A Good Man is a 2014 American
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
directed by Keoni Waxman and starring
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...
,
Victor Webster
Victor Webster (born February 7, 1973) is a Canadian actor. He is known for being the second actor to play Nicholas Alamain on the NBC daytime soap ''Days of Our Lives'' from 1999 to 2000, and for his roles as the mutant Brennan Mulwray in '' Mu ...
,
Tzi Ma
Tzi Ma (;) is a Hong Kong-American actor. He is well known for his roles in television shows, such as ''The Man in the High Castle'' and '' 24'', and films, such as ''Dante's Peak'', ''Rush Hour'', ''Rush Hour 3'', ''Arrival'', '' The Farewell' ...
, Iulia Verdes, and
Claudiu Bleont. The film is a prequel to ''
Force of Execution
''Force of Execution'' is a 2013 direct-to-video action crime film directed by Keoni Waxman, written by Richard Beattie and Michael Black, and starring Steven Seagal, Ving Rhames, and Danny Trejo. The movie marks the fourth collaboration between St ...
'', and is the fifth collaboration between Steven Seagal and director Keoni Waxman. ''A Good Man'' was followed by a sequel, ''
Absolution
Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the pra ...
'', in 2015.
Plot
Alexander (
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...
) is the leader of a covert operation on the border of
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
. The primary target is Islamic terrorist Abu Alwaki, whereas the secondary target is Mr. Chen (
Tzi Ma
Tzi Ma (;) is a Hong Kong-American actor. He is well known for his roles in television shows, such as ''The Man in the High Castle'' and '' 24'', and films, such as ''Dante's Peak'', ''Rush Hour'', ''Rush Hour 3'', ''Arrival'', '' The Farewell' ...
). Mr. Chen is an Islamic fundamentalist arms dealer who is financing terrorism. The operation fails, resulting in the death of Alexander's entire team and Mr. Chen's escape.
Long after the disastrous operation in Dagestan, Alexander has relocated to
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. He starts to bond with his neighbor Lena (Iulia Verdes), and her younger sister Mya (Sofia Nicolaescu). Lena and Mya's older brother Sasha (
Victor Webster
Victor Webster (born February 7, 1973) is a Canadian actor. He is known for being the second actor to play Nicholas Alamain on the NBC daytime soap ''Days of Our Lives'' from 1999 to 2000, and for his roles as the mutant Brennan Mulwray in '' Mu ...
) collects protection money for the Mafia, in order to pay off his father's debt and protect his younger sisters from any danger.
Lena works in a club that happens to be owned by mafia boss Vladimir (
Claudiu Bleont), and Alexander drops by to have a chat. Vladimir notices the two of them bonding, and has his men to warn Alexander to stay away from Lena. Alexander refuses, and an ensuing fight results in death of three of Vladimir's men. After killing Vladimir's men, Alexander takes a bag containing $300,000 from the club. The $300,000 belongs to arms-dealer Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen was using Vladimir's club to launder money on behalf of one of his buyers. Mr. Chen gives Vlad 24 hours to retrieve the money; otherwise he will take Lena to compensate for the missing $300,000.
Afterwards, Sasha is suspected of stealing Vladimir's money. Because of this, Vladimir sends a team of hit-men to kill Sasha. Assuming that Sasha is now dead, Vladimir goes to Lena's flat to prepare her for Mr. Chen, but after noticing Lena's considerably younger sister Mya, he decides to take her instead. Mr. Chen's buyer has a particular taste for young women, and according to Mr. Chen, “the younger the better”.
Sasha goes to Vladimir's club, and Vladimir is surprised that he is still alive. Although Vladimir tried to have him killed, Sasha asks for more time to get Vladimir his money back. After beating up Vladimir's men in a fistfight, Sasha is given more time to recover the money. Vladimir tells Sasha that as long as he gets his money back in 14 hours, he will give Mya back to him in one piece.
To try to find out the location of Mya, Alexander kidnaps Vladimir. After being tortured, Vladimir discloses the location of where Mr. Chen is holding Mya. Alexander then attends a meeting with Mr. Chen, and offers to give Mr. Chen his $300,000 - in exchange for Mya's safe return. After initially accepting Alexander's offer, Mr. Chen soon double crosses him on the deal. A bloody shootout then ensues, and after killing all of Mr. Chen's men, Alexander finally kills Mr. Chen in a sword-fight. He then takes Mya safely home to her brother Sasha and sister Lena.
Cast
*
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...
as John Alexander
*
Victor Webster
Victor Webster (born February 7, 1973) is a Canadian actor. He is known for being the second actor to play Nicholas Alamain on the NBC daytime soap ''Days of Our Lives'' from 1999 to 2000, and for his roles as the mutant Brennan Mulwray in '' Mu ...
as Sasha
*
Tzi Ma
Tzi Ma (;) is a Hong Kong-American actor. He is well known for his roles in television shows, such as ''The Man in the High Castle'' and '' 24'', and films, such as ''Dante's Peak'', ''Rush Hour'', ''Rush Hour 3'', ''Arrival'', '' The Farewell' ...
as Mr. Chen
* Iulia Verdes as Lena
*
Claudiu Bleont as Vladimir
* Bogdan Farkas as Aleksey
* Dave Maynard as Movie Star
* Sofia Nicolaescu as Mya
* Ana Adelaida Perjoiu as Maria
* Ovidiu Niculescu as Pavel
* Elias Ferkin as Li Wei
* Radu Banzaru as Priest
*
Massimo Dobrovic
Massimo Dobrovic is an Istrian Italian actor known from the show ''Euros of Hollywood
''Euros of Hollywood'' is an American reality documentary television series on Bravo that premiered on November 3, 2014. Bravo announced the series in Apri ...
as Roberto
* Alina Ionescu as Female Bartender
* Ioana Moldovanu as Passion
Production
Filming
The movie was shot over a period of three weeks. While filming in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, Steven Seagal adopted a seven-month-old puppy. He adopted the puppy to raise awareness of “stray dogs” that have been viewed as a major nuisance in the “formerly communist country (
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
)” for many years. In September 2013, Romania's parliament passed a law that allowed Bucharest's 64,000 street dogs to be euthanized, despite the objections of animal rights activists.
Release and reception
Distribution
The movie was released by
Lionsgate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...
on August 19, 2014.
Critical reception
There are currently no reviews for the movie on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
.
The movie has received mixed reviews from film critics. One film critic said that ''A Good Man'' is "not a good movie" and only has a "basic story of vigilantism".
Piracy lawsuit
In January 2015, the law firm 'Nicoletti Law PLC' filed a suit against 12 residents of
West Michigan
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pe ...
on behalf of the copyright holders of the movie. Attorney Paul Nicoletti has stated in court documents that “IP address holders found to have downloaded or distributed” copyright material could be subject to “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in fines. The movies copyright holders have maintained that piracy is hurting them financially, and because of this, they have had to step up "their efforts” to seek financial compensation. Since November 2014, 127 lawsuits have been filed against alleged copyright violators throughout the United States. A number of other lawsuits have also been filed throughout the states of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
(as a whole) and
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
. ''A Good Man'' marks at least the second time a Seagal picture has been placed into mass copyright litigation, following
Maximum Conviction
''Maximum Conviction'' is a 2012 action thriller starring Steven Seagal and Steve Austin and directed by Keoni Waxman.
Plot
It should be an easy day's work for former black ops operative Cross (Steven Seagal) and his partner Manning (Stone Cold ...
in 2013.
Sequel
Seagal reprised his role as Alexander, and Keoni Waxman returned to direct the movie. The sequel is called ''
Absolution
Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the pra ...
''.
[''Mighty Peking Man']
"New trailer for Steven Seagal’s ‘Mercenary: Absolution’"
published February 18, 2015. Retrieved on February 22, 2015.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Man
2014 direct-to-video films
2014 films
2014 crime action films
John Alexander films
American crime action films
Direct-to-video action films
Films shot in Bucharest
Lionsgate films
Voltage Pictures films
Films directed by Keoni Waxman
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
English-language crime action films