Striking Distance

Directed by Rowdy Herrington, Striking Distance follows Philadelphia cop Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) as he attempts to solve a series of murders that have grown increasingly personal. It’s clear that Striking Distance fares best in its surprisingly compelling first half, as filmmaker Herrington effectively sets the stage for what should have been a tight little thriller – with the ongoing inclusion of better-than-average action sequences perpetuating the movie’s watchable atmosphere. (The opening half hour contains, for example, a fantastic car chase and an exciting, tense raid on a hijacked tugboat.) It’s only as the film moves into its distressingly sluggish midsection that one’s interest begins to flag, with scripters Herrington and Marty Kaplan offering up an almost excessively familiar narrative that grows more and more tedious as time progresses. The less-than-enthralling vibe is compounded by a curious lack of action and decidedly anticlimactic final stretch, as the film devolves into an oddly by-the-numbers endeavor that indulges in the most generic and hoariest of cliches. (Everything involving the killer is especially guilty of this, as the character delivers a long speech about his crimes and keeps popping up after seemingly killed.) Striking Distance‘s failure is, in the end, especially disappointing given the first act’s effectiveness and potential, with Herrington’s stylish direction and Willis’ strong performance ultimately unable to compensate for a hopelessly hackneyed storyline.

** out of ****