly leads him to Jeremy Kinnear, a wealthy computer mogul. Although he cannot get any straight answers, Jack continues to pursue the truth, carefully examining the surveillance tapes from Brumby's club, looking for any sort of clue.

Jack discovers that Paice had made an amateur porn movie where he and Geraldine would pick up different young girls, drug them and rape them. Jack watches the film and learns that Doreen was one of the victims. However, Paice and those who helped him make the disc did not know that Doreen was Ritchie's daughter. Before he died, Ritchie was given the disc by Geraldine. Meanwhile, Ritchie was murdered as he was taking the disc to the police, with Paice having it set up to look like an accident.

After getting a call from Audrey, who breaks up with him, Con and a fellow gangster from Las Vegas track Jack down and confront him after Jack says he is done with Las Vegas. After knocking both of the men out, Jack has a talk with Doreen about what happened.

Intending to settle the score, Jack begins a path of vengeance. He gets a frantic, apologetic call from Geraldine, who tells him Cyrus is coming to kill her. After he finds Geraldine's body, Carter heads to Eddie's apartment, and throws Eddie off of a balcony to his death. Later, Carter gets involved in a car chase with Con and the other gangster, only to lose them when he causes them to lose control of their vehicle. Visiting Kinnear's house, he confronts Cyrus, who tells Jack that he should be going after Kinnear, because Kinnear is the man behind Ritchie's murder. Cyrus starts to walk towards the glass doors, Jack attempts to hit him from behind, but Cyrus sees him in the reflection and ducks. Jack crashes through the doors, and is unable to recover as Cyrus then pummels him to the ground. However, Cyrus makes a comment that Jack's brother put up more of a fight than he did, thereby admitting that he was involved in his brother's death. Cyrus then walks away and joins some women on the busy dance floor.

Bloodied, Jack gets up and follows Cyrus to the dance floor for a second confrontation stating "You should finish what you start." Cyrus agrees, and as it seems like he is turning to walk away again he tries to sucker punch Jack, but Jack floors Cyrus with one punch. Jack proceeds to brutally beat Cyrus as he is lying on the floor. Jack then pulls his pistol and puts it to Cyrus's face. It seems as though Jack is going to pull the trigger but Cyrus does not seem to be blinking or reacting to the fact that Jack is going to shoot him, implying that Cyrus is already dead from the beating.

He then confronts Kinnear, who says that all he told Cyrus to do was get the disc back from Ritchie, not kill him, and that it was Cyrus and Brumby who committed the murder. Carter decides to show Kinnear mercy.

Carter catches Brumby attempting to steal the disk from his rental car. Brumby admits that he was involved in the murder, and he warns Jack that killing him will force him to run for the rest of his life. As Brumby is walking away Carter calls out to him, but Brumby says he won't turn around. Jack shoots him in the back.

After settling the score for his dead brother, Carter meets Doreen one last time at Ritchie's grave. He is clean shaven now and explains to her that he has to go away for a while. He tells her to remember that she is special and they say their goodbyes. Carter is next seen getting in his car, and opening a map that leads to Las Vegas.

Cast

Reception

Critical reaction was negative. The film received a 12% favorable rating among the critics tracked by Rotten Tomatoes.[2] It did not do well at the box office, with worldwide takings of approximately US$19 million, less than the production budget of nearly $64 million.

Among the positive reviews, JoBlo.com praised "the sharp turn given by Sly Stallone, its groovy tunes, and its generally dark and gritty nature."[3] Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire called the film "a stimulating visual showcase of stylish film making that keeps a viewer's attention."[4] Chuck O'Leary of FulvueDrive-in.com said that "the original Get Carter is better, but this is quite watchable as far as modern-era remakes go".[5]

Shawn Levy of the Portland Oregonian gave an average review, saying that while "the film doesn't touch the original, it doesn't hit rock bottom, either."[6] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times said the film is "not a terrible movie" but "too routine for its own good."[7] Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle said that "the film itself is a muddle, but what is good is Stallone".[8] Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle said the film "is murkier than it needs to be, through no fault of Stallone's".[9]

Among the negative reviews, Todd McCarthy of Variety called the film "a useless remake."[10] Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times said that the film is "so minimally plotted that not only does it lack subtext or context, but it also may be the world's first movie without even a text".[11] Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News called the film "a throwaway story hidden beneath a messy jumble of weird camera angles, worthless editing tricks and an ill-placed, obnoxious score".[12]

The film was nominated for Worst Actor (Sylvester Stallone) and Worst Remake or Sequel at the 21st Golden Raspberry Awards in 2000.[13]

Home media

DVD was released in Region 1 on February 13, 2001, and Region 2 on 24 June 2002, it was distributed by Warner Home Video.

References

  1. ↑ "GET CARTER (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2000-11-20. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  2. ↑ Get Carter, Rotten Tomatoes
  3. ↑ JoBlo.com review
  4. ↑ SPLICEDWire review
  5. ↑ Review by Chuck O'Leary, FulvueDrive-in.com
  6. ↑ Review by Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian
  7. ↑ Review by Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
  8. ↑ Review by Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
  9. ↑ Review by Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle
  10. ↑ Review by Todd McCarthy, Variety
  11. ↑ Review by A.O. Scott, The New York Times
  12. ↑ Review by Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
  13. ↑ 2000 RAZZIE® Nominees & "Winners"

External links