Exit Wounds (2001, Steven Seagal, DMX,

Steven Seagal plays Orin Boyd, a rogue cop so bad his superiors have ordered him to attend anger-management classes after his unorthodox method of saving the Vice-President from assassination: he threw him from a bridge into the river. But now working the toughest precinct in Detroit, he comes across a drugs deal involving crooked cops and big-time dealers, with 50 kilos of cocaine the prize. Not sure who to trust both in the department and on the streets, he strikes up an uneasy alliance with drugs dealer Latrell Walker (DMX), who has his own reasons to find out who’s behind the corruption.

Normally, the name Steven Seagal would cause the nation’s filmlovers to reach for their remotes: after the success of Under Siege , his film career slid towards the straight-to-DVD stage; but this is a move back up the ladder thanks to producer Joel Silver and director Andrzej Bartkowiak, who worked together on Romeo Must Die and brought to this the same magic.

Seagal, looking trimmer than before, pays passing humorous nods to his previous career and makes a tough, wisecracking double act with DMX. Add in enough shoot-outs and martial arts action (Silver worked on The Matrix) and this is more than bearable: it’s positively, cracklingly enjoyable. And watch out for two scene-stealers: Anthony Anderson as DMX’s loud-mouthed buddy and Tom Arnold as an equally lippy radio jock who Seagal meets in his class. The improvised dialogue between the two when they finally meet at the end of the film is priceless.

production details
Canada – USA | 101 minutes | 2001

Director: Andrzej Bartkowiak
Script: Richard D’Ovidio, Ed Horowitz, John Westermann,

cast
Steven Seagal as Orin Boyd
DMX as Latrell Walker
Isaiah Washington as George Clark
Anthony Anderson as T.K. Johnson
Bill Duke as Chief Hinges
Michael Jai White as Lewis Strutt
Jill Hennessy as Annette Mulcahy
Tom Arnold as Henry Wayne
Bruce McGill as Frank Daniels
David Vadim as Matt Montini
Eva Mendes as Trish
Matthew G. Taylor as Useldinger
Paolo Mastropietro as Parker
Shane Daly as Fitz
Drag-On as Shaun Rollins
Jennifer Irwin as Linda, Anger Management Therapist
Daniel Kash as Rory
Rothaford Gray as Norris
Dean Mckenzie as Carlson
Gregory Vitale as Gregory
Shawn Lawrence as O’Malley
Naomi Gaskin as Mrs. Clark
Quancetia Hamilton as Housewife
Rick Demas as Jail Guard
Christopher Lawford as Vice President
Noah Danby as Terrorist Leader
John Ralston as Mulcahy’s Date