ON TARGET
Shooter blows holes in the myth of conspiracy-free government
BY JARRET KEENE

Hollywood is very much to blame for the unwillingness of many people to accept the existence of government-sponsored conspiracies. After all, people who believe in conspiracies are portrayed by flamboyant actors like Mel Gibson (Conspiracy Theory) and Brad Pitt (Twelve Monkeys) who specialize in tortured souls suffering from physical tics and living in sanitariums or, worse, their mothers’ basements. In these films, of course, it’s of little significance that these characters are often spot-on in attributing blame to the state for any number of assassinations and cover-ups. The lesson to be learned is: Don’t believe in conspiracies; they make you go crazy.

Finally, there’s a thriller at your corner DVD shop (or better yet, online rental service) that depicts a sharp-minded protagonist that everyone can get behind and say, “Gee, I wish I was as well-versed in firearms and government corruption as this dude.” We’re talking about, of course, Shooter, starring the poor man’s Matt Damon, a.k.a. Mark Wahlberg (he of Funky Bunch fame). Although his looks are second to Damon, Wahlberg’s choice of roles is second-to-none. Whether inhabiting the lives of porn-star Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights or the petroleum-loathing firefighter in I § Huckabees, he is always a pleasure to watch, never offering a forced or smarmy moment in anything he does. Nominated for Academy Awards (while Damon mirth-lessly trudges on as the Bourne operative), the best in Wahlberg’s career is likely yet to come. 

Having passed on a blue-state beefcake role in Brokeback Mountain, Wahlberg now shines in a red-state thriller as Bob Lee Swagger, once a top Marine Scout sniper, now a loner living in the wilderness of Kentucky with his faithful dog. Having left the Corps after a disastrous Ethiopian mission, which resulted in the brutal death of a close friend, Swagger is in no mood to do favors for a government that deemed him a disposable tool. 

But when the feds arrive with a plea to help thwart a sniper-savvy attempt on the President’s life, Swagger feels the old patriotic muscle surging in his chest again, and he consents. It probably doesn’t hurt that stone-faced Col. Isaac Johnson (played by Danny Glover) extends the offer.

Bad move.

It’s a set-up, of course. And with the entire state-surveillance apparatus combing the country for him, and only a newbie FBI agent in his corner, Swagger has nowhere to hang his head and mend his wounds but the home of his dead friend’s girl, Sarah (played by the beautiful Kate Mara). Soon, Swagger begins to decipher the conspiracy and pinpoint the people responsible, even as he realizes that his Ethiopian mission was not everything it was made out to be. 

Unlike the Bourne series, however, in which conspirators are mercilessly dismantled, director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Replacement Killers) seems to have more fun in upending the bad guys: “You don’t understand,” Swagger explains to the sympathetic Bureau agent. “These guys shot my dog.” Funny, and yet underneath the humor, you get the sense that Swagger’s bite is going to cause more than a few neoconservatives’ heads to roll.

And roll they do. Swagger shoots his way through a slew of evil feds until coming face to face with an even more insidious Russian sniper who may or may not have actually carried out the assassination. Fuqua’s action sequences are hair-raising and adrenaline-rushing enough to make you want to literally strap on a seat belt. (Luckily, there is no such regulation for watching a thriller.) And Wahlberg’s portrayal of a grim-faced revenger is a little softer than Damon’s, mostly due to the subtle yet palpable romantic tension between him and Mara. 

In addition to being Fuqua’s best film to date, Shooter is yet another cinematic notch among the pantheon of great conspiracy thrillers that includes Rod Serling’s Six Days in May (1964) and the under-appreciated Will Smith vehicle Enemy of the State (1998). 

Rent it without worry of being viewed as a crazy person. In light of the whole missing WMDs problem and the still-unanswered 9/11 questions, more and more people are seeing the truth of government-based conspiracies.