THE SAMARITAN: New Clip From Samuel L. Jackson’s Latest

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Samuel L. Jackson is once again a name on the lips of America after his rousing turn as Commander Nick Fury in Joss Whedon’s unyielding summer blockbuster The Avengers.  This is definitely a good thing, since we’ve all been huge fans of Sammy L. down at the Complex since we were mere boys.  And now riding the crest of this wave of Avengers goodness is another film starring Jackson, The Samaritan.

The Samaritan is about former con-man Foley (Jackson) who gets out of prison after twenty years, ready to go straight.  Naturally, his past comes to haunt him in the form of his old partner’s son, who wants Foley in on an ingenious scam (aren’t they all?).  The good folks over at Collider managed to get their hot little hands on this clip from the film, wherein Foley meets his love interest for the film, Iris, as played by Misfits‘s Ruth Negga:

Wow.  That does not look very good.

Okay, for one thing, Jackson is infallible to me.  Like most people, I didn’t know his name until Pulp Fiction, but I had already well enjoyed his work in the Spike Lee joints Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever, not to mention one of National Lampoon’s underrated parodies, Loaded Weapon 1.  And though I am not fit to reblock the man’s Kangol hat, this does not change the fact that Samuel L. Jackson has taken the Christopher Walken approach to acting, which is basically, “Just don’t say no.”  The Negotiator, Formula 51, xXx, Twisted, and far too many other snakes on planes to list here.  Doesn’t lower my respect for the man or his abilities any more than it does for Walken.  But it does make me think twice about going to see just any Jackson movie. 

From the clip above, I’m definitely not too gung-ho on the director or supporting cast.  Regga seems fine, though I’ve never seen anything else she’s done.  The smaller roles here feel very community-theatre to me, not to be a dick.  Director David Weaver has very few features on his résumé, and a whole lot of TV movies, which is the exact feel The Samaritan is giving me: made for TV.  Plus, this plot has been done exactly one billion times.  So aside from Sammy L., The Samaritan has, I’m genuinely sad to report, very little else going for it.

However, if you wanna give it a tumble, The Samaritan is right now available VOD and will be in theatres next Wednesday, May 16th.