Zero Tolerance

Zero Tolerance stars Robert Patrick as an FBI man with wife played by real life wife Barbara Patrick and two children. He gets an assignment to bring back from Mexico a notorious drug lord in Titus Welliver.

Things start to pop and don't let up for a minute when Welliver escapes custody with Patrick's two other agents and a whole lot of Welliver's men escape.

Welliver then gets the brilliant idea to take Patrick's family hostage and then confront Patrick and force him to take him across the border under the guise of custody, Welliver and a whole lot of illegal heroin. Works too and then he kills Patrick's family and nearly blows Patrick up in a limousine.

After that it's personal as Patrick whom we see a hint of his violent nature during Welliver's escape, goes full blown Rambo. The body count may run into triple digits. Did Sly Stallone ever do that well? Patrick is after the rest of Welliver's associates a five member board of a drug gang known as the White Hand. Do we have to ask if he succeeds?

If you like chase scenes, lots of bloody violence, and plenty of action you'll love Zero Tolerance. Makes one overlook a whole lot of flaws in the writing and the direction.

Robert Patrick stars as an FBI agent out for revenge after his wife and child are murdered by a drug cartel led by main goon Titus Welliver.

Patrick & Welliver are really too good for this trash by 90's B movie producers Richard Pepin & Joseph Mehri and their PM Entertainment Group, The script is dreadful, The acting by everyone (aside from the aforementioned above) is poor.

Plenty of gunfights & explosions, which is where most of the budget goes on this type of Straight-to-video trash, Patrick looks embarrassed to be in this - coming after his career defining role as the T-2000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and we even get Mick Fleetwood - Yes, THAT Mick Fleetwood as a drug cartel boss.

It's watchable enough with very low expectations, but we've all seen this many, many times before, "Zero Tolerance" doesn't break new ground or even tries to, it is what it is, a mid 90's bottom shelf, action cheapo with a far better leading man than this kind of trash deserves.

If you're looking for an action movie then look no further, with high-adrenaline action scenes from start to finish, Zero Tolerance is the ultimate action flick. Robert Patrick has the starring role as FBI agent Jeff Douglas and yet again he shines. I am always amazed by the emotion he is able to put through in any character he plays and Jeff is no different, you really feel for him and what he's going through. Watching Robert in this film is actually almost like watching a young John Doggett (his character in The X-Files), some familar mannerisms can be spotted, as well as his trademark intensity. The supporting cast is also good, particularly Kristen Meadows as Megan, and also keep an eye out for Barbara Patrick (Robert's real-life wife) playing his wife Wendy in the film. I must admit that I originally hired this film purely because it starred Robert, who is my favorite actor, but I enjoyed it so much that I had to purchase my own copy. If you're a fan of Robert or just action movies in general, I highly recommend checking this one out.

Though I will always recognize PM Entertainment and director Joseph Merhi for being the main producers of karate B-movies from the 1990s, a flick like ZERO TOLERANCE reminds me that they were in fact more versatile when it came to the action department. This is an ambitious, occasionally cool but ultimately mild shoot-em-up picture that foolishly takes a "less is more" method when it would have been better off embracing excess. Particular fans of Robert "T-1000" Patrick may apply.

The story: When his family is murdered and his own life endangered by a powerful drug cartel, an FBI agent (Patrick) becomes a vigilante deadest on revenge.

As much as I like ol' Joe Merhi, I wish that a more inventive director had helmed this one and brought more life to the potential-filled plot. PM regularly made films that were a lick or two above the dramatic average of competitors, but here, it unsuccessfully attempts to navigate a precisely-balanced screenplay. John Flynn or Andrew Davis might have taken the screenplay and coordinated it into an escalating action-thriller, whereas Merhi bloats the first half of the picture with plot while skimping on action, then reverses the formula for the second half. It's a competent film, definitely, but the dramatic scenes appear awkwardly-placed and the actors often underwhelm in their performances.

Action-wise, the movie does well enough but could achieve more. Much to my surprise, there was a smattering of fight scenes, though none of them particularly stood out. The highlights are several exhibitions of bullet ballet, clearly modeled after John Woo's output. Viewed in a vacuum, the handful of large-scale shootouts is furious and entertaining. However, other films have had better results in westernizing the HARD BOILED standard: NEMESIS and even HARD JUSTICE are both relatively cheap films that alternatively did a better job of aping Woo's style and improvising with the resources they had. ZERO TOLERANCE features occasionally cool stuntwork and a handful of unique guns, but I've seen much better.

Strong production values are balanced out by a surprisingly grim tone, making this an interesting action flick to watch but not necessarily a fun one. I declare it to be on the low side of average: worth catching on TV, maybe worth renting digitally, but probably not worthy of purchase.

Reading the other reviews, I didn't have high expectations. Boy, am I glad I watched anyway. Robert Patrick & Titus Welliver are EXCELLENT! If you have a problem w gratuitous violence, this is is NOT the movie for you. But if you like a good action/revenge movie, without a deep plot, then you'll like this. It's also recommend for anyone looking for '90's action.

There are a few problems... Robert Patrick's suicidal ideation is not realistic. It wanted to be Mel Gibson's scene in "Lethal Weapon," but it fell short. Patrick probably didn't have enough real pain to draw on for this scene.

The second problem... Mobsters don't kill family members & they don't kill cops. It just brings too much heat. I thought they we're going to reprimand Welliver"s character for this, but...not really. Gangsters also don't blow up cars in the middle of the Vegas strip, for the same reasons. I hate to see this, because then it moves it into Steven Segal territory.

The third problem... Why are all women in these types of movies useless simps? I'd like to see just one of these movies with a woman like me in it, instead of a nagging harpy. I thought the female FBI agent in this movie was going to back him up, but noooooo. All she does, is get her ass kicked, get in his way & then goes and narcs on him to his superiors. Useless. Her character could & should have been eliminated.

The fourth problem... The ending is ridiculous. Not the lone man seeking & getting revenge, but how this movie goes about it. There are so many other ways this could have ended, that would make it more believable, & less Segalesq. Because of the ridiculous plot twist, I dropped it 2 stars.

Overall, an enjoyable '90's action thrill ride. If you like that kind of fare, I recommend it.