Caught in the Crossfire Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		2.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		1.5

Caught in the Crossfire Blu-ray Movie Review

I still can't figure out if this was meant to be a spoof...

Reviewed by Dustin Somner July 16, 2010

If anyone ever tells you cast selection is a secondary concern in the success of a film, point them in the direction of Caught in the Crossfire. Written and directed by newcomer Brian Miller, the film is a low-budget entry in the “dirty cop” genre, starring a cast of recognizable but insignificant faces. Among the primary players, we have Chris Klein (that’s right, the baby-faced guy from the American Pie series) tackling the role of a veteran detective with a chip on his shoulder, 50 Cent playing an informant/thug, and Adam Rodriguez filling his vacation time from “CSI: Miami” with an unsuccessful bid for the big screen. Out of the three actors, the award for shockingly embarrassing performance will no doubt land in Chris Klein’s hands, though I’m not entirely sure it was his fault. After all, the decision to cast him in this role makes about as much sense as casting Miley Cyrus as the queen of England, since we all know certain actors lack the range to step away from their normal comfort zone. We’ll get back to that in a few paragraphs, but in the meantime let’s touch on the well-worn synopsis.

"Aw shucks guys, I just went down to the golly gee river and found my ex-partner dead."

Following the murder of his ex-partner, Detective Briggs (Chris Klein) and his new partner, Detective Shepherd (Adam Rodriguez) follow a trail of breadcrumbs in search of those responsible. Assuming initially that the death is related to gangland violence on the turf of the “Vice Lords”, the two cops track down the partner of the slain officer, who points them in the direction of a drug informant named Tino (Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson), who possesses knowledge of a shady conspiracy between a local amateur boxer and several members of the police force. When the detectives attempt to apprehend the young boxer for questioning, a deadly firefight ensues, leaving multiple suspects dead and the two detectives in the interrogation chair of their local precinct.

You probably can’t tell from the synopsis, but I’d wager Brian Miller (writer/director) is a huge fan of The Usual Suspects. Between the method of delivery (told primarily in flashbacks) and the twist ending, we end up with a production that borrows heavily from other films within the same genre, but not in a way that pays homage. This shouldn’t be viewed as a significant detriment considering the quality of films used as inspiration, but it does remove a bit of clever impact with the absence of originality. The other moderate problem with the storyline of the film has to do with a series of revelations and character introductions we simply don’t care about. The core investigation involves a series of encounters with cast-away fringe characters that point to the next person on the food chain. We know this trail will eventually lead somewhere significant (or at least we hope it does), but considering the flashbacks of the investigation account for nearly 2/3 of the runtime, I doubt you’ll come away feeling satisfied with the necessary time investment.

As promised, it’s time for us to get back to the key disappointment in the entire production. I’m capable of forgiving the rip-off storyline, weak production values, and shoddy hand-held cinematography, but the horrific acting by Chris Klein was enough to induce fits of laughter. Nothing against the guy personally, but he simply doesn’t possess the skills necessary to pull off a role of this sort, and it shows in every scene he populates. Sporting what sounds like the worst Boston accent I’ve heard in a long time, Klein scowls and growls his way through every line of dialog with the ferocity of a kitten. Had this been a comedy, his tongue-in-cheek portrayal may have been marked as pure genius, but given the serious tone of the film, he simply sticks out like a sore thumb. Adam Rodriguez fares much better than his co-star, creating a performance that never screams “memorable”, but still manages to hit enough high notes to show his potential as a blossoming actor. Unfortunately, Curtis Jackson falls closer to Klein’s caliber of acting, delivering his lines with the enthusiasm of a robotic drone (of note, it’s almost a stretch to call him a primary player in the storyline given his limited screen-time). All in all, the collective acting in the film is enough to warrant simultaneous fits of laughter and bewilderment as the casting flaws remove what little entertainment value may otherwise have been gleaned from the production.

Caught in the Crossfire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 23Mbps), Caught in the Crossfire features an excessively weak visual presentation thanks to the amateur nature of the cinematography. The primary source of disappointment lies in weak black level depth and shoddy contrast differentiation. For a film shrouded in darkness (nearly every scene occurs at night) there's tremendous blending of subtle shades, leading to black crush throughout most backgrounds. Making matters worse, there appears to be zero attention paid to the lighting of most scenes, creating wide swaths of bright lines across the camera lens (generated from the light of a window or a flashlight). This effectively removes any sense of professionalism from the indoor daytime sequences, leaving the well-lit outdoor scenes to carry the entire burden of proficiency. Sadly, the few moments of the film that manage to look halfway decent only crop up for brief stretches during the bulk of the runtime, with the strongest visuals found in the final twenty minute shoot-out. For the record, if the film is still on after the first hour, you're probably being paid to watch the entire thing, acting on a dare from your friends, or fast asleep.

Caught in the Crossfire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Despite the inclusion of a lossless audio track, the end result is just as troublesome as the visual side of the coin. The primary weakness lies in a tremendous volume imbalance between the dialog and environmental effects, forcing viewers to choose between straining to make out spoken lines, or dealing with ear-shattering gun blasts. A portion of the problem can be attributed to the front heavy nature of the overall mix, which restricts dialog to the center channel and sends the majority of the effects to the two front mains. The occasional shootout creeps into the rear surrounds when warranted, but the lack of other environmental effects across a broad spectrum left the level of immersion quite low. All in all, this is one of the least impressive audio experiences I've heard over the last few months, demonstrating a jump to lossless isn't always enough to elevate core weaknesses in the sound design.

Caught in the Crossfire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Outtakes (1080p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 10:33 min): Most of the comical segments consist of clips from the interrogation sequences, though I still found Chris Klein's final scenes more hilarious than those shown here.

Rounding out the extras, we have a standard definition trailer for Caught in the Crossfire, along with other trailers for upcoming Lionsgate releases.

Caught in the Crossfire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're at all skeptical about my negative assessment of this crime caper, by all means rent it to see for yourself. As for this reviewer, I wouldn't spend even a quarter to have this mess in my collection, and plan to forget this film within two minutes of completing my review.