EXIT WOUNDS (2001)

MORGAN'S RATING

Detroit police detective Orin Boyd finds himself transferred to the 13th Pricinct, the home for the department's slackers, freaks and misfits. But when he discovers that someone has bought off the entire department, he makes it his mission to expose the corruption...even at the risk of his own life. He teams up with the powerful lord Latrell Walker, whose dicey connections and seemingly unlimited cash make him everyone's target. Together the two men take on a conspiracy that reaches all the way through the ranks to the heart of the precinct.

Steven Seagal (Orin Boyd), DMX (Latrell Walker), Isaiah Washington (George Clark), Anthony Anderson (T.K.), Michael Jai White (Strutt), Bill Duke (Hinges), Jill Hennessy (Annette Mulcahy), Tom Arnold (Henry Wayne), Bruce McGill (Daniels), Eva Mendes (Trish), David Vadim (Montini), Matthew G. Taylor (Useldinger), Paolo Mastropietro (Parker), Shane Daly (Fitz), Drag-On (Shaun), Jennifer Irwin (Linda), Daniel Kash (Rory), Quancetia Hamilton (Housewife), Rick Demas (Jail Guard), Jason Stephens (Lab Tech), Peter Kosaka (Lab Tech), Chris Lawford (Vice President), Noah Danby (Terrorist Leader), Jenny Celly (Maria), Rothaford Gray (Norris), Dean McKenzie (Carlson), Thomas Seniuk (Secret Service Agent), Arnold Pinnock (Morris), Shawn Lawrence (O'Malley), John Ralston (Mulchahy's Date).

WHAT CAN TWO MEN DO AGAINST A GANG OF CROOKED COPS? WHATEVER IT TAKES. THIS IS GONNA HURT.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die). WRITERS: Ed Horowitz, Richard d'Ovidio and based on the novel by John Westermann. PRODUCERS: Joel Silver and Dan Cracchiolo.  CO-PRODUCERS: John M. Eckert and Ernest Johnson. EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Bruce Berman.  ORIGINAL MUSIC: Jeff Rona and Damon 'Grease' Blackman. DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros.

QUOTES

Orin Boyd: What am I, a shit magnet?

Latrell Walker: A lot of people talk about police corruption. Stolen drugs, crooked cops: makes you think are all cops bad? I don't think so. Sometimes you have to walk in the darkness, to bring the truth to light.

Orin Boyd: You see this? This is a happy face. You'll be lucky to ever have a face as happy as this.

Orin Boyd: I'm a cop, it's okay. Trish: Since when do cops make things okay?

George: Did you really beat a suspect unconscious with a dead cat? Orin Boyd: No. George: No? Orin Boyd: The cat wasn't dead.

FACTS

Orin Boyd: Bird watching? T.K.: Aw, no man. You know, just checking up on my old lady. You know, keeping tabs on her. Orin Boyd: Women. You can't trust 'em. T.K.: No as far as I can throw her ass...and she's a big bitch.

RELEASE DATE: March 16th, 2001 (USA) DVD RELEASE DATE: August 14th, 2001 (USA) BOX OFFICE OPENING: $18.5 million (USA) BOX OFFICE RESULT: $51.7 million (USA) BUDGET: $33 million (USA) SHOOTING DATES: August 2000 -- December 2000 - During filming in Toronto, a van was being towed along a street upside-down as part of a chase scene; stuntman Chris Lamon and another man were supposed to roll safely out, but Lamon apparantly struck his head, and died six days later. Todd Schroeder suffered a concussion in the same incident. The scene was reshot with the van moving slower and the stuntmen placed differently. - The film's production was delayed and ran almost two weeks behind schedule. Why? Two reasons: Dion Lamb has been working overtime to ensure that the fight scenes are better than most, and Seagal injured his back in September 2000, which means that his stand-in Joe Dellingiere, has had to do more martial arts work than usual.  - Filming in Toronto was delayed again when David Vadim was arrested and charged with committing a sexual assault on the set. - Seagal injured his knee during the car-jump-scene but kept shooting the movie. - Andrzej Bartkowiak, Isaiah Washington, DMX and Anthony Anderson all worked together in Romeo Must Die. Bartkowiak, DMX, Anderson and Tom Arnold then worked together on Cradle 2 The Grave. - Lt Mulcahy (Jill Hennessy) meets a similar fate to that of her character in Law and Order (Kincaid), where she is killed in a car accident. - The bridge attack scene; with the Happy Face helicopter, was shot on the Centre Street Bridge in Calgary, Alberta. The 85-year-old bridge had been closed for close to a year for restoration when film crews came to town, so there was much concern from nearby residents when things started blowing up on the bridge. About six months later, long after the bridge had been re-opened, there was a major controversy in Calgary when the producers requested the bridge be closed again for retakes.

CRITICIAL COMMENTS

"Sad, tedious proof that even violent exploitations isn't what it used to be." -- Jonathan Foreman, New York Post

"It doesn't take long to see that Seagal has not spent his layoff getting buff and into fighting trim." -- Todd McCarthy, Variety

"A collection of the cop-movie cliches that time forgot." -- Sean Means, Film.com

"Between the comic bits and bone-crunching, metal ripping violence, there's a lot of dead space thanks to a script that fires dramatic blanks." -- Hollywood Reporter

"The vast majority of action is 100% pure Seagal -- and he's never been better." -- Tor Thorsen, Reel.Com

"You can scarcely help checking yourself for exit wounds as you leave the theater." -- Jay Carr, Boston Globe

"In its low grade way, this blithely brutal cops and drugs thriller is an efficient hot wire entertainment." -- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

"In fairness, the movie is more or less competent for being what it is. Of course, I could say the same of most brick walls -- but I'd hardly recommend that you pay eight bucks to sit in front of one of two hours." -- Cody Clark, Mr. Showbiz

"Most Steven Seagal flicks -- chock-full of hissing sideways glances, inane dialogue and pointlessly violent shoot-outs -- are usually below the law of good cinematic palatability. Exit Wounds is all that and more." -- E! Online

"Exit Wounds suggests that Seagal knows how to keep our eyes glued to the screen, when he puts his mind to it." -- Houston Chronicle