| Fate (2004) Cast:Michael Pare, Lee Majors, Phillip Michael Thomas Michael Pare stars as a detective who's on the trail of a serial killer with no distinct signature, however as things go along he finds himself in deep surprise when all the people murdered are infact related and even shocking that the man doing the killing is their father, in this interesting thriller which features an intriguing premise and some moments of suspense. Michael Pare has for awhile been doing duds in the 2000s, so much so that one notices that he doesn't look to eagar to command his presence, however with Fate, Pare's screen presence as well as some decent acting from the cast make Fate rise above it's roots to become a generally entertaining thriller. There are moments when direcor Ace Cruz doesn't handle some of his plot threads right, resulting in some confusing moments but for most of the time Cruz directs the action and winds the suspense to make up for the overall routine story and hanging subplots. However the one who makes Fate well worth watching is the performance of Lee Majors, who actually comes off strangely sympathetic as the villain. You get the feeling that he truly feels that he's doing the right thing and along the way his interesting performance makes the movie work. What doesn't (And what almost causes the film not to be recommended) is the useless subplot involving Pare and Thomas' past, which as it turns out isn't very interesting, sure Cruz tries to make the characters fleshed out but overall he ends up slowing down the tension the film manages to build. Still Michael Pare as always is a sturdy actor who gives all of his parts some quiet charisma, add in a good performance from Majors, very sharp cinematography and you have a suspenseful thriller which remains a cut above most in the genre. Now if only Cruz would've left out a useless subplot the movie might've been even better. D.Ace Cruz*** |