Eye See You (D-Tox) (2002)

Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone as FBI agent Jake Malloy
- Charles Dutton as FBI agent Chuck Hendrick
- Polly Walker as Jenny Munroe
- Tom Berenger as Hank
- Kris Kristofferson as Dr. John "Doc" Mitchell
- Jeffrey Wright as Jaworski
- Robert Patrick as Peter Noah
- Christopher Fulford as Frank Slater

Of all the action stars to come out of the 80s and 90s, I think Sylvester Stallone was the best. Sure, Arnold Schwarzenegger was fun, but with Stallone you knew you had some acting chops to go with the explosions and fight scenes. Make no mistake about it, Stallone can act. He seems to be underrated in that department and some people dismiss him as just another action star.

If you need an example of Stallone's acting ability, look no further than D-Tox, or Eye See You as it was later called, an underrated thriller from 2002 that was, for some reason, almost universally panned upon its release. Stallone plays FBI agent Jake Malloy, who is hunting a cop killer when that killer takes away his girlfriend and sends him spiraling down the road to alcoholism. Three months later he joins a detox program in the dead of winter to try and sober himself up and face his demons. Unfortunately someone is killing off the cops one by one.

This movie does have a lot of typical slasher film motifs and standard thriller archetypes. You can see the red herrings pretty easily, although to the movie's credit, you're never quite sure who the actual killer is until right around the time Malloy figures it out. I suspected at least three people before then, and at one point thought they may actually do the (stupid) twist of having Malloy be the killer himself. A good thriller can keep you guessing and this one does that.

Going back to Stallone, just check out the moment he realizes the killer is in his house with his girlfriend. Watch as he finds her dead body. It's heartbreaking. We only know her ten minutes but through Stallone's performance she becomes something more and we feel his loss. I'm not trying to go over-the-top with my praise, but he's very good at what he does. It's a shame more people don't realize that behind his thick accent and machismo, there is a good actor there.

This film also has a decent supporting cast ranging from Robert Patrick to Kris Kristofferson. They all play the roles you'd expect them too, but they're entertaining in those roles so there's no reason to complain.

If there were a reason to complain, it would be the fact that once the killer is discovered, it all becomes very formulaic. Characters disappear, never to be seen again. They're not killed, they're just sent elsewhere for the continuation of the plot. Other characters drop in IQ in order to make themselves targets of the killer and Malloy gets there just in time for the final battle. Then it's over. It goes from a solid thriller to generic action finish and that's disappointing.

This was during the time when Stallone wasn't as big of a name as he was, before the career resurgence thanks to going back to the Rocky and Rambo franchises. Now he's back and better than ever and hopefully he remembers that he can still do roles like this. As for Eye See You, I just need to repeat that its incredibly underrated. If you're looking for a solid thriller, give this one a shot.

Score: 7.0