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Exit Wounds

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 2001 film. For other uses, seeExit Wounds (disambiguation).
Synopsis
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrzej Bartkowiak
Screenplay byEd Horowitz
Richard D'Ovidio
Based onExit Wounds
(1990 novel)
by John Westermann[1]
Produced byJoel Silver
Dan Cracchiolo
Starring
CinematographyGlen MacPherson
Edited byDerek Brechin
Music byDamon "Grease" Blackman
Jeff Rona
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • March 16, 2001(2001-03-16)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$33 million[2]
Box office$79.9 million[3]

Exit Woundsis a 2001 Americanaction comedy filmdirected byAndrzej Bartkowiak,produced byJoel Silver,and starringSteven Seagal,DMX,Isaiah Washington,Anthony Anderson,Michael Jai White,Bill Duke,Tom ArnoldandJill Hennessy.Seagal plays Orin Boyd, aDetroitpolice detective notorious for pushing the limits of the law in his quest for justice. The screenplay is based on a novel of the same name by John Westermann.

This is the second of three films directed by Bartkowiak and produced by Silver that focus onmartial arts-based action in an urban setting with ahip-hopsoundtrack, followingRomeo Must Die(2000) and precedingCradle 2 the Grave(2003). The three films feature many of the same cast, key crew, and locations.

The film received mixed reviews from critics.[4]It earned $19 million in its opening weekend, and went on to gross a worldwide total of $79.9 million against a budget of $33 million.Exit Woundswas the final film under Steven Seagal's exclusive contract withWarner Bros.

Plot

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Detroit Police Department's detective Orin Boyd is a cop in Detroit's 21st precinct, who saves the Vice President of the United States from a right-wing militant group trying to kill him. Because he disobeyed orders, however, Captain Frank Daniels transfers Boyd to the 15th precinct — the city's worst.

Boyd's new captain, former internal affairs officer Annette Mulcahy, knows of his reputation, and she tells him that she will not tolerate insubordination. Annette sends Boyd to an anger management class where he meets Henry Wayne, the high-strung host of a local talk show calledDetroit AM.Boyd comes across local drug dealer Latrell Walker and his fast-talking sidekick T.K. Johnson doing a shady deal with a man named Matt Montini. After a brief fight, Boyd discovers that Montini has been working undercover trying to nail Walker and Boyd ruined the sting, and that does not sit well with Montini's musclebound partner Useldinger.

Sergeant Lewis Strutt steps in to cool things down when Boyd gets in a fight with Useldinger. After Boyd stumbles upon the theft of $5,000,000 worth of heroin from evidence storage, Boyd and new partner George Clark begin focusing their efforts on Walker and T.K. Intrigued by what little they have on Walker, they investigate why he has been visiting Shaun Rollins. Henry discovers that Walker is not a drug dealer. Walker is a computer expert and billionaire whose real name is Leon Rollins — he is Shaun Rollins' brother. After an attempt on his life, Boyd confronts Leon, who explains that a group of corrupt cops needed a fall guy for a deal gone bad and pinned it on Shaun. It is further revealed that Strutt is the leader of the group, which also includes Montini and Useldinger. Leon and his friend Trish have been videotaping the activities of Strutt's gang, hoping that it might help prove Shaun's innocence and get him out of jail.

Boyd meets Mulcahy at a parking lot and to inform her what he has uncovered. Montini, Useldinger, and some other men try to kill Boyd and Annette. Mulcahy is killed in the chase and Boyd escapes. Boyd calls Frank and tells him that Strutt will be having a meeting at a warehouse in about an hour, to sell the heroin that was stolen. Strutt plans to try to sell it to Leon and T. K., not knowing that Leon is working against him. Frank promises that he will be there with some backup.

Boyd and Daniels show up, but Strutt tells Frank to keep Boyd under control. Boyd realizes that it is Frank who is behind everything. Clark blows open the door and barges in with backup, including police chief Hinges. Useldinger shoots Boyd and as he is about to shoot him again, George shoots Useldinger dead. Chief Hinges kills Frank by shooting him four times with a shotgun. After a fight with Boyd, Strutt grabs a case full of money and runs up to the roof, where a helicopter is waiting. Montini gets the upper hand in his fight with Leon after he damages Leon's vision with indigo fabric dye. Leon manages to stab Montini in the leg with a piece of broken glass, before killing him by having his neck impaled on a clothes rack. As the helicopter ladder is dragging Boyd across the roof with Strutt hanging on to the ladder, Boyd hooks the ladder to the roof; Strutt falls and is impaled on a metal pipe.

At dawn, Leon gives Hinges the videotape that proves the corruption, hoping that the tape will help prove Shaun's innocence. Hinges does not believe the courts will care about the tape, so Hinges had Shaun released from county jail about an hour before. Boyd decides to stay with the 15th precinct with George as his partner, and T.K. becomes Henry's television co-host.

Cast

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Production

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The film is based on the book of the same name by John Westermann. The book is set inLong Island,New York, but the film moves the setting toDetroit.Seagal signed on to the film under apay-or-playdeal.[5]

Filming took place inToronto,Ontario;[6]Hamilton, Ontario[7]and theCentre Street BridgeinCalgary,Alberta.The club scene inside was filmed at Guvernment nightclub in Toronto. The exterior of the club was outside of Tonic nightclub in Toronto.

The film reunites actorsDMX,Isaiah Washington,andAnthony Andersonwith Polish film directorAndrzej Bartkowiak,with whom they first worked together on the earlier 2000 filmRomeo Must Die.It is the second of three films directed byAndrzej Bartkowiakand produced byJoel Silverthat focus onmartial artsbased action in an urban setting with ahip-hopsoundtrack and featuring many of the same cast. Two years later they collaborated again on the filmCradle 2 the Grave.[8]

Eva Mendes' voice was dubbed over by another, unidentified actress without her prior knowledge, as producers felt Mendes didn't sound "intelligent enough".[9]

Dion Lamwas the film's martial arts choreographer.[10]

Accident on set

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Stuntman Chris Lamon died of head injuries on August 23, 2000, six days after a stunt went wrong on theExit Woundsset in Hamilton, Ontario. A van was being towed along a street upside-down as part of a chase scene; he was supposed to roll safely out, but apparently struck his head. Another stuntman suffered a concussion in the same incident.[11]

Music

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Main article:Exit Wounds (soundtrack)

A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on March 20, 2001 byVirgin Records.It peaked at No. 8 on theBillboard200and #5 on theTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Reception

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Box office

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Exit Woundsdebuted at number one at the box office, grossing $19 million at North American theaters from Friday through Sunday.[12]It was considered a surprise hit movie, as it grossed over $50 million in America and almost $30 million throughout the rest of the world.[2]It was hailed as Seagal's big "comeback".[13]

Critical response

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OnRotten Tomatoesit has an approval rating of 32% based on 65 reviews. The site's critical consensus states: "It probably goes without saying thatExit Woundsis loaded with plotholes and bad dialogue. "[14]OnMetacriticthe film has a score of 39 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[4]Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[15]

Lawrence Van Gelder ofThe New York Timesgave the film 3 out of 5 and wrote: "For those in search of action-filled escapist entertainment who are willing to jettison expectations of credibility into the nearest popcorn tub, Exit Wounds... will do to pass time on an inclement day."[16]Owen GleibermanofEntertainment Weeklywrote: "In its low grade way, this blithely brutal cops and drugs thriller is an efficient hot wire entertainment." Gleiberman singled out Jill Hennessy for praise, saying that she "takes the minor character of Seagal's precinct commander and invests her with an intelligence and a flirty warm panache that sparkles on screen."[17]

Todd McCarthy ofVariety magazinegave the film a negative review, particularly Seagal's performance saying he "makes one wonder how he ever managed to be regarded as anything resembling a movie star." McCarthy complained that the action scenes were "routine and unimaginative" lacking the flair director Bartkowiak had shown inRomeo Must Die.McCarthy was also critical of unconvincing use of easily recognizable Toronto locations as a stand in for Detroit.[18] Jonathan Foreman ofThe New York Postsuggests that Barkowiak was trying to make aJohn Woomovie but simply did not have the skills. Foreman called the screenplay "embarrassingly clunky and inane". He concludes, "It's hard to know which is more offensive," Exit Wounds' "ineptitude or its disgusting, cynical brutality. But the people responsible for it are crass and shameless."[19]

References

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  1. ^"Reviews".JohnWestermann.com.
  2. ^ab"Exit Wounds".The Numbers.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  3. ^"Exit Wounds (2001)".Box Office Mojo.2002-08-28.Retrieved2011-07-19.
  4. ^ab"Exit Wounds".Metacritic.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  5. ^Variety Staff (30 March 2000)."Seagal enters 'Exit'; Downey eyes exit as well".Variety.
  6. ^"Torontoist - Reel Toronto: Exit Wounds".2 June 2009.Retrieved2010-11-29.
  7. ^"Internet Movie Database - List of Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario".IMDb.Retrieved2008-01-29.
  8. ^"Story Notes for Exit Wounds".AMC.
  9. ^"Eva Mendes".The Daily Show.New York:Comedy Central.2013-03-27.
  10. ^Head, Steve (2001-03-15)."Interview with Exit Wounds Stars Steven Seagal, Jill Hennessy and Producer Joel Silver".IGN.Retrieved2024-07-10.
  11. ^"Stuntman Dies on Seagal Film Set".ABC News.August 28, 2000. Archived fromthe originalon February 17, 2015.
  12. ^Moss, Corey (March 19, 2001)."DMX Tops Weekend Box Office".MTV.Archived fromthe originalon January 23, 2005.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  13. ^"Exit Wounds Thriller Makes Healthy Debut at No. 1".Los Angeles Times.March 19, 2001.RetrievedOctober 26,2010.
  14. ^"Exit Wounds".Rotten Tomatoes.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  15. ^"Cinemascore".Archived fromthe originalon 2018-12-20.
  16. ^Van Gelder, Lawrence (March 17, 2001)."FILM REVIEW; A Cop as Good as His Manners Are Bad".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon 2009-06-05.
  17. ^Gleiberman, Owen(March 22, 2001)."Exit Wounds".Entertainment Weekly.
  18. ^McCarthy, Todd(16 March 2001)."Exit Wounds".Variety.
  19. ^Foreman, Jonathan (March 16, 2001)."THIS 'EXIT' WOUNDS YOU".The New York Post.
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