HOLLYWOOD—Sometimes when you’re bored, you select a movie thinking you will be entertained, only to discover that you have been hoodwinked. That is how I felt watching the suspense-thriller “Damaged.” Look, I’m not the biggest Samuel L. Jackson fan, but he has appeared in some exceptional films during his career, “Pulp Fiction” being at the top of my list. His latest outing? Not so much.
This film follows a trio of detectives on the hunt of a serial killer, whose motive for inflicting violence is quite brutal, vicious bloody and a bit of a head turner. I’m somewhat a believer when it comes to violence, the less you see the better. Leave it up to the spectator to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and I mean that literally and figuratively because this killer saws off the limbs of his victims (the legs, the arms, and the head), while keeping the torso as a sort of trophy.
Jackson is lackluster in the role of Detective Dan Lawson, who is summoned by the authorities in Scotland to track a killer whose crimes are eerily similar to a killer that Lawson and his partner, Walter Bravo (Vincent Cassel) were tracking back in Chicago almost five years ago. I will admit the concept was very intriguing and fascinating, but it is poorly executed.
Why? We don’t get much of a backstory for our primary characters, who the audience immediately knows they have all suffered some sort of trauma. Losing someone very close to them that is haunting their present and past. I liked that element, but its not Lawson or Bravo, who steals the show, it is Detective Glen Boyd (Gianni Capaldi). Capaldi brings a drive, edginess, trauma to a detective who is truly suffering a devastating blow. His secrets are unearthed as the narrative moves forward and the set the stage for plenty of twists and turns.
Jackson portrays a drunk, who is sometimes functioning and other times not so much. We’ve seen the drunken detective. It is an old and tired motif that I no longer care to see and it is quite ineffective to say the least. If you think you’ll get away without seeing and hearing Jackson deliver one of his iconic yelling and shouting moments you would be wrong. It happens in “Damaged” as well, but it is lackluster to say the least.
There is a moment in the flick that I did not expect, but if I think back to watching the movie a second time, I totally could see this coming after a particular scene. Yes, if you’re asking, did I figure out who the serial killer was, the answer is about 40 minutes in. I knew who the killer was because there were just obvious signs and whenever you have a red herring, you know that person is never the killer. My socks were not blown off by the reveal, the motive, slightly. Considering a vast portion of the movie takes place in Scotland, I would have enjoyed seeing that landscape played a bit more with the narrative, which I feel is under-utilized.
“Damaged” will hold your attention, but it doesn’t land that stinging punch of a great thriller, like “Se7en,” “Zodiac” or “Split” that has you thinking about it well after you have finished the movie.
