Ticker (movie page)

Amos Stevens

New Member
You've gotta be more Zen."
In Short

In terms of generic thrillers, no genre type has been
so overdone or rehashed as the haggard, jaded cop
plotline. This time around, our jaded cop on the edge
is played by Tom Sizemore (from Pearl Harbor and Red
Planet). We are also treated to a Zen master bomb
squad commander played by an animated department store
mannequin that the film claims to be Steven Seagal
(from Exit Wounds). There is also the young, up and
coming cop with a positive outlook on life played by
rapper NAS (from In Too Deep, where he played the
riveting role of "Drug Dealer on Street Corner"). Of
course we also have a nemesis for Sizemore played by
Peter Greene (from The Mask) who serves no purpose in
the movie other than to be an asshole, which is more
or less the same role he always plays. Then there is
Dennis Hopper (from Space Truckers) who looks about
the same as he has in his past four or five movies,
going through the motions with little or no effort,
only this time with a weak Irish accent.


Synopsis

In Ticker we meet Nettles (played by Tom Sizemore), a
haggard, bitter, jaded cop who not too long ago lost
his family and can no longer stand the work that he
does. His partner, Art 'Fuzzy' Rice (played by NAS)
tries to get him to talk about his problems to help
them go away and they start to bond, until what
happens to all happy go lucky partners in these kind
of films befalls Fuzzy. After stumbling onto the
trailer of a mad bomber (played by Dennis Hopper),
they take a girl into custody that he wants back more
than anything. The police decide to hold the girl in
an effort to find out what the bomber is up to, which
makes me him than a little angry.

In Detail

If the basic plot to this one sounds a little on the
weak side, even for a genre film such as this, you
would be right on in that assumption. The point to
Ticker is not revealed until the very end in a twist
of sorts that is in fact telegraphed from the very
beginning of the film. The rest seems like an extended
first act to a movie without the remaining three
quarters to make much sense out of anything. It is
difficult to be more lenient on this one due to the
fact this it has higher production values and a bigger
cast than most direct to video features usually have.
Perhaps it is simply that the haggard, jaded cop on
the edge routine has been done to death so many times
that there may be no new angles to take the story on
anymore. The attempt to interjecting some Zen
philosophy (mostly mumbled from Steven Seagal) edges
towards being new ground, but falls just short. When
this one hits the seven day rental shelves, those of
you out there who rent just about anything with some
action in it may find enough to warrant a rental in
this, however, be warned.


Tom Sizemore seems to try, a little, in his role as a
man who has never gotten over the death of his wife
and son. Yet this is the issue with not only this
actor’s performance, but just about everyone else’s in
the entire movie, too. No one really seems to be
giving it their all here and they’re only going
through the motions. Sizemore gives us flashes of his
ability, but more or less walks through his role in a
fashion all too similar to most of his other work.
Newcomers from the music word (a term used lightly)
NAS and Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas appear in only brief
roles that serve little more purpose than cheap name
recognition. Ice-T even shows up for about 15 seconds
in a role reminiscent of the one he played in 3,000
Miles To Graceland. Hopper is perhaps the most
maddening one of all here, as he has the most ability
and wastes it on a generic role all too similar in
aspects to the one that he played in Speed. Now
Hopper, being as good of an actor as he is, can never
sink to the level of being awful, but he simply
appears to be coasting here. One thing is that his
character is clearly supposed to be Irish, but Hopper
seems to lose the accent off and on throughout the
film.


Seagal is worst of all here, seeming bored enough that
he wants to cry half the time. The man has two
expressions, constipated and really constipated, both
of which grow old rather quickly. Given the right
script and the right director, Seagal can be
entertaining (as he was marginally so in his last
picture Exit Wounds), but here director Albert Pyun
clearly has no idea what to do with him. All of the
fight sequences are filmed in such an extreme closeup
and in such poor lighting that it’s difficult to see
what’s happening. Now it is easy to see that his
character is supposed to be an intense man who is very
spiritual, but he just seems so completely
disinterested in everything. There is not even enough
of him here to satisfy fans, our recommendation would
be to wait for his next flick to come along. It is
however a better film than his last direct to video
effort, The Patriot, if that is saying anything.


Ticker simply lacks any form of originality and speed
to keep it interesting enough to get over the fact
that there is nothing new here. A lot of the time
these direct to video releases may not be the most
original pieces of entertainment, but because of great
performances or creative direction they get by. Ticker
is not such a movie, and this is even harder to
understand due to the rather impressive cast that it
touts. An actor can only do so much with the material,
and no one involved with this project seemed to care
enough to breathe any real life into it. If you are a
serious, serious Dennis Hopper or Steven Seagal fan
then you may be interested in this one, but otherwise
it is a “skip it until it hits the cheap shelves”.

http://www.reelcriticism.com/ziggyrealm/reviews/ticker.html
 

Mama San

Administrator
Thanks, Amos,
But I still would like to be behind the jerk, that wrote that
garbage, with a 2x4!
Hehehehe!!!!!!!!!!
God bless,
Mama san
 

METROdee

New Member
Much of what he says has merit. Ticker sucked!! Seagal--out of his element, since it WASN'T a "Seagal movie"--seemed like a bored technician wrapped up in his own little world.

And--gotta say, because I watched it again yesterday--he did look sluggish and overweight. HIS FACE HAS JOWLS!!!

But I strongly disagree w/ the "better than The Patriot" quip. B-A- L-O-N-E-Y!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Patriot was a very good flick--why does everyone bash it!!!!!!!!!! JEEEEEEEEZZZZ!!:confused: :confused: :( :( :mad: :mad:
 

GlimmerMan

Huge Member
I actually thought Ticker was a decent movie, considering it was shot on such a tight budget. The pyrotechnics and gunshots are not that great, and the fight sequences are too dark and are filmed too close, but I prefer Ticker to The Patriot. As a 'B' movie, it is better than 'The Point Men', for example, which is a new Christopher Lambert film I saw recently, which is absolutely horrible. Seagal has some cool sayings in that film, and Sizemore does a good job. The critics can kiss my sweaty nutsack - Ticker was not made with pretentions of being anything other than a straight to cable/video movie.
 

Catlady

New Member
Guess I will have to find the time to watch it..
Yes Amos its still sitting here waiting for me to watch it LOL, your video is not the only one I havn't seen yet....You will have to remind me to put it on my list of things to do this year LOL..
 

Catlady

New Member
Originally posted by Amos Stevens
WHAT! A Seagal fan with a movie of his & hasn't watched it yet? Boy you could get tarred & feathered here! hee hee

I know, I know!! I sorry, don't seem to have time for a movie right now LOL... Work been busy and for a while we are only getting one day off a week so I don't have time to watch a movie..Give me a month or two, then you can tar and feather me if I don't watch it LOL...
 
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