.45

Gary Lennon | 2006 | 101 min | USA

I love Milla Jovovich as an action star. More than any other woman in Hollywood, she gets type cast as a fantastically hot, near-robotic killing machine that's either out to save the world or destroy it, and quite frankly, it's satisfying every time.

That's why I was so disappointed that .45 failed to deliver what the cover of the DVD (showing a crouched Jovovich in a mini skirt and stilettos, holding a gun) promised me. That is: a sexy gun toting vixen out on a dangerous mission.

Instead, .45 turned out to be a plodding revenge drama centred around Kat (Jovovic) and her boyfriend Big Al (a convincing Angus Macfadyen), a pair of low level gun runners who rule their neighbourhood (even though Jovovich predictably yearns to get out). When Big Al's thugish behaviour ceases to be charming and he beats the hell out of Kat in a jealous rage, she begins to plot an elaborate revenge, double crossing friends and foes alike along the way.

The film co-stars Stephen Dorff, a man whose work I usually avoid because he seems to poison films with his mere presence. His only convincing role (excluding the '87 classic The Gate) was probably Aerosmith's Cryin' video. And yet, somehow, in spite of the obvious plot, predictable twist ending and so-so supporting cast, the film manages to be kind of engaging because Macfadyen and Jovovich pull off their gross skid characters so well.

My main complaint: for a film that's named after a gun, there's nowhere near enough gun play in this one.