Guilty by Association (2003)
There is no honor without truth. When gang wars spin out of control in downtown Washington D.C., one man steps onto the battlefirld to hunt down a ruthless killer. A young man has been released from prison and is determined to build a new life for himself. Unfortunately, without any prospects in sight, he gets lured back into the only world he knows....crime. He gets in touch with his former best friend who has since "made it big" as a drug dealer during his time in prison. But what starts out as a partnership which promises to get them both out of the projects, soon turns rotten as money comes between the two. As loyalties are divided, anger and violence erupt... destroying anyone who gets in the way. Innocent victims get caught in the crossfire and its up to one man, Police Lieutenet Redding (Morgan Freeman) to take matters into his own hands and stop the needless deaths before it's too late.
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I was confused from the start of this film. I couldn't understand how Morgan Freeman's face and name were associated with what I was seeing. The film quality, acting, lighting, sound, and every other aspect of this movie were so bad that I started thinking of how high-quality The Blair Witch was. In fact, S.W.A.T even started looking Oscar worthy.Speaking of Oscar, I'm hoping that because of Morgan Freeman's recent Academy Award success that he'll never have to be associated with a film like this again. It was embarrassing. Of course, the moment he appears on scene he commands your attention. Sadly, it was like watching Sir Anthony Hopkins acting in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.I respect that every director has to have a start somewhere but a movie of this caliber DOES NOT deserve an actor as talented as Freeman. It was horribly apparent that the film's budget could not afford his salary, either. He's in the film for a few minutes and his entire dialog is shorter than the ingredients on a box of salt.One has to wonder about the back story of the casting on this one. I wonder if Mr. Freeman's agent is still employed.
Guilty by Association is a case study in misrepresentation. The trailer that was included in the DVD extras gives the impression that the movie will be an taut urban action thriller with Morgan Freeman chasing down a child killer. Instead, we get a preachy second rate faux-docudrama about a drug partnership gone bad.The trailer was far superior to the movie. The trailer has tension, action, and pacing. Perhaps the trailer editor is the one who should have made Guilty by Association. The movie is at times laughably amateurish and often downright insulting to the viewer's intelligence.The stupidest scene (among others) is where a cop calls the murdered child's mother to tell her that her kid has been murdered. Excuse me? Anyone with enough brains to hit the "off" button on the remote knows that this is a sensitive situation that would be handled in person by the cop.All that can be concluded from this poor effort is that Morgan Freeman must have owed someone a BIG favor. That's the only explanation for his being Guilty by Association with this movie.
I was shocked when I saw this movie after renting it from blockbuster! Freeman about 10 minutes in the whole movie, OK maybe 15! I was amazed at the cheap way he was sliced into the movie. I guess he was trying to help the producers sell this movie! The story line has been done before remember Menace to Soceity?
I picked this movie up at the video store because of Morgan's prominant picture on the cover. If he was in this movie more than 5 minutes total, I'll eat my dog's dog food. What a disappointment. I'm willing to sit through sub-par acting to watch Morgan Freeman flare across the screen like a shooting star, but he didn't get enough time to do anything.