Denzel lights up the screen in 'Man on Fire'

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

MAN ON FIRE Rated R, with profanity, strong violence (including threat to children).

"Kill Bill's" The Bride character and Marvel Comics' "The Punisher" are both claiming mucho vengeance on the screen. This week they're joined by "Man on Fire," a prestigious but overly long crime drama.

The title character is a bodyguard out for blood.

Denzel Washington plays him with a fiery passion. Nonetheless, he repeats the quote that has become the motto of vigilantes everywhere: "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

Washington stars as John Creasy, a former CIA assassin, disillusioned and burned-out after a lifetime of deceit and murder. Off the force and heavily into drinking, he has crossed the border in Mexico to visit an old friend and fellow agent, the now-retired Rayburn (Christopher Walken).

Rayburn gets Creasy a low-key job as a bodyguard for the young daughter of a wealthy Mexico City couple. It seems the Mexican capital has been hit with a rash of kidnappings, and the city's well to do are on high alert.

The first — and best — half of "Man on Fire" is a potent relationship drama in which the cynical, burned-out ex-assassin discovers his own self-worth through the affection of Pita Ramos, the lovely, intuitive little girl he's assigned to guard. Dakota Fanning, the remarkable youngster who played Sean Penn's daughter in "I Am Sam," imbues Pita with just the right measure of charm, innocence and honesty of a child.

But then the child is kidnapped and apparently murdered — and Creasy is off on a vengeful, gory rampage through the crime and corruption of Mexico City. (The film ends with a screen credit thanking the beautiful and special community of Mexico City. But by then it's way to late; the movie has already made the city look like a scary, crime-ridden hellhole.) "Man on Fire" reunites Washington with his "Crimson Tide" director, Tony Scott, in this gritty, high-powered melodrama, based on a novel by A.J. Quinnell. The script is by Brian Helgeland, the highly regard writer who won an Oscar for "L.A. Confidential," and was nominated for "Mystic River."

And the film's key performances are without fault.

Washington presents Creasy's world-weary attitude and ultimate rage. Fanning is a wonder child. Walken is refreshingly appealing in a rare good-guy role. Obviously, such a talent pool on both sides of the camera makes much of "Man on Fire" well worth watching.

And, in truth, there's a great 110-minute movie hiding within this overly self-indulgent 142-minute effort.

But director Scott is enamored with jittery, hand-held camera shots, hyperactive cutting and other stunts to heighten the energy (when energy already abounds in the story).

If only Scott had devoted as much enthusiasm to compressing his rambling narrative. "Man on Fire" threatens to exhaust filmgoers instead of energizing them.