GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Comeuppance Reviews Jack Cole (Seagal) is a New York cop and snappy dresser who transfers to L.A. when a serial killer begins terrorizing the city. Known as "The Family Man" because he slaughters the whole family, and does so also with a religious subtext, the stakes are high for Cole and his new partner Campbell (Wayans) to crack the case. The heat really ratchets up when Jack's ex-wife becomes a victim, and our two heroes discover that the Russian mafia is involved in all this somehow, as they usually are in these instances. As it turns out, Jack's CIA past comes to light as his former boss and now bad guy Mr. Smith (Cox) has ed forces with another local baddie named Deverell (Gunton). Things may seem complicated for the seemingly-mismatched pair of Cole and Campbell, but the Buddhist monk and the wisecracking cop are the only hope of rescuing the citizens of Los Angeles. Will they succeed despite all the obstacles in their way? Prepare to soak up the awesome power of glimmering men as Seagal eats his way through L.A. like a pudgy Pac-Man. It seems pretty clear that the filmmakers were trying to replicate the magic of The Last Boy Scout (1991), even throwing a Wayans brother into the deal. But without the stellar writing of Shane Black, or a comparative budget, or the charisma of Bruce Willis, you're left with a Seagal on the decline...this is where his laziness started to become really apparent, with face-palmingly obvious stand-ins, other actors overdubbing his voice, his whispering when he does have to talk, and the predominance of his paddy-cake slap-fu during the non-gun-related fight scenes. Oh well, at least this is before he became a sadistic torturer, as he did in his later DTV movies. Keenen Ivory Wayans not only shined with his great comic timing and snappy one-liners, we also appreciated the fact that his character, Campbell, was a classic movie fan. He even got to do some impressive Keenen Ivory-Fu, which was much appreciated. Not only did Wayans pull his own weight in this production, he pulled most of Seagal's as well. Without Wayans adding the brightness, this would have been a total slog. Brian Cox was perfectly fine as the baddie, but it was very reminiscent of Noble Willingham in Boy Scout. When Cox and Seagal are talking in the Italian restaurant, it's a battle of the whispers. You definitely need the subtitles on the DVD. So while we do see the triumph of Seagal's so-called "sissy beads", the movie remains just on the edge of a breakthrough of quality and value. It's entertaining enough, but it's also easy to see why it was one of Seagal's last movies to hit theater screens. Speaking of edges, you haven't seen the proper use of a credit card until you've seen Seagal brandish his plastic. I hear he earns double airline miles for every dead gangster. Once again, Seagal was also heavily involved in the music, teaming up with the prolific Todd Smallwood on two bluesy rockers for Taj Mahal and The Jeff Healey Band. Music aside, the plot is nothing you wouldn't see on an episode of Criminal Minds, and it's plain to see Seagal's torpor setting in. Taking all this into consideration, The Glimmer Man might bring back some fond memories of perusing the shelves at your local video store...but seen from today's perspective you can see the ill omens that would predict the course of Seagal's later career. Despite the best efforts of Wayans and perhaps a few others, The Glimmer Man is pretty middling.

classicsoncall I probably mentioned it in a review of another Stephen Seagal film, but just in case I didn't I'll state it here - his movies are a guilty pleasure that I don't mind itting. There's just something about the soft spoken persona that explodes into fists and fury when up against the bad guys that appeals to me. That's really about the only reason I need to tune into one of his pictures, seeing Seagal's no-nonsense martial arts style lay them out without prolonging the agony.I guess you could say this is one of those films. Teamed with Keenan Ivory Wayans as a pair of Los Angeles detectives, it didn't strike me that there was a lot of chemistry between the two as partners but they made it work anyway. I liked the way Jack Cole (Seagal) brought Campbell (Wayans) around to his way of thinking - "Young warriors used to like to fight head on. Old warriors like to wait..." That plus the Tibetan prayer beads and powdered deer penis, a keen way to clear the mind and purify one's thoughts.I read a few of the comments of confused viewers here and I didn't think the story was all that complicated if one pays attention. The surprising element in the story for me was when Smith (Bryan Cox) told Deverell (Bob Gunton) that his son would have to be one of three victims to get done away with, and Deverell didn't object. The crucifixion ending for henchman Donald (John M. Jackson) was pretty much telegraphed by the story line, but after all was said and done, did anyone else notice? The Family Man serial killer, who's murders opened the story, was still on the loose.

mariondowning-427-469344 Bad bad movie. Just another performance where Segal had to put in no effort other than flail around like a martial artist and Wayans was not funny (even though he is supposedly a comedian). This movie sounded like "The Last Boy Scout" (TLBS) when the character "Maynard" was mentioned (even more so when Wayans said it while sounding like his brother who was in TLBS). Except in TLBS the Wayan brother was a comic sidekick and the lead actor was sympathetic and funny unlike Segal's character in this who just seems to be fighting against everyone (even himself) for illogical reasons.Why does Segal's character always have to come from some eastern roots or be linked with some eastern philosophy (e.g. Buddhism in this case)? Doesn't make me believe he is the invincible fighter when seeing him un-co-ordinated and floundering around like someone in a "sumo costume" would move. His character always has their badge taken away by a yelling police officer and you know it's going to happen before it happens. NB. Steven Segal also had so much fake tan that he looked like a Halloween pumpkin. Watch at Halloween and you might enjoy seeing a pumpkin partially come to life.

Film Flare I was told that this film was an action comedy, the blurb on the back specifically made reference to 'punches mixed with punchlines' and the Pulitzer Prize winning 'the wit hits the fan'.What I actually got was a very large, rusted nail heavily thumped into Seagal's credibility. This coming from the guy who'd watch Under Siege 2 several days earlier.The Glimmer Man is ACTUALLY an action-thriller film about two cops trying to find a serial killer called the Family Man because he kills and crucifies whole families, what a hoot! Add in a dash of political intrigued, Vietnam veterans and conspiracy and you have a flop.The problem with this film is that the gunfights are handled relatively well but the fist fights (Seagal's selling point) is so rapidly edited that you only ever see about two kick strung together before the footage cuts elsewhere. Watching classics martial arts films (I'm thinking Bruce Lee/Donnie Yen films here) is that the editing and filming actually shows off the skills of the fighters on display. That is not present in the Glimmer Man, So what you eventually have with this action comedy is a film that has very little comedy and the action is badly done. Not all is bad however, the plot is actually fairly reasonable and there are plenty of twists and turns that somehow command your attention and there is quite a lot of potential there but you somehow end up with a hugely forgettable film.