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Ron Miller's DARK CORRIDORS VOL. 8, No. 15 |
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THE MOVIES' NEW DARK AVENGER  |
Bob Lee Swagger may be
the screen's new 'Rambo'
of TheColumnists.com
There's no doubt that Mark Wahlberg is Hollywood's next big action star after seeing him as master sniper Bob Lee Swagger in "Shooter," the suspenseful, action-filled movie version of Stephen Hunter's thrilling 1993 novel "Point of Impact."
Though the movie takes quite a few liberties with the novel's storyline, I'm sure even diehard Hunter fans will forgive director Antoine Fuqua because he has preserved most of the hero's key qualities and delivered a sizzling thriller that not only makes you want to see him again, but most definitely with Wahlberg reprising his role as Swagger.
Author Stephen Hunter has been a movie critic for The Baltimore Sun and, more recently, The Washington Post while creating an impressive body of work as a novelist. His fans--and count me among them--have known all along that he was writing things that cried out to be movies. He understands both the print and the cinematic worlds, so his books, if put in the hands of a good action director like Fuqua, can be transformed quite readily into exciting movies.
At one point, Robert Redford was set to play Bob Lee Swagger in the film version of "Point of Impact," but, as much as I enjoy Redford, I'm glad that didn't happen. What's needed is a much younger, more rough-hewn actor. If you saw Wahlberg in his Oscar-nominated part in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" last year, then you already know he has the acting chops and the right look for Bob Lee Swagger.
For the uninitiated, let me give you a little peek into the Swagger character. He was trained as a master sniper by the U.S. military, becoming a specialist in hitting long distance targets. Betrayed by his senior officers and left to die on the battlefield, he survives as an embittered man who just wants to get away from people and live his life in an American mountain wilderness with only his faithful dog as his companion.
In "Point of Impact"--and in "Shooter"--he's pried out of retirement by the government because it has developed intelligence that suggests a master sniper has infiltrated the U.S. and is about to assassinate the President. They want Swagger to help them thwart this attempt by telling them how he would go about shooting the President in the suspected target location--from a distance of one mile. They figure he and the real assassin will size up the target in the same way and that will enable them to catch the killer before he pulls the trigger.
What happens to mess up that plan is something I'll keep to myself so the surprises of both novel and film won't be given away. What I will tell you is that Bob Lee Swagger winds up being the quarry in a nationwide hunt involving the FBI and virtually every law enforcement officer in the U.S. As some have said, this is like "Rambo" turning into "The Fugitive." Whatever you want to call it, it's a breathtaking thriller and Wahlberg is perfect as the resourceful, cold-eyed Swagger. The rest of the cast--including Danny Glover and Ned Beatty--is first rate.
Bob Lee Swagger is the towering figure in an explosive new sub-genre of the action novel/movie that involves master snipers. There have been several earlier novels about long-distance snipers before Hunter took over the field. One of the best was Geoffrey Household's 1939 "Rogue Male" about a big game hunter sent to assassinate Hitler during the early days of World War II. It was filmed twice, first as "Man Hunt" by Fritz Lang in 1941, then later under its original title with Peter O'Toole as the sniper. I also remember reading "The Long Kill" by Patrick Ruell, a pseudonym for Reginald Hill, creator of the Dalziel and Pascoe novels, about a long-distance sniper in rural England. But "Point of Impact" was such a best-seller that it touched off a whole series of similar novels that focus sharply on the technical aspects of long distance marksmanship.
Hunter has published two other Bob Lee Swagger novels--"Black Light" (1996) and "Time To Hunt" (1998). The fourth--"The 49th Samurai"--comes out this September. But he also has done several novels about Swagger's father, Earl Swagger, including "Hot Springs" (2000), "Pale Horse Coming" (2001) and "Havana" (2003). His first novel was a long distance sniper story set in World War II--"The Master Sniper" (1980). Now that "Shooter" has become a box office hit, there's plenty of Hunter's work left to film.
In "Shooter," Swagger is portrayed as a self-reliant super-patriot who cherishes his freedom. He lives alone in a mountain cabin with his dog, who's trained to bring him beer from the refrigerator. The only woman in his life is not in his life when the movie starts. While on the run, he turns to Sarah (Kate Mara) for help. She's the widow of his former target "spotter" and there is considerable chemistry between them, but don't go looking for much romance in "Shooter." There isn't any time for it.
Like David Morrell's John Rambo, first introduced in Morrell's novel "First Blood" and the subsequent film with Sylvester Stallone, Swagger is so self-reliant that he patches himself up after receiving gunshot wounds, without the aid of anesthesia or painkillers. He also becomes quite vengeful in the film, once he learns that he's been betrayed once again by government agents. The major shootout is one you're not likely to forget--with Swagger and one helpmate taking on the FBI, the military and helicopter gunships while trying to rescue Sarah from her captors. The real climax atop a snowcapped mountain is almost anti-climactic after that.
It's very likely that Hunter's novels--and certainly the movie--depend heavily on the American tolerance of vigilantism and perhaps even the ultra-conservative view that all government is corrupt. Swagger does live like a Minuteman and, at times, behaves like one, too. But even if your head's in another place politically--and mine certainly is--you can understand why this government-designed killer decides he's not going to take it anymore--and you root for him wholeheartedly.
In short, "Shooter" is a wild
ride for moviegoers and a really satisfying piece of entertainment
that's sure to mean sequels to come. And if it leads thousands
to start reading Stephen Hunter's well-crafted novels about Bob
Lee Swagger, I think the world will be a better place for it.
©2007 by Ron Miller. This column first posted April 2, 2007.
Ron
Miller is a former nationally syndicated television columnist
and the author of "Mystery! A Celebration," the official
companion book to PBS' "Mystery!" series. He currently
writes about television mysteries for MYSTERY SCENE magazine.
You can comment on this column online. Please address your message to either "The Editors" or Ron Miller. To send an email, click here and don't forget to mention Ron's name: talkback@thecolumnists.com
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