“A Man Apart” begins with a monologue by Vin Diesel’s character Sean Vetter. He briefly outlines the $57 billion per year United States-Mexico drug trade, and ends with a statement his DEA bosses rue: “The guys at the top are virtually untouchable.”
What appears to be a cookie-cutter story about a cop who likes to tackle drug traffickers becomes a cookie-cutter story about a cop who takes revenge on his wife’s murderers. The murderers, interestingly enough, happen to be those same drug traffickers.
Everything about this movie has a familiar ring to it, and everyone has seen it before. Cop makes drug busts. Criminals get mad. Criminals kill cop’s wife. Cop goes nuts, finds a way to lose his badge and decides he will do anything in his power to take revenge, while being helped by his faithful sidekick whose advice is often regarded as worthless. Even the tagline for “A Man Apart” is familiar and catchy: “When they took his love … they took his life. On April 4, he’s taking it back.”
Though unoriginal in plot, “A Man Apart” finds the glue to hold itself together in its leading actor. Helped in part by Larenz Tate, who plays sidekick Demetrius Hicks, Diesel exudes a certain masculine charisma necessary in an action star. Diesel easily assumes the mantle of a police officer, and as such can lead a believing audience through a rather unbelievable film. Tate never shines, but fills the necessary position of generic sidekick very well.
Aside from the actors, the movie has real problems. Diesel’s character loses his badge because he loses his temper. The reason, which should not fully be revealed here, is stupidity. Does a DEA agent who can pretend to haggle with the world’s most dangerous drug dealers make irresponsible and profoundly life-changing decisions? Not usually. Agent Vetter is an exception, and after his decision he continues on his quest undaunted.
Similar to most action movies, “A Man Apart” provides scenes of plentiful violence which often exist for their own sake. But some scenes are genuinely intriguing. After Vetter arrests underworld drug ring-leader Memo (Geno Silva), a new kingpin known as El Diablo takes control of the now-leaderless Mexican cartel. El Diablo orders hits on Vetter’s wife and Memo’s family. Memo breaks down after learning of his family’s fate and begs to see Vetter. Knowing exactly what Vetter is going through, Memo says very little to Vetter, but what he doesn’t say speaks volumes about the condition of enemies who share similar experiences.
Post-Academy Award time is slow for movies, and “A Man Apart” is one of the better movies currently in theaters. It’s not very good, but Diesel manages to pull off his stunt well. It may be worth seeing for Vin Diesel’s effort, but “A Man Apart” doesn’t try as hard as it should.