The WWE has made the leap in the past few years from ringside only to the silver screen. More often than not, less silver screen and more TV screen. The fact is that they’ve taken a number of their biggest stars and turned them into hot properties, decent actors and in some cases (like The Rock) major stars. Stone Cold Steve Austin has made the attempt, but never quite made the big league. He has put out some pretty good action films and this week’s release of DAMAGE is one of those.
Austin plays John Brickner, a man just released on parole who was doing time for manslaughter. It seems he was involved in an altercation with another man and ended up strangling him. Now free, John is working construction for a boss who treats him like dirt and as a bouncer in a local bar.
Into John’s life enters Veronica (Lynda Boyd), the wife of the man he killed. She confronts John and tells him the only reason she spoke on his behalf was that she needs his help. Her daughter is dying and needs a heart transplant. The only problem is that it costs $250,000 and she doesn’t have it. She expects John to come up with the money somehow and save her daughter’s life. Okay, this is the biggest thing that’s hard to believe here. A recently paroled con working menial labor is supposed to come up with $250,000?
Of course there’s a catch and a way that John can come up with the money. How else would we have a movie? The main waitress at the bar, Frankie (Laura Vandervoot), happens to be a friend if a man with a plan named Reno (Walton Goggins). Reno has connections in the underground fight business, a rough and tumble bit of action where there are no holds barred, weapons can accidentally end up in the ring and damage is the name of the game.
Reno sees a chance at the big times with John. In return for helping set up fights for John, Reno gets his cut. It also gives John a chance at making some big money which he can use to help Veronica’s daughter.
Reno sets up the fights, one after the other. All involve some serious pain and suffering on the parts of all involved. But John comes through, meeting all challengers and making money along the way. The big one, the six figure battle, looms on the horizon but for one reason or another it keeps getting waylaid.
Then a side item short circuits his plans. It seems Reno owes people some big money and John eventually has to make a choice, pay off Reno’s debt or save the little girl. More than that, the debt Reno owes was once Frankie’s and the relationship between the two takes on a whole new meaning.
A few other subplots fill out the movie making it a little deeper than one would expect, but it still doesn’t rank as a major motion picture seeking the attention of the Oscar crowd. Instead we get what fans of Steve Austin are looking for, non-stop brutal action that doesn’t require him to cite Shakespeare.
But Austin does hold his own here. The gravel voiced wrestler turned actor does a good job as Brickner, wanting to get his life together, wanting to do the right thing and trying to pay back the world for the mistakes he’s made in his life. Austin portrays the beat down look of the ex-con well while at the same time making him someone with a moral code that doesn’t always help him get where he wants to be.
The film offers plenty of action and tons of bloodshed. No flying bullets but plenty of fisticuffs and flying blood. The fights run the gamut from realistic to overblown but for fans of this sort of film that won’t matter. What will matter is seeing Stone Cold Steve Austin kick butt again like he did in the ring.
With a role in the upcoming Stallone flick THE EXPENDABLES, perhaps Austin’s film career will take a turn for the better. For his fans, they’ll be happy to see him in this one which may not be high art, but does offer some action packed adult fun.
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