BECKMAN is weird. It's weird in concept, and it's weird in execution. Not because of the filmmaking or anything, but because of precisely how...normal it all is. Unless you knew David A.R. White on-sight or were a Pure Flix obsessive (I'm sure they exist), nothing about this film would indicate that it's from the same people that brought you such classics as GOD'S NOT DEAD and GOD'S NOT DEAD 2: THE QUICKENING. By all measurable standards it just seems like another one of those DTV action flicks that, in this particular instance, apes JOHN WICK. Frankly I think that's kind of an achievement in and of itself, a Pure Flix movie that just seems like...a movie.
The story, of an hitman-turned-preacher (David A.R. White) struggling to escape his violent past after his adopted daughter is abducted by a monologue-loving cult leader (William Baldwin) and his mercenary army of assassins and human traffickers, isn't terribly original (obvious nods to TAKEN, JOHN WICK, and MAN ON FIRE abound), but those are fairly solid potboiler plots and they're effectively recreated here. The inescapable hand of evangelical Christianity that normally pervades Pure Flix's output is kept to minimum here, and the film's much better for it. Sure you could argue that its message of forgiveness and nonviolence is at odds with the unending stream of violence and mayhem, but then again this isn't a movie that you should think about too hard. The religious themes aren't any more pervasive than, say, MEAN STREETS; which might be Pure Flix's attempts at securing a more mainstream audience, but also could be a sign that they've learned the art of subtlety (I hope it's the latter).
Action, performances, cinematography, score, editing, directing. All of these things aren't really that much more than average, but I think when the bar's set so low that has to count for something. My brain still refuses to 100% accept David A.R. White as a gritty action hero but he does give a solid, if somewhat one-note, performance and is fairly believable in his plethora of set-pieces. William "No Not That" Baldwin, Jeff Fahey, and Burt Young (whom I'd hitherto thought had passed away years ago) are all tasked with little more than making glorified cameos, but they're all consummate professionals and Baldwin is at least an effective baddie. The rest of the supporting cast are likewise uniformly solid.
There's a pseudo-DIY quality to the low-budget filmmaking that's rather endearing. Clearly these people didn't have the same money or resources that Chad Stahelski and Co. have, but dammit if they don't try. The fights are well choreographed and staged (and surprisingly bloody in places), and director Gabriel Sabloff has a strong sense of style that helps elevate the otherwise unremarkable material in many places. It helps that Sabloff is no stranger to these things, a veteran of both low-budget action movies and Pure Flix dramas, he clearly knows how to stretch a low budget. His love of DSLRs and gimbals might take a little getting used to, but it never detracted from the viewing experience and actually gave the film a bit of a (possibly unintended) personal touch. Will Musser's score, with its clear overtures toward Vangelis and Jóhann Jóhannsson, is an effective mood setter and helps set the film out from the rest of the DTV crowd.
