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 ollateral
damage is the term governments use to describe the deaths of ordinary
people who are the unintended casualties of military or terrorist attacks.
It's also the name of what promises to be an intense new action-adventure
thriller starring Arnold
Schwarzenegger.Schwarzenegger plays an ordinary guy, Los Angeles firefighter Gordon Brewer. Brewer is running late, and rushing to meet his wife and son at a downtown highrise, when he witnesses an event that will turn his life inside out. He's just in time to see the building explode, killing his family. The bombing is the work of a Colombia rebel leader nicknamed "The Wolf", whose target was the Colombian Embassy. But, when the deaths are written off as 'collateral damage', Brewer dedicates himself to avenging his family's death. His determination for vengeance pulls him into a much larger world, as he tracks "The Wolf" back to Colombia, and ultimately leads right back to a new planned terrorist attack. Can he stop "The Wolf" and his gang before they create more collateral damage? This, of course, is one of the great thriller plots: Ordinary guy, pulled by circumstances beyond his control, and motivated by deep grief, takes on forces way beyond his experience and his abilities and wins. And A-list Arnold leads |
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an interesting cast of rising stars and
indie veterans in this adventure. New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis is
Schwarzenegger's nemesis. Curtis has become one of the busiest character
actors in the business with consistently strong performances in Blow,
The Insider and Three
Kings. This could also be a very big film for Canada's Elias Koteas - who was very impressive in The Thin Red Line. He stars as CIA agent Peter Brandt. The film's credibility gets a boost from the interesting casting of a couple of terrific American character actors, not normally associated with high volume action - John Turturro and John Leguizamo. The script is based on a story by Ron Roose, a longtime Hollywood film editor turned writer, with Peter and David Griffiths brushing up the script. The Griffiths brothers are on a roll. Their other big project is William Friedkin's The Hunted, starring Benicio del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones, which is scheduled for release later this year. The film is directed by Andrew Davis, who's proved his ability with the thriller genre in such movies as The Fugitive, Under Siege and Above the Law. And the entire crew from cinematographer Adam Greenberg (Rush Hour, Terminator 2: Judgment Day), to stunt coordinator William H. Burton Jr. (Die Hard 2), brings a wealth of experience in successful thrillers. With this kind of team, Collateral Damage could be one of the most satisfying action movies of the year. - Karen Gordon |