The Glimmer Man (1996)

Two cops are forced to work together to solve a chain of mysterious killings by a killer nicknamed "The Family Man".

Director:

John Gray

Writer:

Kevin Brodbin

Stars:

Steven Seagal, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Bob Gunton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steven Seagal	...	Lt. Jack Cole
Keenen Ivory Wayans	...	Det. Jim Campbell
Bob Gunton	...	Frank Deverell
Brian Cox	...	Mr. Smith
John M. Jackson	...	Donald Cunningham
Michelle Johnson	...	Jessica Cole
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Christopher Maynard
Peter Jason	...	Millie's Father
Ryan Cutrona	...	Capt. Harris
Richard Gant	...	Det. Roden
Johnny Strong	...	Johnny Deverell
Robert Mailhouse	...	Smith's Bodyguard
Jesse Stock	...	Cole's Son
Alexa PenaVega	...	Cole's Daughter (as Alexa Vega)
Nikki Cox	...	Millie

Storyline

Jack Cole is a soft spoken, mystical, new age New York cop with a checkered past. He is transferred to Los Angeles to help Los Angeles cop Jim Campbell solve a series of brutal murders in which the victims are crucified. The murders that have happened since Jack arrived in Los Angeles just don't sit right with him. When the killer, known as the "Family Man", kills Ellen DunLeavy, who happens to be Jack's ex wife and the mother of his two kids, and Ellen's husband Andrew DunLeavy, it becomes personal - especially when Jack's prints are found on Ellen's body. Jack meets with his military mentor Smith, not knowing that Smith is in cahoots with local crime boss Frank Deverell.

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Plot Keywords:

ex soldier | serial killer | murder | partner | detective | 

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Taglines:

Two good cops. One bad situation.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language and some nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Easter egg: on the wall of the police station, there is a "wanted" poster for Erik Gauss, the character of Matthias Hues from Bounty Tracker (1993).

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Goofs

In the first major fight scene against the Russians, the last opponent Jack Cole fights and eventually kicks off the side of the raised cement floor, the same footage of a hand strike to the opponents head is looped and the same strike (camera from behind Cole's left shoulder facing opponent tangentially) is repeated 5 times. A kick from a slightly more distant angle is re-used twice. This is particularly obvious when slowed down and viewed frame by frame, but also apparent at actual speed due to the fact they keep instantaneously 'retreating' and then moving closer to the edge of the floor/ledge area.

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Quotes

Jim Campbell: If you'll excuse me I have to get back to the nineties now.

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Alternate Versions

Airings on cable station TBS include two additional scenes not seen in the theatrical version or on home video/DVD. The first scene has Campbell visiting Jessica Cole at work, where he informs her about Jack being suspended and a suspect in the Dunleavy murders. The second scene (which follows immediately afterward) has Jessica returning home and confronting Jack about the news he was suspended, and they have a brief argument. Both occur after the scene where Cole and Capt. Harris talk in the bathroom following the polygraph questioning.

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Connections

Features Now, Voyager (1942)

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Soundtracks

Snake
Written by Steven Seagal, Todd Smallwood, and Matt Andes
Performed by Taj Mahal
Courtesy of Private Music

User Reviews

Weak, unimaginative plot with poor performances but just enough action to be watchable

A cop with an attitude is partnered up with a new-age cop with a shady past and amazing martial arts skills, to investigate a serial killer who crucifies his victims. Campbell sees it as a fairly straightforward case of a religious nut obeying orders from God; but Cole sees something else in some of the murders– a sense of purpose and order that hints at a bigger plot. Going back to his handler at the CIA gets him nowhere but brings him to the attention of Frank Deverell and the Russian mafia. With so many people gunning for them, can Campbell and Cole stay alive long enough to get to the bottom of it? Although any film that contains both Seagal and a Wayans brother will hardly be an easy sell to me, I still decided to give this film a stab because I do like a solid action movie every now and again. Plot wise this film is about as weak as I had expected with a messy narrative that never really convinces and just seems like a couple of half-baked ideas crammed into one story with little concern with logical linkage or development. The hope seems to have been that enough action and energy would stop us seeing the holes – sadly this doesn't work. The film has enough action to be worth watching but it isn't really anything special, although fans of Seagal will be used to this consistent standard.

The cast are just as average as you would expect. Seagal delivers everything with a total lack of emotion that is explained away by him being a totally calm Buddhist, as opposed to him just not being a very good actor. Physically he is pretty good here and his fight scenes do actually show a man with skill (as opposed to the out of shape man we have been shown almost waddling recently). Wayans tries to be a tough comic relief but his performances just reinforces the feeling of this being a formulaic mismatched cop movie; even if he is impressive in some of his action scenes as well. Neither of them are that good but they are certainly no worse than a lot of the reluctant buddy cops movies out there. The support cast should have been better but people like Gunton, Cox and Tobolowsky just sink into the mess rather than helping to raise it.

Overall this is a watchable "Friday night" style thriller that you will quite enjoy if all you want is watchable action surrounded by messy and clichéd plotting and delivery with "par for the course" acting. If you are after anything more than this then you'll be sorely disappointed as this is a weak film with an unimaginative plot, poor performances and only just enough action to be watchable if you're in an undemanding mood.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Chinese Russian

Release Date:

4 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Glimmer Man

Filming Locations:

310 Loma Dr, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,605,504, 6 October 1996

Gross USA:

$20,351,264

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,351,264

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Seagal/Nasso Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1