Logline: A Texas Ranger hunts down the killer who murdered his brother.
OPENING – We’re in a crime scene. A Texas Ranger named DANIEL HENSLEY is found murdered/tortured in a house. He’s tied to a chair and is practically decapitated.
Onto the scene comes SAM LEE HENSLEY – Daniel’s brother. Sam is the baddest of the bad. Martin Riggs, the Terminator and Clint Eastwood all rolled into one. Let’s just say he doesn’t take the news gladly.
Sam finds out the house belongs to BILLY FLIP. Sam tracks Billy down in a bar. Sam’s not above using excessive force to obtain information. Billy states the house really belongs to a guy named DIEGO DELA.
Sam goes in search of Diego Dela. Finds him in a house with four other Hispanic gangbangers. Shockingly, Sam shoots them all dead.
PHIL ELCO, Sam’s boss is called into the morgue by SPECIAL AGENT STEVE KENNEDY. Diego and his buddies are laying on tables. Kennedy informs Phil that Diego Dela worked as an enforcer for the Taro Cartel. No big loss. However, one of the dead bodies was a confidential informant working for the DEA. Kennedy is livid. Two years on undercover work has just been blown. Kennedy wants Sam Lee Hensley brought in for these five murders.
CUT TO: 7 YRS LATER
Sam Lee is released from a state Penitentiary. He’s served his time and is now free. This is where the first warning bell went off in my head. How you only get 7 years for committing five cold-blooded murders is beyond me.
Sam goes home. He’s visited by ESTELLA DOMINGUEZ. She states the cartel has taken her son,
CARLITO. Carlito is also Daniel’s son. She and Daniel were having an affair. Carlito is Sam Lee’s nephew. If she doesn’t come up with $10,000, Carlito will be killed.
Sam comes to see Phil Elco who’s retired and now owns a gas station/repair shop. Sam inquires about the cartel that’s taken Estella’s son.
Sam meets with Estella. He’s going to help her. They set up a meet.
The kidnapper is EMILIO RIVERA. They meet at a bar. It’s a trap. Estella’s in on it. They capture Sam and shoot Estella dead stating she only got pregnant to blackmail Daniel.
Sam is taken to a hacienda, home of FRANCISCO MORELES. Francisco runs the largest drug cartel in Northern Mexico. Francisco Moreles states he’s the one that killed Daniel. Francisco also tells Sam that one of the five men Sam killed was Francisco’s nephew.
Francisco begins torturing Sam. Brings a hammer down on his hand. Cuts his left eye. They then shoot Sam up with antibiotics to keep Sam alive so they can prolong the torture. This is the same way Daniel was murdered.
We then get a flashback. Sam and his brother Daniel, now kids, are shooting out in a canyon. Sam spots a squirrel and tells Daniel to shoot it. Daniel refuses. I’m not exactly sure what we’re supposed to take from this flashback. I just found it tacked on and out of place.
Sam wakes up. He’s in horrible pain. His hand is useless. He can’t see out of his left eye. Yet, he manages to overcome a guard and escape the hacienda. It’s at this point that the script loses me. What kind of cartel is this? How in the world could Sam escape so easily? It strains credibility.
Okay, Sam seeks refuge at Daniel’s wife’s (DEBORAH) home. She cleans his wounds and contacts Phil Elco.
It’s here that Sam reveals his plan. He’s going to pretend he’s dead. Phil Elco arranges a funeral. Sam actually wanted to get kidnapped so that he could find his brother’s murderer. Allowed himself to be kidnapped??? Again, this just defies logic. I guess Sam knew he could single-handedly beat the entire Mexican cartel while in their custody.
As Sam recovers from his wounds, we learn he’s full of regret over his brother’s death. He feels he should’ve protected him. Now, he’s going to make things right by getting Daniel’s son Carlito back.
Y’know, it’s here that I realize, the writer has never explained why the cartel killed Daniel. Guess that’s a minor point that can’t be trifled with since we’ve got a whole mess of killing to get to!
Now Sam is out practicing his shooting and we get another flashback. This one shows Sam and Danny in the middle of a hostage situation. A gunman has his wife and daughter. Danny is trying to negotiate their release. Danny gives up his gun and tells the gunman he will be his hostage.
Sam shoots Danny in the ass. Danny goes down. Sam now has a clear shot. The Gunman tries to fire. Sam shoots him dead. Sam then chews up Danny for giving up his gun.
Again, the flashback is intended to show that Sam has always had to protect Danny. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get the point already. Rule of thumb, unless done skillfully, flashbacks slow your film down.
Okay, Sam has everything worked out. Writes Deborah a letter. He’s got money stored away for her. He tells Phil to get Deborah to safety once the fireworks start.
Sam then heads back to the hacienda. He rigs a truck and has it drive straight for the hacienda. The guards open fire. The truck is knocked on its side. The guards find it empty. That’s when Sam comes out and shoots them all dead.
Sam enters the hacienda. Guards watch over Carlito. Sam shoots them all. He takes Carlito and escapes.
Six guards? That’s the entire security force, guarding the whole hacienda. You can always tell how bad an action script is by how stupid the film’s badguys are. Test out my theory. The smarter the villain, the smarter the script. Whenever you see dumb villains, you know the story’s in trouble. This scene makes me wonder how Francisco Moreles ever got to the top of the cartel.
So Francisco Moreles comes home and is told the guards are all dead and the boy has been taken. Burning with anger, Moreles orders a hit on Phil and Deborah. He’s going to smoke Sam out.
I’m sure you can figure out the rest of the plot since you’ve since it a hundred times before.
Phil and Deborah are on the run. Phil stops at a diner for coffee to go. Billy Flip CONVENIENTLY works there. What a coincidence! Flip recognizes Phil and contacts Francisco’s men.
Phil calls Sam and tells him they’ve been spotted. Two black SUVs roll into the motel parking lot….because these bad guys ARE THAT FAST!
Sam hides Carlito out at his house. He’s built a safe room out of steel. Nothing’s getting in. He locks Carlito inside the room.
Back at the motel room, Phil starts shooting. The SUVs return fire. Phil is killed.
But have no fear, here comes Sam Lee to the rescue. He comes roaring up – a one-man army. Of course, he kills everybody. Again, what kind of villains are these? Reading these pages, I probably could’ve taken out a dozen of these henchmen myself with a nail file and some paper-clips.
Needless to say, Sam gets Deborah to safety and it’s back to Sam’s house we go.
However, Francisco Moreles has found Sam’s house. They go in. Find the safe room. Being made of steel, they can’t break inside the room. Of course though, they have C-4 laying around. Francisco tells his men to blow the room.
All this for a 7-yr old kid??? You would think Moreles would have better things to do. Or at the very least, he would simply send his henchmen to do the job instead of being the point-man on this mission. Moreles is acting more like an underpaid underling.
Sam’s waiting outside. Sees Moreles inside his house. Sam tells Deborah to go get the sheriff – because of course, you want to wait to this very moment before you call in the police.
Needless to say, Sam kills all the henchmen. And then he kills Moreles. The cops arrive. The house is blown, providing perfect cover for Sam to escape any type of police questioning regarding all the dead bodies laying about.
Deborah and Carlito then drive away – because every woman wants to keep custody of a child who’s the offspring of their husband’s affair!
And then we get this final shot of Sam watching at a safe distance as Deborah and Carlito drive off. And, I kid you not, he actually tips his hat! AS IF TO SAY, “Well, my work here is done. Guess I’ll just mosey on back to the ranch and call it a day.”
Contrived and implausible are the first two words to come to mind. However, the script could be great with a rewrite because the lead character is strong. Sam just needs a villain to combat that’s just as strong and a plot that throws more obstacles in his path. The hero’s journey should always turn more treacherous. Here, once Sam escapes the torture chamber in the middle of the story, his road is relatively easy.