Plenty of action but hardly fit for a king
Saturday August 21 2010
DOLAN'S CADILLAC Thriller; Starring Wes Bentley and Emmanuelle Vaugier
>BY MARK EVANS
Dolan's Cadillac falls straight into the B movie category -- and can be conveniently found on the bottom shelves of your local video store.
The scriptwriters couldn't be arsed to give anyone a full name. So here, ordinary school teacher Robinson's (Wes Bentley) wife Elizabeth (Emmanuelle Vaugier) witnesses a murder committed by crimelord Dolan (Christian Slater).
Dolan, a Vegas mobster who deals in the sex trade, is a nasty piece of work and has a bunch of would-be prostitutes murdered in the desert, a crime seen by Elizabeth while she's out riding her horse.
As with all people who try to testify against him, Dolan blows her up in her car before she can take the stand.
And as with all revenge thrillers, Robinson goes from mild-mannered to nuts in a matter of movie minutes.
The only trouble is that Dolan is surrounded by heavy security -- and he only goes out in his bulletproof Cadillac limo.
Being a Stephen King adaptation, the revenge won't be mere Death Wish bull. Robinson, knowing that the only way to take out Dolan is to eliminate his car, hatches an elaborate plot.
He joins a road-digging crew, gets all muscle-y and manly and begins building a huge, disguised crater to trap the Cadillac -- and Dolan himself.
There's a nice shocker at the end but the climax is played out too long and it's obvious that this is an idea that works out better in a book, not the big screen.
At least Slater is watchable, even if the bad guy histrionics go a bit OTT.
DVD EXTRAS: Not bad for a B movie. Featurette on Stephen King's book, stunts special and focus on the special effects.
- Mark Evans
