Sacrifice keeps the Cuba Gooding Jr. straight to video train rolling, and this time reunites him with Christian Slater (they starred in the action-comedy Lies & Illusions). As a fan of Mr. Gooding Jr., I watched Sacrifice with a smile; I liked the cast, I liked the plot, and I ended up liking the movie.
A narco cop (Cuba) lost his wife and daughter to what I assume was a gangster he put behind bars. Now grief-stricken, Cuba is a mess of a man and his friend and ally Priest (Slater) can't even help him. Simultaneously, a young man pulled into the drug running business (Devon Bostick) wants out. As a last stand against his bosses Bostick hides a Virgin Mary statue made of heroin in a church (Slater's church), and runs away with his little sister. Cuba is called into the investigation and the action starts.
I liked it. The first half drags, but the rest of the film really makes up for it. The story is interesting, and despite not being too original, it kept my interest and I found several gimmicks to be clever. The action was good, the ending scene was fantastic.
Cuba makes a great hero here. He's not in it much for the first half, but it's his movie for the rest of the film. He pulls off badassery in spades. Slater isn't in this much either, but he has a couple of monologues and then the end scene, a shoot-em-up in his church, that he was great in. Kim Coates is marketed in the trailer as the main villain but he's not. Regardless, his scenes are fantastic and he more than holds his own with Cuba and Slater. Devon Bostick isn't memorable but he's alright. The other villains are really, really bad actors and made me root for Cuba Gooding Jr. even more.
A good popcorn and soda action movie for a lazy day off. Enjoy.
A narco cop (Cuba) lost his wife and daughter to what I assume was a gangster he put behind bars. Now grief-stricken, Cuba is a mess of a man and his friend and ally Priest (Slater) can't even help him. Simultaneously, a young man pulled into the drug running business (Devon Bostick) wants out. As a last stand against his bosses Bostick hides a Virgin Mary statue made of heroin in a church (Slater's church), and runs away with his little sister. Cuba is called into the investigation and the action starts.
I liked it. The first half drags, but the rest of the film really makes up for it. The story is interesting, and despite not being too original, it kept my interest and I found several gimmicks to be clever. The action was good, the ending scene was fantastic.
Cuba makes a great hero here. He's not in it much for the first half, but it's his movie for the rest of the film. He pulls off badassery in spades. Slater isn't in this much either, but he has a couple of monologues and then the end scene, a shoot-em-up in his church, that he was great in. Kim Coates is marketed in the trailer as the main villain but he's not. Regardless, his scenes are fantastic and he more than holds his own with Cuba and Slater. Devon Bostick isn't memorable but he's alright. The other villains are really, really bad actors and made me root for Cuba Gooding Jr. even more.
A good popcorn and soda action movie for a lazy day off. Enjoy.