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Born with a nose to sniff out bad guys, police officer Orin Boyd (Steven Seagal) saves the
life of the United States Vice President by disobeying orders, so instead of getting praises he gets demoted to a troubled precinct headed by Annette Mulcahey (Jill
Hennessey). Boyd has a habit of breaking the law while enforcing it; thus, Commander Mulcahey sends him to an anger management class which he, of course, drops. He gets
reassigned as traffic cop and bungles the job as usual, because his inquisitive cop nature is never satisfied unless he's putting goons out of business. Soon he uncovers a
drug smuggling ring led by local gangster Latrell Walker (DMX), and from then it's one surprise turn after another.
A tight plot enhanced by a combination of good martial arts choreography, carefully planned
background music, gimmicks (like car chases and various explosions) and effective chemistry between actors makes Exit Wounds an entertaining movie. But only for those
mature enough to understand that in this good-guys-bad-guys world of cops and criminals, violence is daily bread, profanity is unavoidable, and the sight of women's bare
breasts is all part of a day's work. Mature viewers may not forget—all throughout the action packed 102 minutes—that it's but a movie they're watching: everything is
staged, half of it is camera trick, the bullets are blank, the blood is ketchup. But the very things adults may find entertaining, children may find horrifying. Worse, young
viewers may even try to imitate some characters' disrespectful behavior, and the shooting and hand-to-hand combat scenes, especially since they're all presented as smart,
stylish and fun.
Beneath all that action run some issues that deserve reflection. The viewer might as well
examine the prevailing ethics in the police force. At a time so-so cops seem to outnumber the good cops in police forces all over the world, would a cop like Boyd have been
kicked off the force long ago due to his attitude and law-breaking means of enforcing the law? Is it okay to disregard authority when you're doing the right thing? Why is Boyd
berated rather than bemedalled for saving the Vice President's life? Is he such a bad Vice President that people would rather see him dead, or is it because it's wrong to kill
so many people and destroy so much property just to save the life of one Vice President? When is it wrong and when is it right?
There is a long talk show scene towards the end where the credits are being flashed. The host
and the guest talk about masturbation, 'making it' with big women, drug taking, etc. CINEMA hardly sees this portion's relevance to the film, but since it's already there,
perhaps it is asking us to take a look into the contents of TV talk shows in America, and to take measures that our own talk shows in the Philippines—given the Filipinos
talent for imitating—do not get to be that nonsensical, vulgar, gross, and, frankly, pathetic.
(Date reviewed: May 4, 2001)
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