Shooter

Mark Wahlberg is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. He’s gotten so good that he almost salvages garbage like this loser. An ex-Special Forces marksman (Wahlberg) is asked to stage an assassination scenario as a precautionary measure for protecting the President. Someone really does get shot, with the whole thing being a setup. Wahlberg’s character is the perfect patsy because he’s got a three-word name (Bob Lee Swagger), just like Lee Harvey Oswald. Danny Glover plays the evil dickhead who sets him up, while Ned Beatty plays the evil senator because, well, movies like this always have an evil senator. Wahlberg gets through it gracefully, but he deserves better fare than this, and it’s unfortunate that his Oscar-nominated turn in The Departed is followed up with something sub-par.