Sacrifice (2011)

I try to avoid reading reviews before watching a movie but this time I thought I'd do the opposite. A mixed bag of reviews didn't help so I watched it. Wooden acting, poor script, forced dialogue, no chemistry between any of the actors and that kid who played the little girl was sooooo bad but maybe not all her fault. No indication of where the movie is set unless you recognise the CN Tower, which tells you it's Toronto.It took a long time to build up to any sort of action and the climatic end was a bit of a damp squib, and they all looked like they couldn't wait to be shot! Too many glaring errors from start to finish but the most obvious is when Cuba is shot in his left shoulder. A few minutes later, he meet the drug boss and......the bullet hole in his jacket his gone! Even worse, when his jacket is removed, the left sleeve has no hole or blood and he can lift his left hand without any sign of pain.I guess miracles do happen as when they arrive at the church, his left sleeve and his hand and fingers are covered in blood!It's a shame to see someone of Cuba's calibre drown in such dross. An Oscar winning actor reduced to acting with people who are not even worthy of being called amateurs. IMO - Jerry Maguire, Outbreak and Men of Honor were his three best and last ever decent films he made. I hope the tide turns for him...and soon.

Vulgarities or not, I'm always more attracted to good storyline. Seeing that it's a recent movie, I thought at the very least it should be more presentable. Alas, what do I see, but gratuitous almost sex scenes (with no private part exposure), excessive foul language, and bad acting from the side characters left a nasty nasty taste in my mouth. The acting is even more forced and unnatural than acting school, and these mafias (not the most difficult role) can't even do it convincingly. However I must make special mention and (I specially went to find out his name)Zion Lee playing Rook if i'm not wrong, the guy who is naked half the time and speaks nothing but F words, wins the champion in bad acting. It's so bad, I don't even feel like wasting my words to explain why.Heavily laden with drug abuse, sexual content, and obscenities, on the overall, it's crass and unwarranted. A movie experience that people in this century shouldn't even be experiencing.

Sacrifice keeps the Cuba Gooding Jr. straight to video train rolling, and this time reunites him with Christian Slater (they starred in the action-comedy Lies & Illusions). As a fan of Mr. Gooding Jr., I watched Sacrifice with a smile; I liked the cast, I liked the plot, and I ended up liking the movie.A narco cop (Cuba) lost his wife and daughter to what I assume was a gangster he put behind bars. Now grief-stricken, Cuba is a mess of a man and his friend and ally Priest (Slater) can't even help him. Simultaneously, a young man pulled into the drug running business (Devon Bostick) wants out. As a last stand against his bosses Bostick hides a Virgin Mary statue made of heroin in a church (Slater's church), and runs away with his little sister. Cuba is called into the investigation and the action starts.I liked it. The first half drags, but the rest of the film really makes up for it. The story is interesting, and despite not being too original, it kept my interest and I found several gimmicks to be clever. The action was good, the ending scene was fantastic.Cuba makes a great hero here. He's not in it much for the first half, but it's his movie for the rest of the film. He pulls off badassery in spades. Slater isn't in this much either, but he has a couple of monologues and then the end scene, a shoot-em-up in his church, that he was great in. Kim Coates is marketed in the trailer as the main villain but he's not. Regardless, his scenes are fantastic and he more than holds his own with Cuba and Slater. Devon Bostick isn't memorable but he's alright. The other villains are really, really bad actors and made me root for Cuba Gooding Jr. even more.A good popcorn and soda action movie for a lazy day off. Enjoy.

Wow, what a trainwreck. Where to begin...I suppose by this time you have more than recognized Cuba's downward spiral but teaming him up with Slater is an even more embarrassing turn for both actors. Slater has been pawning off his creepy yet campy style for years now and occasionally pulls of an entertaining performance (Dolan's Cadallac, He was a quiet man), but here he just swims in the dreck. Horribly miscast as a priest, he can do little more but smirk at the camera and look at his shoes. Devon Bostik is laughable as a drug dealer - I mean really, Wimpy's kid's big brother is now a tough guy? Just a total mess and a shame for all involved. I had hopes that Cuba would rebound at some point, but he seems determine to join Wesley and Steven Seagal in the DTV "worst of" series. Seriously, don't waste your time or money on this, bad bad bad.