‘American Pie” star Chris Klein abandons his aw, shucks persona to play a tough as nails cop in “Caught in the Crossfire.”
The handsome actor might want to stick to the “Pie” formula next time around.
The film, out on DVD and Blu-ray this week, hews closely to the cop film format, delivering a standard yarn about crooked cops and shady informants.
But Klein treats every scene as if he were a theater major auditioning for a Scorsese movie.
Klein plays Briggs, a hair-trigger cop investigating an officer’s death and the bloody shootout which seemed to cap the case.
The film opens with that shootout, an explosion of gunfire which leaves a murder suspect dead.
Briggs and Shepherd (Adam Rodriguez from “CSI Miami”) took part in the melee, but the action soon bounces back and forward to show the events leading up to the shooting – and the subsequent investigation.
Turns out the open and shut case is anything but, and some crooked cops are making matters worse for our heroes. The detectives are forced to rely on a police informant, played by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, to piece the story together.
The film’s structure is ambitious and rigorously detailed, a real plus for a film which shipped directly to DVD (and Blu-ray).
Writer/director Brian A. Miller doesn’t let a scene go by without upping the graininess of the film stock, employing slow motion or engaging in a number of self-conscious tics. It doesn’t serve the film well, but Miller’s passion is commendable.
Klein’s passion is another matter.
The actor looks as if he’s been waiting to play a cop on screen his whole life, and he’s not gonna waste his big chance.
He grimaces, scowls and bugs his eyes out as if cast in a buddy cop parody, not a gritty crime drama. It’s a relief whenever the action focuses on Rodriguez’s character.
Jackson, who co-produced the film, doesn’t do his acting career any favors here, either, failing to bring colorful shadings to his small but crucial role.
The only extras on the Blu-ray version are a series of outtakes and a trailer.
“Caught in the Crossfire” would be a diverting cop yarn if Klein hadn’t turned the shoot into an acting Tour de Farce.
(Photo: Chris Klein plays a detective trying to solve a case involving a murdered cop in “Caught in the Crossfire.” Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Klein’s career started out promising (American Pie, Election, We Were Soldiers) but in the last few years it’s gone way, way downhill.
Who would’ve guessed that out of all the American Pie actors, Sean William Scott would be the one to become the biggest star?
and who would have thought Woody Harrelson would be the breakout movie star from “Cheers?”
Good point. Although when I saw him on Cheers I kept thinking, “that guy would be totally badass against zombies.”