The Keeper (2010)

That was an excellent one.

Best movie ever!

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I just saw the Keeper and I agree with may of the reviews here that this is one of Steve's better pictures of the last few years. Having said that, I must also observe that those who disparage the acting of Seagal and his co-stars would not know good acting if it walked up and bit them.......Granted he is not a great actor, maybe not even a good one, but he is a decent actor capable of displaying and selling humor when it is called for. THAT is a sign of an actor who knows what he is doing.....as the old actor said on his death bed "Dying is easy, it's comedy that's hard."....and truer words were never spoken. All of those in this picture who delivered lines did so on an acceptable level...Academy Award performances they are not, but if you think this is bad acting....you have not been around much.

A dirty cop, turns on his own partner, Roland (Steven Seagal), shooting him for not agreeing to take some drug money during a bust, not knowing that the bullet to the chest wouldn't in fact kill him, returns to the hospital to finish the job and isn't successful. With help from his girlfriend Regina, Roland will have to recover from his injuries. Forced into a police mandated retirement, an old friend, Conner Wells(Stephan Duvall) from his past(both were cop partners in Texas) calls on Roland to protect his daughter, Nikita(Liezl Carstens) from a rival, Jason Cross(Luce Rains)who is after his land's rich uranium. Cross attempted once before to kidnap Nikita, failing after she narrowly escapes so Conner calls upon Roland's services to help keep her safe. When, after much in the way of security fails, Nikita is finally captured by Cross, Roland will go after all of them, with a little help by chauffeur driver Manuello(Johnny Hector)and his two cousins. Detective Simon Pacheco(Kevin Wiggins)hopes Roland will allow him to do his job and finally put away Cross for good..it's all the dead bodies Roland leaves around that bothers Cross.While not exactly the most original or imaginative storyline for an action film, there seemed to be more budget for THE KEEPER in that we get plenty of blood shed, shootouts, and an entertaining car chase with plenty of gunfire involved. And, Seagal does have two instances where he engages in hand-to-hand fisticuffs with Cross' men, not to mention he shoots a hell of a lot of people..plenty of squibs put to good use in THE KEEPER. While I'm not sure if the opening twenty or so minutes was really needed(seems like a slight rehash of HARD TO KILL), with a wasted Trine Christensen as Roland's confident, Regina, there to provide comfort and support after his being injured by his SWAT partner, THE KEEPER does show Seagal in a different kind of role, as a security bodyguard, albeit with special training in combat techniques. Carstens is a knockout as the daughter Roland must protect. Arron Shiver is the slimy boxer, Mason, boyfriend to Nikita, and actually working for Cross behind trainer Conner's back. It's too bad Roland couldn't kick Mason's ass at the end for his betrayal of Conner.

"The Keeper" is better than most Steven Seagal Direct to Video films (but not as good as any of his theatrical films from back in the day, of course). I mean, anyone who says this is a downturn in quality obviously never saw "Kill Switch" or "Out for a Kill," "Today You Die," or any of the other Seagal DTVs that were so re-dubbed, re-edited, and filled with stock action sequences cut-and-pasted from other films that they were totally incomprehensible. At least "The Keeper" had a basic story you could follow and made sense overall. It's almost at the level of lower tier action flicks like Charles Bronson's "Evil Men Do," or Burt Reynold's "Malone" (and about at the level of Van Damme's "Border Patrol"). Serviceable vehicles for aging action stars. And the film has a tiny bit of Seagal-dubbing at the opening, a few lame supporting performances, and some minor continuity and plot hole problems--the usual for super low budget action flicks. But the leading lady is pretty good--delivers her lines well and is sexy in that gangly, puppet-ish Scarlette Johanssen way). And the guy that plays her dad is channeling Levon Helm, so that's OK. The film's opening, where cop Seagal is shot and then has to train his way back to fighting health, is pretty good, but seems to be from a different movie; none of the characters it introduces appear later on in the movie (in fact, the opening incident isn't even mentioned later on). I suspect that the best parts of two not-that-great screenplays were melded together.But the really WEIRD error in this otherwise workmanlike flick is that Seagal's character's name, Rolland Sallinger, changes halfway through to Rolland BALLINGER! Just out of nowhere, one of the other actors start calling him "Ballinger" instead of "Sallinger"! This is both the kind of thing you'd expect in a Seagal DTV, given that they are often slapdash, but also exactly what you wouldn't expect! I mean, Seagal's DTVs are notorious for the re-dubbing of dialog and the makers of The Keeper opted not to re-dubb dialog in a case where it actually would have made sense to do so!All in all, though, this is a passable 90 minutes entertainment for fans of the giant, middle-aged, whispering bada$$ we all secretly love.

From about 2002 to 2005 Seagal was really not very good at picking movies. Or maybe those he made were the only ones offered to him. Lately though, his pictures are getting better and better with each one. The last ones like Against the Dark, Kill Switch and Driven to kill were all pretty good movies. This latest one might have even made it into theaters if Seagal Movies didn't retain a certain distrust from the audience. As for the Plot: Seagal plays a Cop who is betrayed and shot by his partner, but survives. Soon after he is discharged from the force due to medical complications. Moments after getting the dismissal notice he receives a Call from an old friend of his who is now a rich property owner in Texas begging him to help him out with a big security problem. His daughter was recently the victim of a kidnapping attempt and he begs Seagal to look after her. Of course the noble knight can't refuse a plea from an old friend. Well long story short he travels there fights a lot of bad guys, kills a bunch of them and the whole process of doing so looks really great.Of course this Movie can't keep up with $100 Million Productions but it can easily keep up with such movies as "War" or the "Transporter"-Movies.For Seagal Fans this should be a no brainer and for fans of decent action flicks you might wanna try it.