Man on Fire fails to deliver

Washington doesn’t always turn up in classics. He has, of course, made many memorable films and collected a couple of Oscars to underline his towering talent.

Man on Fire

Director: Tony Scott

Cast: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Marc Anthony, Christopher Walken

Cert: 15.

Washington, one of the finest actors of his generation, doesn’t always turn up in classics. He has, of course, made many memorable films and collected a couple of Oscars to underline his towering talent.

But this one, interesting enough though it is, in places, won’t count as one of his best works.

He plays a stressed-out alcoholic ex special agent who is hired by a wealthy businessman to guard his wife (Mitchell) and young daughter (Fanning) while they visit dangerous, kidnap-happy Mexico City.

Just as the little girl begins to melt his heart and show him the path to redemption, she is kidnapped.

Washington’s agent sets out to rescue her; with an over-abundance of violence and action and a dirth of a decently-constructed screenplay.

It’s the sort of film which fails in the end to deliver on its promises and only in patches does it show us how much better it could have been.

Star Rating: 2/5.