''Cartels'', also known as ''Killing Salazar'', is a 2017 action film starring
Luke Goss
Luke Damon Goss (born 29 September 1968) is an English actor, and drummer of the 1980s band Bros. He has appeared in numerous films including ''Blade II'' (2002) as Jared Nomak, ''One Night with the King'' (2006) as King Xerxes, '' Hellboy II ...
, with
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 ...
in a minor role, and directed by
Keoni Waxman
Keoni Waxman (born June 30, 1968) is an American film director best known for his work with Steven Seagal since 2009 with the film '' The Keeper''.
Filmography
* '' I Shot a Man in Vegas'' (1995)
* ''Countdown'' (1996)
* ''Almost Blue'' (1996)
* ...
. It had a limited theatrical release on July 7, 2017, and was released on DVD and digital streaming on September 19, 2017.
Cast
Production
Originally titled ''Killing Salazar'', the film was directed by Keoni Waxman and written by Waxman and
Richard Beattie
Richard Beattie is a Canadian screenwriter. He is most noted for the 1989 film '' Cold Comfort'', for which he and Elliot L. Sims won the Genie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 11th Genie Awards in 1990.
Born and raised in British Colum ...
.
[ Luke Goss was chosen to play the protagonist, U.S. Marshal Tom Jensen, whereas Steven Seagal, who had collaborated with Waxman on more than half a dozen projects, was cast in a minor role.][ Seagal also produced the film alongside Binh Dang.][ Michael Richard Plowman composed the film's soundtrack.][
]
Reception
Noel Murray of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' commented that the film "is passably entertaining", but criticised Seagal's involvement in it – which amounted to "roughly 15 minutes of screen time" – as more distracting than it was value-adding, concluding that "with his thick leather coat, bushy goatee, tinted glasses, and whispery monotone voice, he (Seagal) looks like an ordinary schlub in a Steven Seagal costume."The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' credited Waxman for filming the "action scenes with reasonable proficiency" but ultimately labelled ''Cartels'' as a "far cry" from Seagal's best works.
References
External links
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{{Keoni Waxman
2017 films
2017 action thriller films
American action thriller films
Films directed by Keoni Waxman
2010s English-language films
2010s American films