DVD Review: Avenger

By Jeff Swindoll Oct 5, 2006, 17:07 GMT

You can run, but he will catch you. You can hide, but he will find you. Former Special Forces war hero Cal Dexter is a secret gun for hire. Driven by the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter, he makes it his mission to hunt down the thugs and war criminals governments refuse to bring to justice. But his current quest could interfere with a CIA sting, and that ...more

Sam Elliott does dirty jobs, but probably not dirt cheap.  He plays a freelance gun for hire who’ll avenge what you need avenging.  His latest case is one of a son missing for a year that reminds him of his late daughter.

Calvin Dexter (Sam Elliot) is a lawyer.  He appears to be a pretty good one since the first case we see of his he convinces the company that his client who robbed them would be better off having said client on their payroll.  However, Dexter has a secret life.  His daughter was killed by her boyfriend and Dexter single-handedly took revenge on him.  Now Dexter has a secret business, using his Special Forces training to avenge the wrongs of his clients. 

His next client is Stephen Edmonds (William Hope).  Edmond’s son had gone to Bosnia on a humanitarian mission and has been missing for a year.  He wants Dexter, who is unknown to him since he never meets him face to face, to go to Bosnia and find out what happened to his son.  Dexter does find out what happened to Edmond’s son and that the sadistic Zoran Zilic (David Hayman) is responsible.  He is reminded of what happened to his daughter and decides to track down Zilic and make him pay. 

Zilic has friends in high places.  The head of the CIA Paul Devereaux (James Cromwell) has plans for Zilic.  He’s pretty upset when he finds out that Zilic is being hunted.  He sends out one of his agents, Frank McBride (Timothy Hutton), to hunt the hunter and make sure that Zilic remains under Devereaux’s control.  Will Dexter’s thirst for revenge be enough fuel to get through McBride and get Zilic?

Need avenging, will travel

Avenger is based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth, the author of Day of the Jackal.  This movie was produced for TNT and Sam Elliott moves from his usual cowboy films for them to star in this soldier for hire outing.  Nobody plays the grizzled hero like Sam Elliott and he growls his way through the role (that’s not a bad thing unless you’re a bad guy). 

The movie is entertaining, especially for Sam Elliott fans, but it’s all been done before.  If you don’t mind seeing the “killer for hire because someone close to him was murdered” plotline then this film can make for an evening’s entertainment.  What’s somewhat odd is the movie almost plays like a potential pilot - setting up several characters that could be in a potential series. 

I’m not sure that is what the filmmakers were aiming for, but it still feels like it could be expanded into a series (or series of movies).  Forsyth wrote Avenger in 2003, but I’m unfamiliar with the work and don’t know if Dexter is a continuing character in any of his later novels.  Whatever the case I did enjoy the movie.

Avenger is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Sadly there are no special features, not even a commercial (aka trailer) for the feature. 

Zilic

The Avenger is a good rental for the Sam Elliott fan, but if you’re tired of the “revenge” plotline you may not want to apply. 

Avenger is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.