User reviews

"Federal Protection", a vanilla middle-of-the-road action/drama with the feel of tv direct production, tells of a swaggering chop shop racketeer (Assante) from Chicago who is ensconced in the federal witness protection program in the burbs of Little Rock, AR where he is too easily recognized by his neighbors one of whom he falls for while the others try to extort money from the mob for giving him up. Obvious, predictable, contrived, and generic with some bloody shootouts, almost no sex, no nudity, and very little chemistry, "FP" is strictly nominal no-brainer entertainment. Keep expectations low and enjoy.

This movie is utter cliché, but also an example how one actor can make it worth watching.

Dina Meyer is completely carrying this movie. Even though she doesn't have leading role her scenes are only advantage of this film. Talented actress and stunning beauty. (man, did she look good in that latex dominatrix costume :) )

Sure Assante was cool as always but his scenes were kind of boring. But when story gave attention to Dina this movie was actually interesting.

Movie is complete no brainier, predictable as it can get, but has some charm and is fun watch if you don't expect too much, and especially if you're Dina Meyer fan!

On paper FEDERAL PROTECTON just seems a workman like revenge thriller where someone turns stool pigeon and the mob have to hunt him down to keep his mouth shut and perhaps if the plot had been structured like this it might have worked slightly better . The problem is the story gets sidelined with a major subplot featuring someone wanting to make a lot of money by knowing where the stoolie is

Perhaps screenwriter Craig Smith can be excused slightly since my gut instinct is that director Anthony Hickox is more to blame for the film's failings . Hickox father Douglas was a director who could his turn his hand to different types of genre in films as diverse as THEATRE OF BLOOD and ZULU DAWN . Anthony is better known for his early horror films and seems slightly out of his depth as to how he should approach the material here . The film has the look of a lightweight 1980s film which seems at odds with the Taratinoesque dialogue though sometimes it delves in to erotic comedy thriller

That said Hickox has done well to cast Dina Meyer as Bootsie Cavander . She smoulders as a femme fatale who recognises a scheme to make money . Unfortunately the film seems to be pulling in different directions because the screenplay doesn't seem to have Bootsie as the main character but Ms Meyer is undoubtedly the best aspect of the film in much the same way as Linda Fiorentino is the best thing about THE LAST SEDUCTION . Perhaps the director should have insisted on a rewrite after the casting had been done ?

Although this movie was not particularily "meaty", I would have to say it was quite entertaining. Firstly, Armand Assante's performance as mafioso can never go wrong. His cocky, charismatic portrayal of an ex-mobster in the witness protection program is definitely alluring.

The redheaded neighbor recognizes and falls for him, you feel happy for her as she's in dead-end marriage, and the chemistry between her and Armand is apparent! (I kept thinking . . . if only that could happen to me).

Like I said, it's not filled with the extreme gritty substance of "Gotti", but it is fun and even has some Pulp-Fiction-like dark-comedic scenes -- that, and Armand's performance along with the sexual chemistry make this - I feel - a very worthwhile watch!

Jesus Christ this film was boring an hour and a half seemed like 5 hours and a half.Armand Assante plays Frank Carbone a chop shop worker working for the mob. but when the mob wants Frank dead Frank is put into federal protection. the thing that got me annoyed with federal protection was that it was completely boring.Armand Assante is first billed yet you hardly really see him in the film Dina Meyer steals most of the film as an annoying smart ass character. i admit the fist 15 minutes of the film where quite good but after that i struggled to keep watching it. luckily this was on television so i didn't waste any money buying it.but word of advise if anyone is thinking of buying this film don't you'll want your time and money back. 2 out of 10.

This is an average American Thriller.The movie is OK fun for Monday evening entertainment.The direction is decent.The director of this movie is well-known and skilled British director Anthony Hickox.The stars of the movie are: an average but charismatic actor Armand Assante,and sexy actress,Dina Meyer.She is so hot.I enjoyed while i was watching her in this movie.This movie is pretty fun,it is thrilling,but there are a lot flaws in this movie:some holes in the plot,bad screenplay,bad camera work,and some actors are convincing at all.Although it has some bad sides,I enjoyed in the movie because i wasn't expecting too much.And if you are not looking for a brilliant film,you should watch this one,because it is fun,the acting and production are OK,and I promise you won't be disappointed.It is stupid fun thriller for people of all ages.

"Federal Protection" is a cool and violent movie.

The plot: Frankie Carbone (Assante) is a small-time hood stealing cars for a living. When a contract on his life gets botched, he is put into the witness protection program. It seems like he's safe, but he's not. Bootsie (Meyer) is a hitwoman who will stop at nothing to find him.

Armand Assante is always worth watching because of his excellent over-acting. Watch "Dot.Kill" to see what I mean. He doesn't disappoint here, with a couple classic yelling moments from Assante. Dina Meyer is very sexy in her role. The action scenes, while silly, are bloody and well-staged.

If you like the actors involved, you'll enjoy "Federal Protection" For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Armand Assante overacts to the extreme, and believability is non existent. Unfortunately that is not the worst part of "Federal Protection". The script is so lame and derivative it is pathetic. It's as if a four year old wrote this, with no sense of reality. There are zero likable characters, so the mindless mayhem is totally meaningless. Oh and by the way, almost all this chaos takes place in Chicago, with the police rather clueless. This is the type of intelligence insulting drivel that is easy to hate. There are so many better Armand Assante gangster films out there, it is beyond ridiculous to waste time on this nonsense. So, we have characters we don't care about, doing things that make zero sense, and a movie that should be avoided. End of story. - MERK

This is a very entertaining movie with some great action. It has some good surprises in it and a bit of dark humor. Stay with it. It gets gets more and more interesting as it goes on. It is very violent.The acting is very good. This is not a B movie.Excellent photography, sound track and use of locations.

It was a Fun cool movie. The Women were hot and sexy and dangerous. the man were mean and tough. the husband and sisters relationship was fantasy status. it was too dope. and any girl who had a bad bf had to have loved the swag of the housewife.

Come back from partying with a girl and watched this movie. eh, watched half of it, we didn't make it too the end. I'm buying this DVD now so i always have it randomly play at the golf club scene to keep pushing the mood along with company. ha ha. must see. great late night creeper move. mood setter. the scene on the park bench was too real. I recommend having this movie set in your DVD player ready to be played before you head out to any happy hour.

This a very good movie. Armand Assante is great and the new actors are wonderful. The story is good and fast paced. The scenery and settings are beautiful. There are some excessively violent scenes that kept this movie from being a theatrical release. We need more Armand Assante moviea.

The plot was silly, the husband was silly, some scenes were silly, but it fun to watch. Personally I didn't really care about the main story arc, but the secondary one was fun. One thing about the movie is that it left me wondering what in the world did girls see in the husband?

Pretty much everything involving the mafiosos was enjoyable, especially the park scene. I might rent the movie again just for them. If you are looking for something to kill some time while enjoying a brew, this is a good choice.

On the whole, FEDERAL PROTECTION is a much better movie than NINE YARDS. Despite the lower budget, smaller name recognition, the screenplay is smarter and a hell of a lot more entertaining than NINE YARDS, which was clunky, overwrought, and kinda dull.

When we get a film that has the cliché of federal protection and the like we always wonder what interpertation will be given and even though you can see the cliché it holds a certain cool and simple story telling with the minor CHARACTERS MEYER AND LIPPER who outshine FEATHERSTONE AND ASSANTE. this has some of the funniest scenes and you are so rooting for the TALENTED DINA MEYER to out do the MOB that it becomes more interesting watching it. 3 a. GREAT SCENES meyer not liking her new fetish b. THE sarcastic killer who gets over emotional and pushed, also the look its SHANIA TWAIN gag c. social statement .THE mob using a Chinese hit-man in their ranks

What a cool movie....Great performances .... A nice hidden gem

I agree with the above comments. The films made up in the Great White North are an accounting trick, caused by a) the dirt-cheap Canadian dollar, and the availabilty of subsidies -- though this may have changed recently, I'm not sure. For this, what happens is that a producer based in NY or Los Angeles takes a project written with some US locale in mind and either shoots Montreal as "New York" or "Paris". It is neither, though it is a beautiful city in its own right. This way of structuring the Deal puts story, local color, regional accents, all of that way down at the bottom of consideration, when it should be near the top. (That's why a movie -- Woody Allen's Manhattan is just an example -- can evoke a time and place better than any other art form, and why all these transplanted cheapies look like they're shot in Vinyl Palookaville.) Americans and Canadians both deserve a better cinema.