Poor Gerard Butler, bless his heart, seems to be slipping into that Hollywood purgatory where Nic Cage, Bruce, Liam and Mickey Rourke reside; a place where mediocre movies get sold based on their names and faces prominently on the poster –nothing too embarrassing, but nothing artful or elevating them back to their previous perches.
Butler plays undercover C.I.A. agent who’s gotten caught behind the lines and needs to find a way out of the titular area and back home to London. Like the aforementioned actors, Butler is less in the movie than he is in the promotional material. Although he is surrounded by able chracter actors, the story just isn’t there. I fat, I lost track of all the groups who are after him and frankly stopped caring, once it became obvious that this was going to be a slow slog through the flatlands and a pre-determined final act that makes you wonder why it took two hours to get there.
I am a Butler fan- he’s one of the nicest guys in the business .But the need to say “no “to scripts like this and wait for a good supporting character part in a big movie. Somebody throw this guy a bone. If Tarantino could rescue Travolta from the edge of Hell, surely someone can put the charming Butler back on a higher shelf. I hope so.