If you want to see Eric Roberts kill a lot of people, then 'The Butcher' is the movie for you. As ridiculous as they are, I have an affinity for these "one man army" movies where someone, on his own, must overcome a militia, in this case a mobster's goons.
Roberts is a mobster's "enforcer", the guy who is an expert at removing thorns from the ass of his boss. This mobster, Murdoch(Robert Davi) has his eyes on money laundering, and sets up Merle(Roberts)to take the fall regarding the theft of a heavy Reno crime family. It's actually a more complex scheme where Murdoch had plans to use a hot shot in his entourage, eyeing the "throne", Eddie(Jerry Trimble), to sweep in to steal the money from the owner of an expensive stripper club, Doyle(Paul Dillon), who uses the joint as a front for the money laundering operation. Merle is sent there to "collect money owed", foiling Murdoch's plan to have him iced and left to take the fall for "attempting to steal the cash for himself." This doesn't bode well with Merle, to put it mildly, and he decides to take a dropped duffel bag of money with him as a "retirement fund." Having that money is bad enough, but his decision to seek revenge against Murdoch places his life in serious jeopardy. In a spur of the moment, with nothing to lose, Merle asks a waitress at Murdoch's bar, Jackie(Irina Björklund)to come away with him.
Like the action sequences, Eric delivers his part in style, blasting hoods and looking great doing it. Nice supporting turns by Keith David as Larry Cobb, a loan shark demanding money owed to him by Merle, and Geoffrey Lewis, as Merle's weapons supplier, Naylor. Davi has the snake-in-the-grass mobster role he performs with ease, eliciting a dangerous aura when he's in a scene. Irina Björklund is a nice surprise as this young woman with an unfulfilled life who decides to take a chance, hopping in Merle's car for a little excitement, the threat of peril always near. There's violence aplenty, with bullets ripping apart bodies, the use of blood bags in heavy supply. Bokeem Woodbine is "Chinatown" Pete, a compulsive gambler who never loses, yet Merle, an obvious failure in the past, finds luck and earns some cash which will be used properly, perhaps something of substance provided by a man who kills men for a living. The final bloodbath, guns a blazing, goes on forever and delivers in spades. Roberts looks quite cool in his shades and '69 Dodge Charger. The plot is really just an excuse for Roberts to rid the world of mobster scum. Again, to reiterate, these movies are bound to make many an eye role, but it's like smack to a junkie, when it comes to my love for them..I can't help but gravitate towards them.
Roberts is a mobster's "enforcer", the guy who is an expert at removing thorns from the ass of his boss. This mobster, Murdoch(Robert Davi) has his eyes on money laundering, and sets up Merle(Roberts)to take the fall regarding the theft of a heavy Reno crime family. It's actually a more complex scheme where Murdoch had plans to use a hot shot in his entourage, eyeing the "throne", Eddie(Jerry Trimble), to sweep in to steal the money from the owner of an expensive stripper club, Doyle(Paul Dillon), who uses the joint as a front for the money laundering operation. Merle is sent there to "collect money owed", foiling Murdoch's plan to have him iced and left to take the fall for "attempting to steal the cash for himself." This doesn't bode well with Merle, to put it mildly, and he decides to take a dropped duffel bag of money with him as a "retirement fund." Having that money is bad enough, but his decision to seek revenge against Murdoch places his life in serious jeopardy. In a spur of the moment, with nothing to lose, Merle asks a waitress at Murdoch's bar, Jackie(Irina Björklund)to come away with him.
Like the action sequences, Eric delivers his part in style, blasting hoods and looking great doing it. Nice supporting turns by Keith David as Larry Cobb, a loan shark demanding money owed to him by Merle, and Geoffrey Lewis, as Merle's weapons supplier, Naylor. Davi has the snake-in-the-grass mobster role he performs with ease, eliciting a dangerous aura when he's in a scene. Irina Björklund is a nice surprise as this young woman with an unfulfilled life who decides to take a chance, hopping in Merle's car for a little excitement, the threat of peril always near. There's violence aplenty, with bullets ripping apart bodies, the use of blood bags in heavy supply. Bokeem Woodbine is "Chinatown" Pete, a compulsive gambler who never loses, yet Merle, an obvious failure in the past, finds luck and earns some cash which will be used properly, perhaps something of substance provided by a man who kills men for a living. The final bloodbath, guns a blazing, goes on forever and delivers in spades. Roberts looks quite cool in his shades and '69 Dodge Charger. The plot is really just an excuse for Roberts to rid the world of mobster scum. Again, to reiterate, these movies are bound to make many an eye role, but it's like smack to a junkie, when it comes to my love for them..I can't help but gravitate towards them.