Media

Home Theater Movie Renter's Guide - January, 2011

"Triggerman" (DVD) - Reviewed by Jim Clements

Synopsis

The central figure, Doc West (Terrence Hill), is a gunslinging medical doctor who is also the greatest champion poker player of all time. Seriously! Doc, working together with the local Sherrif (Paul Sorvino), decides to throw the biggest poker tournament this side of Monte Carlo. If Doc wins the tournament, then they can raise enough money to build a hospital in this small frontier town. All the great poker players descend on their small town for the big poker tournament. Watch as this movie plays toward its all too predictable finale.

Commentary

Who wouldn't love a good Western? I know I would. No thanks to having just watched Triggerman. This movie actually has the American Frontier down because it includes all the necessary elements - cowboys, indians, dusty trails, outlaws, poker playin', shoot-outs, bar room brawls and romance. The problem is, even when you get to the end of Triggerman, you still aren't really sure that you saw all that stuff.  It's because this movie is plagued with an interminably slow pace. It just couldn't capture my imagination for very long. Also, numerous subplots (some of them entertaining) make their contributions to the slow pace by being drawn out themselves. The acting talent is actually pretty good and there were some entertaining moments, so I am giving it two stars.

Technical

I let my Oppo BDP 83 SE player convert this over to 24 fps. There are mostly brightly lit scenes. The picture has very good resolution for DVD. The colors are natural and properly saturated as well. The 5.1 channel Dolby Digital soundtrack is punchy and rich sounding.

Extras

None.