Mark Wahlberg in Paramount Pictures' Shooter
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Mania Grade: B-
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: R
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Michael Pena, Danny Glover, Kate Mara
Writer: Jonathan Lemkin, based on the novel Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Distributor: Paramount Pictures

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"Shooter"

Shooter is a kind of synthesis of a righteous action shoot-‘em-up with any number of political thrillers from Day of the Condor up through The Sentinel (the one with Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland, not the one about the Gates of Hell). It’s got a good premise – reported to be even better in the novel it’s based on Stephen Hunter’s Point of Impact – and there’s no doubt that director Antoine Fuqua can direct slam-bang goings on with maximum punch (sometimes literally – when things blow up here, the theatre physically shakes). However, as our hero begins to demonstrate almost superhuman abilities, the coupling of his larger-than-life prowess with some very on-the-nose dialogue in Jonathan Lemkin’s script gives the proceedings a schizophrenic quality. 

Mark Wahlberg plays Bobby Lee Swagger, a military sniper who hands in his notice after his partner is killed and he’s abandoned by his handlers on a secret mission in Africa. Three years later, Bobby Lee is living a comfortable hermit’s life in the woods with his dog when three men show up in his driveway. Led by Col. Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover), the men are there to persuade Bobby Lee to help thwart an impending assassination attempt on the President of the United States. Bobby Lee is reluctant, but Johnson plays on the ace sniper’s patriotism, so Bobby Lee agrees to give on-site advice. Before you can say Hitchcock, Bobby Lee finds himself framed and on the run from law enforcement, but he’s not one to take this kind of thing lying down – or hiding – or unarmed. 

Wahlberg actually has the presence, conviction and slow-burning anger to bring off the character, so that even when the odds he’s up against start seeming impossible, we have faith in both the character and the performance. Glover is smooth, Ned Beatty contributes one of those bad ol’ boy villains he does so adeptly, Kate Mara is a lovely, responsive love interest and Michael Pena provides a nice touch of human scale as a wet-behind-the-ears FBI agent who detects something wrong with the official line on the assassination attempt. Levon Helm has a great cameo as a canny old gun expert.