Lights, Camera, Action! | Two Men in Town (DVD Movie Review)

Two Men in Town (UK Rating: 15)

Whitaker is William Garnett, released on parole to his home town after 18 years in prison for the murder of a police sergeant. With the support of his parole officer, Emily Smith (Brenda Blethyn), his attempts at a new life get off to a decent start - a job, a bank account and a girlfriend. However, he has two very large problems from his past: long-serving Sheriff Agati (Keitel), who can't forgive or forget what Garnett did to his second in command, and local criminal Terence (Luis Guzman), who expects him to return to his former ways. Garnett refuses. He's become a Muslim.

The two men of the title, then, are Garnett and the sheriff.  It appears that way at the start, because it doesn't take long for Agati to start targeting the released con. He will pin anything he can on him, knowing that the slightest misdemeanour could send him back to jail. Garnett knows that only too well, having been given a whole list of them by Emily, yet when Agati has his quarry behind bars, he just lets him go, with Emily threatening to lodge a complaint about his harassment offered as the reason. It hardly seems enough but, regardless, Keitel disappears from the screen.

Perhaps the two men of the title are Garnett and Luis. The latter lurks around thuggishly, trying to persuade his old compadre to return to his criminal ways, and doesn't take kindly to being refused. He eventually uses Garnett's girlfriend, Teresa, to make his point, but this part of the story only occupies the last quarter of the film, so that theory doesn't stand up.

The film's other conundrum centres on Whitaker's character becoming a Muslim while in prison. There are plenty of outward signs of his faith - his prayer mat and prayer beads - but it's never fully developed, so much so that he could have taken up just about any religion without affecting the dilemmas in the film. Added to that, director Bouchareb has heavily based Whitaker's appearance on Malcolm X - identical glasses, a goatee beard and frequently wearing a dark suit and tie (his only clothes following his release from prison for some time). Sadly, what could have provided a thought-provoking side to the movie turns out to be superficial and rather pat.

5/10

Average

Two Men in Town is a big disappointment, promising much but not delivering. Interesting themes, like trust, faith, and redemption, are never fully developed. The conflict at the centre of the film never really gets going and the characters are left floundering in the barren dust of the Texan border. It has the potential to be powerful and memorable, but lacks the punch to do it.