Shooter: Review By Brokaw

This is yet another story of patriotism vs. rogue elements in the government. When Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) a highly trained sharpshooter for the military, is left behind on his last mission - which was highly covert - his feelings about the government become tarnished. That's not to say he's not a patriotic person. He puts his country above everything. So when a group of government officials track him down to his hideaway in the mountains, they play on his patriotic heart strings and entice him back for one more job. He must find a way to save the President, who is about to be assassinated. Only Bob Lee has the special genius and talent to pull of the proposed assassination (besides the alleged potential assassin) and therefore he is the only one who can get into the mind of the other shooter and help get to him before any shots are fired.

It's really not as complicated as it sounds. But things are not exactly what they seem and soon Bob Lee finds himself on the other side of the coin. Instead of being the hunter he is now the hunted. And as the stakes climb, he must seek out the assistance of others or else he'll surely die.

First he contacts the widow of his former partner, then together they enlist the aid of an FBI agent, Nick Memphis (Michael Pena), who has his own susp*cions about the failed attempt on the President's life and on the manhunt for Swagger.

Watching this movie brings up several emotional issues for American audiences. First, and it is also mentioned throughout the film, are the comparisons between this situation and that of November 22, 1963. With witnesses to this incident suddenly being killed, and because many of those witnesses in Dallas 1963 also met the same fate, audiences will once again reopen their own confusion about the assassination of President Kennedy. But this film deals with the proposed shooter, and might make viewers wonder if Lee Harvey Oswald was set up, much like Bob Lee Swagger. The comparisons are there, but even if you don't read into them, this story is highly compelling and will immerse you in the characters and the action.

This film is intense and will keep your attention for the little more than 2 hours it runs on screen. It's heart-pounding, pulse-racing, adrenaline-rushing action that we haven't seen in a long time. Wahlberg is wonderful and the sniper training he undertook to prepare for this role definitely paid off. He is believable and will have audiences on his side from the first scene.