It seems like it’s been far too long since Jason Patric
offered us a performance to watch. A major part of the reason for that was his
legal battles for custody of his son (congratulations to him on that final
victory). His movies have been sporadic for a while now and only recently has
he been attached to a number of films. So with his return you had to wonder if
he’d be up to turning in a good performance. With THE PRINCE the answer is yes.
Patric plays Paul, a mechanic who dotes on his daughter away
now at college. When he discovers she has dropped out and not told him, he
tries to contact her. Unable to reach her he starts his search for her by
contacting a friend he sees in a picture with her. When he contacts her and
offers to pay her for her help, she agrees, making fun of him when any
opportunity arrives.
He discovers that the life his daughter has been leading was
not what she portrayed and rather than a good student she’s become an addict.
Information leads him to New Orleans
where he learns she’s been taken by a dealer. A quick trip to a bar and meeting
with an old friend leaves you realizing that Paul is not who he claims to be
either. Instead the story unfolds about him being the most feared hit man the locals
had heard of, a boogey man of sorts that all feared.
As Paul’s search for his daughter moves forward the body
count starts to rise and the friend begins to realize that this is someone no
one would mess with. Moving from clue to clue to find his daughter another
problem arises. It seems that his reason for leaving the business behind
revolved around the biggest crime boss of New Orleans,
a man named Omar (Bruce Willis). With a personal grudge against Paul his
chances of leaving the city alive with or without his daughter begin to
diminish. He might get help from his old friend Sam (John Cusack) but will that
be enough to get him through a final confrontation with Omar?
The movie has a TAKEN feel to it with a father equipped with
deadly skills taking on all comers as he tries to rescue his daughter from
impending doom. The fact that she’s far from innocent changes things as well as
the profession he once left. Patric handles the role perfectly with enough
emotion that you believe him as the concerned father but with that cold
atmosphere surrounding him that says don’t get in his way. Willis turns in
another minor role here as the heavy with little screen time but enough to let
him show his acting skills. Wasted here is Cusack who offers what amounts to a
cameo role. I would have loved to see more of him here, especially when you
recall his own performance as a hit man in GROSSE POINT BLANK.
All in all the movie offers a solid story and plenty of
action to hold your interest from start to finish. It’s enjoyable enough that I
can see myself watching it again down the road, something that few movies seem
to do for me these days. While definitely not for kids, the movie is a good
example of this sort of action flick. At the end you start to wonder if it wouldn’t
be a sure fire hit to team up Patric’s Paul with Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills
against a ton of bad guys. One can always hope.
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