One of those films which I don't think the current IMDb score (5.4) actually captures.

It's a bit formulaic - ex-bad-boy super-DEA agent gets the bad guy, pays with the life of his nearest & dearest, and goes out for revenge. Even I saw the reveal at the end coming way-off (I rarely do), but I still really enjoyed this film.

I thought it was very well plotted and paced; Vin Diesel played it gruff, but mostly low-key (no huge sobbing moments, or tearful walks on the beach, which was refreshing). His character, along with that of his friend, were fleshed out into more-rounded human beings than the usual action hero & sidekick. The enemies were straight out of 'the Big Book Of Drug Dealers and Cartel lackeys', but Timothy Oliphant was amusing and well played, as ever (also a great turn in The Good Girl).

And I found the violence viscerally satisfying & gritty, without being seriously glorified, or venturing (too far) into Bad Boys style Hollywood explosions, helicopter gunships, LA car chases etc.

Most surprising of all (to me) is that Vin agreed to grow his hair out a little - as you would in an extended hospital stay - and roughen up his otherwise clean shaven / macho male model looks. Wandering around with the goatee, he reminded me more of the guy out of Cypress Hill.

Kudos also goes to the ending. It could have finished two scenes earlier than it did, but the tying up of loose ends wasn't done in an overly sentimental or triumphant way, which was similarly refreshing.

Good screenplay, good acting (in a pretty standard film like this), and mostly avoiding the really obvious clichés of plot & character. I really enjoyed it. On the scale of revenge movies - it's not as good as Mel Gibson's remake of Payback, or The Rock in the remake of Walking Tall. But it would hold its own alongside them in a collector's box set.

Lately, i do not watch too many ‘old-fashioned' action films like this. This has mostly to do with the fact that action films are somehow always the same. The only things that can make an action film decent are not too many corny scenes and some comedic elements. Take for instance Cradle 2 the Grave, which I saw a couple of weeks back. Now the action was pretty OK, there were some funny elements, but there were some stupid things as well (such as a corny ending). Or Bulletproof Monk, which was a bit corny overall. While A Man Apart is certainly not a good film, it is one of the better ‘old school' action films I've seen lately. The acting is decent, there are no corny elements and there is a good mix of emotion / softness and action. The film might not be suited for the big screen, but it does well as a rental (BTW: the film was shot between 2000 and 2001 and got shelved at first). The film certainly has some interesting elements and is better than most of Seagal's or Van Damme's new films. I was not disappointed to have rented it.

6,75 out of 10

I watched this movie a few days ago, i have to admit it's different from Vin's other movies, the story did not make much sense in some parts,it felt a little overcooked in others., and slow paced in the middle. While the movie had the explosions, gun fights and car chases, I felt that it was not about the violence/revenge as much as it was about Vin's character mourning his wife's death and choosing to do so in anger, it was his way of screaming, letting the world hear his pain.

The thing that really effected me is the relationship between Sean and Stacey, the connection they had, even though we did not see much in the beginning of the movie, i felt that they had a strong bond. The acting - in between the violent scenes is not half bad, specially Vin's scene at the hospital, it's heart breaking. It is a good start for Vin in to do more " human " normal everyday roles, we have to respect the guy for that.

Vin Diesel is MUCH better in this drama/action film then he was in his last action film, "XXX". His performance as a broken man who just lost his wife to drug dealer, & his violent crusade against said criminals, while not original in the least, does captivate you. As far as action movies go, this one can hang with the better of them. The action doesn't mix too well with the drama though...

My Grade: B-

Eye Candy: 2 topless women, 1 erotic dancer (Former Man Show Juggy, Paula Harrison) in see-through cloth

Extras: 7 Deleted Scenes (the first having 1 more topless chick, the 7th being an extended version of the aforementioned Juggy's dance) ; Trailers for (of all things)Run, Ronnie, Run & Highwaymen

When I rate a movie or give my opinion of a movie, I try my best to compare it to other movies like it. For example, if it is a drama about family, I use other dramas about families as a benchmark. "A Man Apart" is definitely a vigilante film. Sean Vetter's (Vin Diesel) wife was murdered and he is out to find the killer. If you want a reference for a vigilante film, see just about any Charles Bronson movie, or some of the movies with Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwazzenegger, or Steven Segal. One of my personal favorite vigilante movies is the Denzel Washington starred "Man on Fire".

Comparatively, "A Man Apart" doesn't quite match up. Whether it was how the movie was done, or it was Vin Diesel, I didn't quite feel the pain of Sean when he lost his wife. This type of movie is dependent upon the drive of the main character and getting the audience to understand or feel that same drive. Sure, most of us would understand a man seeking revenge or justice for the wrongful death of his wife, but the character still has to have some type of charisma or believability. Vin Diesel is too one dimensional to show a wide range of emotions, and there weren't enough scenes showing the bond between Sean and his wife for me to be too upset when she was killed. In the end, the movie was about a vigilante seeking justice who I wanted to succeed, but I was still indifferent about.

A Man Apart is nothing special but after the first 15 minutes I didn't think I'd be saying that in my comment. It starts off really well, exciting, good characters and it was moving along nice and quickly. While the good characters and the moving along kept up throughout the movie, the most important thing didn't - the excitement. The action sequences just became like Vin Diesel's acting voice - exactly the same the whole movie. The director tried his best to vary it (bombs, choking .etc) but these things never seemed to have any effect, for what reason I don't know. Also the storyline was unbelievably predictable.

There are a lot of action movie out there, a lot - you're not going to find anything new in this one.

This movie is alright for a gritty action film because it reminds me of the grittiness of Narc with the action sequences of XXX. The acting of Vin Diesel as a DEA agent is going out for revenge after his wife was murdered is good and alright and the acting Larenz Tate as his partner is alright as well.

Overall, I find this movie a good gritty action flick to entertain yourself any time.

This movie was so intense that even though my friends were trying to lure me away from the screen, I just couldn't. I was locked on to the movie screen, watching everything that went on. Vin Diesel did a terrific job as the main role in this movie. He showed intensity, emotion, fear, jealousy, and heart through-out the whole picture, it was just inspiration.

The movie starts out with a special police force designed to be cops that looked like they hated cops at the same time, to break into a party of drug dealers and stop the corporation. Their mission was successful while entertaining. After, Sean Vetter (Vin Diesel) and his wife Stacy (Jacqueline Obradors) throw a celebration party at their beach house. The party ends, and we see them asleep in their beds. We hear movement outside of the sliding glass door by the bedroom, Sean wakes up, opening his eyes once the door is silently open. "GET DOWN!" yells Sean to his wife as the two men at the door pull out their guns and start to fire. Sean grabs his pistol and tries to shoot them both down, as he is shot in the ribs. He runs outside after them, and shoots one of them down before he can escape. Sean walks over to him, yelling at him about coming into his house, as he shoots him once again while he is already down on the ground. He asks who he is, demanding an answer. The only thing the man says is, "You will never stop Diablo." and then dies. Sean runs back into his bedroom telling his wife to call 911. She is still lying on the ground. He picks her up and puts her on the bed. He then asks if she's ok, and she keeps repeating over and over, "I'm ok....I'm ok" Sean dials 911 on his cell phone and when a woman answers, he doesn't even speak, because he is watching his wife die in his arms. The woman on the phone keeps saying, "I can't hear you sir, please speak up." but Sean doesn't, then the screen turns completely white.

This is only the beginning of this almost 2 hour picture. Through-out the rest, Sean is determined to find this so called Diablo and finish him off. I gave this movie a 10, and I rarely do that, but it deserves that rating. I enjoyed sitting and watching it, as it moved from scene to scene. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Ok performances, adequate to poor directing, a frequently nonsensical script, inconsistent cinematography, and ambitions that far outreach the filmmakers grasp. This film is passable entertainment for the hardcore action crowd but it offers nothing new and nothing that is really good. The promise that Vin Diesel showed in Boiler Room and other earlier pictures is being wasted in unremarkable films like this.

BAD ACTOR ALERT! What can I say? I was home on my birthday sick and snowed in. Nothing was on cable, 200+ channels and not a thing on. So what does one do but check out one of the HBO, SHO MAX Direct station which are already paid for. I searched for something, anything and I found it..."A Man Apart" and a DMX movie. The DMX was actually a surprise and was very entertaining, which is all I was asking for..to be entertaining. This movie was not. First I want to say that I am not a big Vin Deisel fan, the man just can't act, simple as that. Now I have seen decent movies with him it though. This was not one of them. Apparently DEA officers make enough money to live on California beach front property. Now I live in NY so I don't have the exact cost of what it takes to live on beach front land but I can tell you it probably is not something a law enforcer cannot afford...being a daughter of one I can attest to that. Well all the DEA officers are gathered there for a party. Later on that night a few night crawlers burst into his apartment...right off the ocean..doors unlock and kill his wife and only injures him... You see he wakes up guns blasting and saves himself but not his wife. I feel the only reason we were treated earlier to the party was establish he loved his wife. You know the scenes...once you see them you know she is a goner. a few weeks later he awakens in the hospital with his best friend (poor Larenze Tate what happened to his career) Larenz's wife and his boss at his side. In my experience one always wakes up from these episodes 3 in the morning when no one is around not even the nurses. He has no idea his wife is dead and when he finds out we get the "I can really act scene" he tries to break out of his IVs and starts yelling her name etc we are treated to a flashback of them..he still can't act. Vin wants revenge and he is going to the top to get it. Well this turns out to be some twisty movie that I believe they made up while going. Heck I'll tell so some other soul doesn't waste 90 minutes out of their life. Seems like a person called Diablo is the killer. But he is not who we think he is. He is really the older guy in prison who actually puts a hit out on his family to gain Vins trust. THe first guy old Vin approaches about his wife's death. Seems that he only wanted the wife dead so he could work with Vin. If you look back at the scene the wife dies it wasn't even sure she would die. If they were there to hit his wife they would of made sure she was dead before they were through. So these were one of those "Made while the went scene." You see the man wants to get transfered to minimum security so he can escape during the transfer. Don't waste your time with this dreck. The DMX movie is like watching Scorcese next to this. The only reason I did not give this movie a 1 is because of Larenz Tate, his career is picking up again with Ray etc...I enjoyed just seeing him.

I saw this movie this week and Vin Diesel did another great job. He is producer of this movie as well as the star. Larenz Tate did a great job as his partner and the action keeps you on the edge of your seat. The love story laid into the story will also keep women watching.

I just sat down tonight and finally watched a movie that I have been wanting to watch since the day I saw the trailer back in 2003. I don't know why, but ever since then I've been wanting to see this movie and tonight I finally saw it. It was different than I thought it would be, I saw it as a "Four Brothers" feel, but Vincent just made it a unique and action packed movie with a couple "saw it coming" twists. I love Vin's acting and there were no superhero moments, no fake CGI scenes, or any "Mission Impossible" crap. It was all true to life, real, and it made you feel a lot for the main character, Sean. You're in his shoes, you're following in his footsteps and you know the pain this man was going thru the entire movie.

"You got no mud flaps on your car..."

Vin Diesel has shown ME that he can act in Boiler Room, so when I saw XXX and Fast and the Furious I knew it wasn't him, it was the plotless scripts. Now that I've seen this movie, I can be reassured. Vin Diesel has really worked hard with his character, minor details which make it human really have brought the story to life.

The story itself is a very good one, which has you rooting for the protagonists the whole time.

The premise of the movie is that Vin Diesel is a law-enforcement officer for the DEA. After making a successful bust in Mexico and putting the head of the cartel in jail, a new group of drug lords start appearing on the scene, killing off all the opposition. Unfortunately Diesel is on the hit list also but instead of killing him, they killed his wife... and thus the movie gets rolling... sort of.

A Man Apart previews try to lead you to believe you are going to see a film about a guy on a rampage with nothing to lose. But the movie is flat, flat, flat. Diesel is BORING in this movie. The rage he "supposedly" feels inside is tepid on screen. And, lord helps us, when he is "acting" anguished. I mean, this is NOT his vehicle. Denzel is better in Man on Fire and even The Rock is better in Walking Tall. Diesel shows absolutely no heat. The director isn't sure on what type of film he wants to shoot. He doesn't ever let go of the leashed. Even in one of the films "so-called" pivotal scene when Diesel beats down a guy bragging about an earlier kill, its forced at best. The scene doesn't work because Diesel doesn't really look all that upset and the henchman is wretched (as they say in England). But of all the failures in this film, the ending is the biggest failure of all and it is quite quite stupid. Unless you are a fan of Vin Diesel, I would skip this film. Lucky for me I saw it on one of the pay cable channels.

Strictly by the numbers action piece in the vengeful cop genre. Diesel is an ex-gang thug who now works a cop. After taking down a big crime boss, his wife gets murdered and Diesel goes out looking for whoever did it.

This is one of the things that bothers me. Diesel doesn't really know who's behind the hit (nor does the audience), so what follows is basically watching Diesel going round asking questions, seemingly at random, stumbling upon clues that make little sense. It's like the screenplay wasn't quite finished, so they made up scenes as they went along. The result is long stretches of pointless talking, with random shootouts every now and then.

There's nothing spectacular about anything that happens, or concerning the film's look in general. Moreover, it's hard to sympathize with Diesel's character when he himself doesn't seem to care about the safety of those around him. The films mixes violent action scenes with broad comedy in a way that simply doesn't work.

The story just unfolds without explaining what's going on. The ending, for example, just happens, and doesn't feel like it belongs to the rest of the film at all. Diesel's acting skills come up short, as does most others as well to be fair. Only Timothy Oliphant seems to be having a good time, and he's really the only thing worth watching. [1/10]

A slightly below average movie. The film starts off well enough, but it soon gets entangled into scores of clichés as old as the cinematic art itself. Another drawback in this motion picture is Diesel's acting (mind you, I had just praised his work in 'Knockaround guys' a couple of days ago). It is not up to par, he does not manage to inspire any feeling for his character in the viewer, thence we cannot sympathize with his pain. The plot itself is a cliché in it's own way, there is nothing new there to awaken our curiosity, and considering that the screenplay, production, camera and Direction are all nothing more than average, we are left with a product that will not remain in our memories for very long.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

The action genre,at the moment,is lacking in a lot of departments.Decent scripts,good dialogue,and youngblood.With supremos Stallone and Schwarzenegger now in their 50s and the likes of Van Damme and Lundgren in their early 40s,a new,younger tall,muscle bound star was needed to fill the void and fill in the woodwork.Diesel is personified with these characteristics,with the appropriate wooden drawl to go with it (though as this film proves,the man is a fine actor too),and hence stood out as the perfect individual to fulfil this task.

Unfortunately,his early scripts were a hodgepodge of bland,empty dross such as xXx and Pitch Black.This left the discerning action movie goer worried,in this day and age,he might never wow as much as he might have had he been around in say,the early 90s or late 80s.

But with A Man Apart,he blissfully casts aside such worries,for this is a taut,fully engaging actioner,with a thumping good soundtrack.A riveting opening sequence is a great teaser for what's to come.F Gary Gray,director of the Kevin Spacey/Samuel L Jackson thriller The Negotiator,rolls proceedings along nicely,with some neat,visually impressive action sequences to go with the surprisingly intricate plot.He also makes the wise decision to give his leading man Diesel some engaging dialogue to work with as well as giving him loads of opportunites to flex his muscles and act tough.Sure,there are a few cliches and the plot does become a little far fetched towards the end,but all in all,this is probably the film of Diesel's I've most enjoyed and I'm sure will finally cement him in the premier league of A list Hollywood action stars.***

Maybe it's too harsh to call 'A Man Apart' a downright bad movie. But the truth is, the movie hasn't got a single thread of originality, great acting or a decent story to provide.

Sean Vetter (Vin Diesel) is a streetwise, tough ass cop who's hunting down one of the biggest Mexican druglords, played by Geno Silva. When the drug-syndicat in their turn try to kill Vetter, they mistakenly shoot his wife. As a result, Vetter is set out for justice and revenge.

Leave it to Vin Diesel to do the rough part, but his emotional role is completely snowed under. He's no Charles Bronson, that's for sure. Add the dubious and stereotypical bad guys and tough cops, and you got yourself a barely OK revenge flick.

For the people who aren't fan of Diesel or of the tough cop driven over the hill kinda films, I would advise against watching this rather mediocre flick.

4/10.

I think it's safe to say a movie is bad when someone who went just to see Vin Diesel didn't even like it. Yes, I'm a huge Vin Diesel fan but for the love of God can someone get this man a good script? I'd been looking forward to this one since "Knockaround Guys" and it's the first new Vin Diesel flick we've had in too many months. One thing that I found really interesting is that upon walking into a packed cineplex on opening night, the audience for a violent movie about drug cartels was 80% women. So we know that the ladies LOVE them some Vin...but how long will they continue to support him after having to watch three mediocre Vin films in a row?

Basic premise: Vin plays Sean Vetter, a drug enforcement agent in California who has just made the bust of a lifetime. Life is perfect: fulfilling career, beautiful house, great friends and a gorgeous, loving wife, Stacy played by Jacqueline Obradors. So YA KNOW the shiz-nit is about to hit the fiz-an, right? I'm really not one for synopsis, suffice it to say the rest of the movie revolves around a destroyed man searching for revenge on his wife's murderer who seems to have something to do with the new wanna-be cartel leader, Diablo. (Dude, his name is "Devil" so he's GOTTA be bada**!!)

How is it? Well, there are some decent performances--LOVE Timothy Olyphant as Hollywood Jack and Larenz Tate as Demetrius Hicks...but speaking as an actress myself, no matter how hard you try, if you start out with a crap script all you can do is make candy-coated crap. Which still isn't easy to digest as a viewer. I wanted to like this movie, I really did but there were just too many aspects lacking for me to recommend it to anyone. I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone who DOES want to see this *so stop reading if you do* but it just seemed like the writers got tired of writing about half way through the movie. (I can see it now, "Uh, so who's this Diablo guy gonna be? How are we gonna end this?" "I don't know, I'm tired...let's just make it the same guy it's been all along." "Yeah, that's good...wanna grab some dim sum?")

So to sum it up...Vin Diesel is lucky he's a big hunk of charismatic sexy man but his fans *the ones who appreciate good filmmaking* are still waiting to see the full extent of the abilities that he teased us with in Boiler Room and Saving Private Ryan. I know "action hero" pays well but I'd hate to see him condemned to Steven Seagal-ville. Come on, Vin....take a chance on your intelligent fans! We can handle it, I promise!

If I had paid to get into this movie, I would be a very unhappy camper right now. Luckily, I won advance screening tickets, so I saved myself the years of therapy necessary to reverse losing out on $10 to experience Vin Diesel's gut-wrenching acting performance in "A Man Apart."

Now... my big question is... what were the writers possibly thinking when duct taping the storyline together? It's like they spent the night before watching "Lethal Weapon" and "Collateral Damage" and then gave birth to this gimp child of a film. While delivering on some funny moments, and even a little suspense, the sum total of this movie was pathetic. I advise only HUGE Vin Diesel fans see this movie -- and even then -- highly intoxicated. He should stick to the types of roles that made him famous... and spare the audience of his dreadful attempt at delivering "powerful" dialogue.

I personally liked the film. Vin Diesel's performance was the right side of credible. Lerenz Tate was a good choice as a partner, as he provides a solid performance as well and provided the comic relief this sort of film needs. The plot wasn't as lightweight as I thought it was doing to be, the script didn't go too over the top (although there was some moments) and the action was pretty impressive. Not too bad for a Vin Diesel vehicle.

My one problem though is that the ending didn't make sense (why did everyone start fighting when he was walking off at the end?)Frankly, I think it would have been better if they had swapped the end scene with the previous scene at the wife's graveside.

Also, did the makers of 'The Punisher' watch this film beforehand, because they are very similar.

***SPOILERS INCLUDED***

I expected to be totally disgusted with this movie. Ever since Pitch Black, Vin Diesel has really disappointed, and proved to me that he was trying to be the next Sly Stallone or Arnold, someone who would just get a lot of money for showing his body without really acting. His acting in this was okay, a little better that I expected, and the movie wasn't bad. The ending needs a lot of work though. It had me intrigued throughout, although I personally thought that Diesel and Co was pretty stupid for partying out in the open after taking down a MAJOR drug cartel. Why didn't they go underground for a while to make sure things blow over? Anyway, Diesel was tolerable, he did the role justice, because he actually had to show emotion in this. Larenz Tate shows up after a lengthy absence, he doesn't do much for me, but he did what he could. The ending was a real let-down, but A Man Apart is tolerable. Not a terrible film.

** out of **** stars

***MILD SPOILERS*** Again Vin Diesel takes the stage as a renegade action hero. In this film, "A Man Apart" Vin aka Sean Vetter takes on the Mexican drug cartel. After a successful DEA bust on a top kingpin, Vin becomes a target for termination. And in true Miami vice style his wife gets killed in a night assault on his beachfront home. Unfortunately this is where the movie tends to loose it's footing. Diesel tracks down the head honcho and the credibility starts to fail as Meno (drug boss) is sitting in a federal prison cell with a satellite phone? And after a rousting of one of the cartel show boys a set up is blown when Sean (Vin) goes ape s*** on the guy that claimed to had killed his wife. After loosing his badge he strikes a deal with Meno for a prison transfer? And of course Meno escapes.. and finally meets Sean in a head to head showdown in Mexico where he simply has him recaptured by the Federales. If you can get beyond the continuity problems and the lack of a decent soundtrack "A Man Apart" Is along the lines of the classic Charles Bronson Style movies.. Kick ass and take names. There is no lack of action in the film.. But somewhere in the production the final star quality polish was left out. As a staunch action film guy I rate it 3 out of 5 stars. But definitely worth a peek see!

Saw this in a Sneak Preview in San Francisco tonite.

Look, I love cheesy action movies like XXX or Fast & The Furious, that deliver exactly what they promise - good stunts, white&black characters, good action, etc.

This movie attempted and failed for that. It sucked. And it made no sense. The action was weak, so the director fell back on gore. Acting was terrible.

And the final plot twist made absolutely no sense at all on any level.

Don't see this. Ever.