DVD Reviews

Damage – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Mar 29, 2010, 16:12 GMT

Damage, starring WWE superstar Steve Austin, is a story of a man recently paroled from prison after serving time for manslaughter. Remorseful of his crime, Austin tries his best to restart his life on the outside. ...more

“You piss clean.”

Health care reform?  Screw it.  Steve Austin has come up with a stone cold way to finance that heart transplant you need.  He’ll just join the underground fighting circuit until he can raise the cash for the operation.  

John Brickner (Steve Austin) has just been released from prison on parole.  Jobs aren’t easy to find for ex-cons, but John is working overtime at a construction site to make ends meet.  He’s approached by Veronica (Lynda Boyd), the wife of the man he killed to get his prison sentence.  She has a problem in that her daughter needs a heart transplant and she doesn’t have the $250,000 to pay for it. 

She’s holding John responsible and since she wrote some supportive letters to the parole board she says he’s obligated to get the money for the operation.  John is guilty enough over the murder that he decides to help Veronica.  Earlier, he had gotten an extra job as a bar bouncer when he stopped some punks from messing with waitress Frankie (Laura Vandervoort).  Her boyfriend Reno (Walter Goggins) approached John about making some serious money and now that John needs $250,000 he decides to take Reno up on his offer.  It involves getting into the underground fighting trade.  

Our esteemed DVD editor mentioned that this film reminded him of Hard Times.  No, not our current economy, but the 1975 film from director Walter Hill that starred Charles Bronson as a bare-knuckle boxer and James Coburn as his gambler manager. 

Hard Times takes place during the great depression and we might argue that Damage paints a picture of financial desperation.  Hard Times paints a picture with great period settings and winning performances from its cast.  I’d also say that Damage does the same pretty good, but it also adds some old movie tropes such as the sick kid that the hero has to raise money for. 

Steve Austin may not be as seasoned an actor as the late/great Charlie Bronson, but both have an imposing presence.  Austin not much by acting but just by physical size and whoop-ass.  Walter Goggins is also not as memorable as the late/great/grinning Jimmy Coburn, but serves his purpose in this imitation well.  Laura Vandervoort is a pleasing presence and easy on the eyes and Lynda Boyd gets very harried as the worried mom. 

The film doesn’t hit some more familiar marks though as we might’ve seen a romance with John between one of the ladies (Hard Times has Jill Ireland in this role).  The film never goes that route and tends to focus on male-bonding, friendship, and Austin getting in the cage/ring/abandoned building and plying his trade. 

Damage isn’t going to be up for any Oscars, but it wasn’t a film that made me cringe as much as other films that star wrestling “actors.”  Austin at least has a screen presence and some acting skill, others cannot make that claim.  

Damage is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  The only special features are previews for other Fox DVDs.  

Damage reminded me of an earlier (better) film, thanks to M&C’s DVD editor, and that may have flavored my appreciation of this film.  It’s not doing anything to reinvent the underground fighter on a mission genre, but it doesn’t exactly shame the genre either.
 
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