Bullet Points: Arsenal
If you don’t have a brother, 2017’s Arsenal will make you wish you did.
The action thriller starring Adrian Grenier, John Cusack, Nicolas Cage and Johnathon Schaech has the violence and suspense one would expect from the action thriller genre. But what might surprise you is the strong theme of brotherhood that permeates the movie.
- The Premise: JP Lindel (Adrian Grenier) and Mikey Lindel (Johnathon Schaech) are brothers who took very different paths in life. JP has what many would call the perfect life. JP has a beautiful wife and child, he is a homeowner and is part owner of a successful construction company. JP is living the American Dream. Meanwhile, Mikey’s life would probably be described as a nightmare. After witnessing some pretty horrific things as a teenager, Mikey ended up working for the local gangster, Eddie King. Mikey attempted to get out of that life of crime by enlisting in the Marines. But when Mikey’s military days were behind him, he found himself back in Biloxi and back to making one bad decision after the other, from a failed marriage to his most recent bad decision, taking the money JP lent him to pay his bills and instead buy cocaine so he could double his money. Mikey’s situation gets even worse when the past comes back to haunt him and Eddie King (Nicolas Cage) and his thugs kidnap Mikey and call JP with a ransom demand of $350,000. Now JP has to come up with the money if he wants to save his brother’s life.
- The Backstory: It would be easy for the audience to believe that JP should just give up on his brother Mikey especially after he violated JP’s trust by taking his generous $10,000 loan to pay for his bills and instead use it to buy a bunch of cocaine to sell. But Arsenal does a great job of setting the table so to speak and through a flashback scene at the start of the movie it is established how important Mikey was in the life of JP when the two were growing up. Yes JP turned out to be the more successful of the two brothers, but if it wasn’t for Mikey protecting JP and sheltering JP from some of the negative crap he himself was exposed to, they both could have ended up in a bad place. This is a fact that is not lost on JP and despite all his brother’s faults he still puts Mikey on a pedestal and would still do anything for his brother.
- The Cast: I try to go into movies as fresh as possible and not let the opinions of others cloud my judgement, with that said I did come across a few posts that were negative towards the casting of Adrian Grenier in the lead role. Personally I thought Grenier was a good fit for the role. I wouldn’t want an actor who was considered an “action star” in this particular role, because this wasn’t a story about some ex-Navy SEAL or maverick cop who had his family screwed with, this was a story of the guy next door who has been pushed too far and it forces him to push himself beyond his normal limits. Grenier comes across as the guy next door in this movie and while he is taking on some bad guys, it is not like he is taking on the entire Corleone family, it is a bunch of small time hoods in Biloxi… I thought Johnathon Schaech was perfect as the lost and troubled soul who sacrificed himself for the good of his brother. Yes he has made some mistakes, but at his core he is a good man… Then there’s Nicolas Cage as Eddie King. A lot of people have a strong dislike for Cage, so what better role for him than the completely unlikable Eddie King!?!
If action thrillers are your thing, especially action thrillers with a good amount of gratuitous violence (I was shocked with all the blood and gore this movie contained), then I recommend checking out Arsenal.
And when you visit Bulletproof Action I always recommend checking out the Bonus Bullet Points…
- Reunited: Not only did Arsenal reunite Nicolas Cage and John Cusack (Cusack plays Sal, an undercover cop/family friend of the Lindels) from Con Air, the combination of Johnathon Schaech and Adrian Grenier also appeared together in 2016’s Marauders.
- Family Affair: Christopher Coppola plays Buddy King, the brother of Eddie King. This is an example of art imitating life as Coppola is Nicolas Cage’s actual brother.
- Take Me Out to the Ball Game: The Brothers Lindel are big baseball fans and early on in the film the two take in a game at MGM Park. MGM Park is the home of the Southern League’s Biloxi Shuckers.
- Unexpected Quote: “Slama Jama Ding Dong!” – Mikey Lindel
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Adrian Grenier get into a bath tub fully clothed, then this is the movie for you.
