TM-2
I gave this a solid 9 for me. I REALLY enjoyed it. I have watched it several times, I liked the story of an over the hill guy who needs a break and isn't getting it. His mobster boss considers him past it and treats him with disrespect. Then the movie takes off and is as merciless as you will get. I watched the unrated version and it was definitely extra gritty and bloody. I own both and even without the ultra violence the R vision is a good watch. Eric Roberts plays his character to a tee and we can't help but feel for him as he navigates thru the game set in play. I deliberately stayed away from spoilers since its got a few twists and turns well seeing for the first time watching the movie.
merklekranz
"The Butcher" gets high marks for a high body count, in other words lots of bang bang, but little else. Eric Roberts is his usual dependable quirky self, and it's nice to see Robert Davi and Geoffrey Lewis getting some work. This is however a very shallow movie, with everything revolving around the ultra violent scenes. The whole film has almost zero meaning. Eric Roberts never changes his sport coat throughout the entire movie, and really the movie never changes either. It is nothing more than just another weak plotted shoot em up, with little or no character development. I say avoid unless you need to see a bunch of seldom used actors in a meaningless movie. - MERK
P.S. Paaskynen
The Butcher has a decent cast and a promising story line, but fails to deliver due to a crummy script and too unrealistic action scenes.The wording of the plot outline is indicative of the incoherent bombastic dialogue in this film, it makes practically all actors appear wooden and insincere.A lot of the budget was thrown at bloody shootouts, but no attention was paid to making them even a little realistic. In most shootouts the henchmen just stand upright blazing away without seeking cover or even actually trying to hit the protagonist. In another shootout the bad guys insist on shooting above the furniture behind which the hero is hiding. Not even film goons are that stupid.These flaws ruin what otherwise could have been a palatable action film.
Scarecrow-88
If you want to see Eric Roberts kill a lot of people, then 'The Butcher' is the movie for you. As ridiculous as they are, I have an affinity for these "one man army" movies where someone, on his own, must overcome a militia, in this case a mobster's goons.Roberts is a mobster's "enforcer", the guy who is an expert at removing thorns from the ass of his boss. This mobster, Murdoch(Robert Davi) has his eyes on money laundering, and sets up Merle(Roberts)to take the fall regarding the theft of a heavy Reno crime family. It's actually a more complex scheme where Murdoch had plans to use a hot shot in his entourage, eyeing the "throne", Eddie(Jerry Trimble), to sweep in to steal the money from the owner of an expensive stripper club, Doyle(Paul Dillon), who uses the joint as a front for the money laundering operation. Merle is sent there to "collect money owed", foiling Murdoch's plan to have him iced and left to take the fall for "attempting to steal the cash for himself." This doesn't bode well with Merle, to put it mildly, and he decides to take a dropped duffel bag of money with him as a "retirement fund." Having that money is bad enough, but his decision to seek revenge against Murdoch places his life in serious jeopardy. In a spur of the moment, with nothing to lose, Merle asks a waitress at Murdoch's bar, Jackie(Irina Björklund)to come away with him.Like the action sequences, Eric delivers his part in style, blasting hoods and looking great doing it. Nice supporting turns by Keith David as Larry Cobb, a loan shark demanding money owed to him by Merle, and Geoffrey Lewis, as Merle's weapons supplier, Naylor. Davi has the snake-in-the-grass mobster role he performs with ease, eliciting a dangerous aura when he's in a scene. Irina Björklund is a nice surprise as this young woman with an unfulfilled life who decides to take a chance, hopping in Merle's car for a little excitement, the threat of peril always near. There's violence aplenty, with bullets ripping apart bodies, the use of blood bags in heavy supply. Bokeem Woodbine is "Chinatown" Pete, a compulsive gambler who never loses, yet Merle, an obvious failure in the past, finds luck and earns some cash which will be used properly, perhaps something of substance provided by a man who kills men for a living. The final bloodbath, guns a blazing, goes on forever and delivers in spades. Roberts looks quite cool in his shades and '69 Dodge Charger. The plot is really just an excuse for Roberts to rid the world of mobster scum. Again, to reiterate, these movies are bound to make many an eye role, but it's like smack to a junkie, when it comes to my love for them..I can't help but gravitate towards them.
