D-Tox (2002)

The opening credits provided a glimmer of hope for this film in the form of co-stars Kris Kristofferson, Tom Berenger and Dina Meyer, however Ms. Meyer gets offed early on after an opening scene in which she smooches Stallone (Jake Malloy) during an ostensibly romantic, yet actually insipidly mumbled conversation while he holds a toy mechanical clapping monkey which apparently has no significance whatsoever resulting in its being unceremoniously hurled behind the sofa. This cursory intro to Mary Malloy will constitute her entire character development, thus her abruptly brutal departure creates no sense of loss other than the obvious absence of beauty for the rest of the movie. The episodic feature spends too long lingering over each scene which consists of Sly mugging and grimacing over his loss. Kristofferson is largely misused as the proprietor of a rehab facility that looks more like a set left over from a dystopian sci-if feature. Meanwhile, Berenger is completely wasted in what appears to be a half-baked role of an electrician or plumber from Minnesota or maybe Canada, I'm unclear on why this part even existed. Any way, there's a cop killing psycho on the loose who surprisingly winds up in the same detox unit in a seeming paean to cliché-ridden cop TV shows, but at least they're over in an hour or less. The actors give it their best shot but the only applause you'll hear at the end of this feature is originating from the tin monkey still trapped behind the living room couch.

Despite the fact that Sylvester Stallone is a household name in American cinema, there is one galling fact about his career that cannot be overlooked: Besides the "Rocky" and "Rambo" series of films, nothing else he has done has really proved to be all that captivating besides just selling a few tickets at the box office. From gratuitous action flicks (Cobra) to comedy (Oscar) and even to drama (Cop Land), Stallone never was able to re-capture that Rocky/Rambo franchise glory.With this effort, Stallone dives headfirst into the "thriller" genre and ends up with a pretty decent film that could have even been much better if not for some uneven filmmaking.Basically, the plot of "Eye See You" centers on policeman Jake Malloy (Stallone), whose wife is murdered by a brutal serial killer that Malloy had been tracking down. After a bout of deep depression and drowning his pain in the bottle, Malloy heads off to a detox clinic, where he discovers that his painful past may not quite be done with him yet.Though I by-and-large enjoyed the movie overall, my first thought upon its completion was "there's just something missing, but I can't quite put my finger on it). Was it a Saw-esque police drama about a ruthless serial killer? Kind of. An emotional tale of a man battling back from his inner demons? Sort of. A suspense-filled action romp filled with gunshots and chase scenes? Most certainly...until the characters break to talk about their feelings, detox style.Usually, that type of genre diversity is great up on the big screen, but unfortunately in this case it just didn't come together. Interestingly enough, watching the trailer for the film will lead viewers to believe that the film is about something else entirely, leading me to believe that major script/character changes hampered this production from the get-go (perhaps accounting for a straight-to-video U.S. debut).Thus, while this film won't inspire you like Rocky or satisfy your action cravings like Rambo, it is still one of Stallone's more solid efforts up on the big screen (especially in the "later years) and provides enough interesting moments to avoid boredom. Check it out...if you can find it!

As I was watching this movie, I thought to myself, "this movie is barely worthy of a DVD release. I would never have put this in theaters."Lo and behold, I was right. If my comment doesn't tell you of the quality of the film, try watching the five American Pie movies that went straight to DVD and you'll find out after the first 10 minutes of the first one. Like Eye-see-you, they are all available on Netflix as part of there ever expanding catalog of dung.Sly slurs his lines, per usual, which is all I ever ask of him. Everyone else looks vaguely familiar but I don't remember any of their names. Here's how I'll explain this movie. I literally think I've seen it before. But its an utter mess of a movie and people die in it so quickly its hard to even keep names straight.I therefore watched it again, thinking I'd ever seen it because of how confused I was by it. It was only in the penultimate scene that I realized I had watched it before. But it was forgettable. And I'll probably watch it again someday, come to IMDb and find out I've already reviewed it. drat.

D-Tox or Eye See You. Definitely recommend this. Decent movie with a very good cast: Tom Berenger, Charles S. Dutton, Stephen Lang, Robert Patrick, Robert Prosky, Sylvester Stallone, Courtney B. Vance, Jeffrey Wright and more.Should have been more successful at the box office but this group of actors is probably not very popular with the younger generation -- those who spend the most at the theaters.Believe this to be better than the current IMDb rating of 5 and the low Dish rating of *+.Quirky characters and a reasonable plot allow this movie to be intriguing enough for most cinema fans.Grab some popcorn, sit back and enjoy.