Bullet Points: Ready, Willing & Able

There is something about movies that have a diverse cast that doesn’t play into how special it is because it is diverse that I enjoy. The real world has all different kinds of people and life goes on every single day without a parade being thrown. When I came across the 1999 movie Ready, Willing & Able and its synopsis of a former CIA agent looking to stop some terrorists I had read enough. Much to my surprise, the lead turned out to be Christopher Templeton, whom I was not familiar with because she is mostly known for the soap opera The Young and the Restless. She is also known for having polio and spends Ready, Willing & Able in a wheelchair, a fact that is not highlighted in the synopsis or poster, because just like real life, action movies stars can be diverse.

• We first meet Samantha ‘Sam’ Martin (Christopher Templeton) on a CIA mission in Trinidad and it goes bad fast, with an explosion resulting in Same ending up in a wheelchair. We quickly learn that it is not a disability as Sam stops a purse snatcher wearing inline skates (God bless the 90s!) with her wheelchair and expandable baton. Unfortunately the CIA finds it to be a disability as she is forced to retire. CIA must stand for completely insensitive assholes, amirite?
• Sam is not ready to retire and looks for a job with the F.R.T.R.I.S. which is pronounced as fortress and is a leader in corporate security and evil sound acronyms. Lamont Vaugh (Steve DuMouchel) is the head of F.R.T.R.I.S. and wants no part of hiring a woman in a wheelchair because he thinks it is a bad image for the company. F.R.T.R.I.S. must stand for completely insensitive assholes, amirite?

• Sam is not going to take the disrespect sitting down and quickly hatches a plan to get back at Vaughn… by writing a strongly worded letter? Of course, she wants to surreptitiously place the letter on Vaughn’s desk proving his security isn’t all that. Sam gets the help of Feud (Mike Kalvoda) , a restless college aged man who knows how to cause trouble with his fabrication skills. Queue the Feud and Sam building gadgets montage with Jesus Jones playing (God bless the 90s!).
• Oh My God, I might have seen the greatest wheelchair stunt of all time. Sam ziplining off of the roof of the F.R.T.R.I.S building while still in her wheelchair might even be up there for all time great stunts. It definitely beats the wheelchair over a cliff in Sword of Heaven which now got bumped to number two on my list.
• Sam and Feud quickly learn that F.R.T.R.I.S. is not just into corporate security but also dabble in terrorism and Sam goes to her old CIA partner Conner Wilson (Rus Blackwell) for help. She needs all the help she can get because Vaughn sends some assassins after Sam leading to a home invasion scene that ends with a jet ski escape into an exploding boat. The action in Ready, Willing & Able is surprisingly good. What is not good is the weird romance subplot with Sam and the new hacker team member Eric (John Peros). Eric was put away by Sam and he is infatuated with her and now is released from prison, but nothing slows down an action movie like having the lead start to cry during a make out scene. It does lead to a Sam, Feud and Eric cleaning up the new hideout montage… with more Jesus Jones!

• Sam’s team is further enlarged with Angel (Kevin Weiler), a former CIA marksman who nobody wants to work with anymore because he might have multiple personalities and left behind some of his fellow agents when things went south. It is also mentioned early on that he has a passion for ultralight aviation. There is no way Ready, Willing & Able is not going to have Angel redeem himself by being selfless and we better flippin’ see some ultralight aviation. The other new member is Mo (Isaac Singleton Jr.) another former agent who lost some of his hearing in line of duty and now works as a bouncer at a strip club that has a little something for everyone.
• Sam has her team set for an all out assault to stop F.R.T.R.I.S. with a team made up of CIA castaways. Of course there is the ubiquitous twist that someone is not quite on the up and up, but the action is again surprisingly good. I would have never thought that a cabover semi versus minivan with wheelchair ramp car chase would be as exciting as it was. And look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s an ultralight aircraft!

Ready, Willing & Able is just the kind of movie that I really enjoy. It has a diverse team, with a person in a wheelchair, someone suffering from mental illness, and another that has hearing problems and shows they can still be action heroes and their disabilities don’t hinder them at all. The action scenes can be what make or break an action movie along with a villain that is easy to hate, and Ready, Willing & Able has both. It is pretty easy to hate Vaughn after he is so dismissive of Sam for no reason except her appearance. It is pretty easy to hate a Bullet Points that ends without some Bonus Bullet Points so I won’t disappoint.

• Diverse Direction – Ready, Willing & Able was directed by Jenni Gold, and it makes sense that a movie featuring the lead in a wheelchair seems so natural when you realize the director is also disabled and uses a wheelchair.
• Land of Accessibility – Ready, Willing & Able was filmed in central Florida, which make me think of Mr. No Legs and how that was filmed in Tampa. Must be the lack of hills.
• Not To Be Confused With – Many of you might hear Ready, Willing & Able and your gutter minds might immediately go to the 1971 sex-romp of the same name, but there is also 1937 musical titled Ready, Willing and Able.
• If You Ever…- Wanted to see a lady in a wheelchair play chicken with a Kenworth K100 then Ready, Willing & Able is for you.
• Perfect – Wheelchair height is perfect for a stun gun to the balls.
• Sense of Humor – When Sam gets let go by the CIA she says they gave her “her walking papers.”