Panama

“Panama” is an easily forgettable action flick that doesn’t have the guts to embrace its quirkiness leanings and, in turn, fails to live up to its potential.

“Panama” is a wanna-be 80’s flick that won’t commit itself to its over-the-top aspirations and finds itself just another forgettable action flick helmed by Mark Neveldine, a director whose style has worn out its welcome.

The film takes place in 1989 in Panama during the contra scandal. Becker (Cole Hauser), a former Marine, is enlisted by Stark (Mel Gibson) to go to Panama and deal for a Soviet helicopter for the Contras. Becker has been grieving the death of his wife for the past year, spending most of that time getting drunk and passing out at her grave as a nightly ritual. This could be his one last shot at redemption and even with the opportunity presented to him, Becker isn’t sure he can move on.

After assuming his role for Casino Nationale in Panama, Becker meets with the players on both sides and finds that betrayal and revenge go hand-in-hand with everyone involved, something he can relate to and makes him feel right at home.

The bulk of the film is spent with Becker navigating both sides, having an affair with the beautiful Camila (Kiara Liz) and doing his best not to get killed in the process. And when things go south and Becker has everything around him falling apart, Stark swoops in to save the day.

The film has so much potential to be an excellent resurrection of the 80s action flick genre. Still, instead of embracing the moments it should, “Panama” spends too much time trying to hold together a story that is equal parts uninteresting and predictable.

The movie starts with Stark’s narration of “Nothing is more rock ‘n’ roll than taking out the bad guys for the red, white and blue.” Midway through the movie we have a leader for the Contras playing air guitar with his rifle and both are great. Easily my favorite moments of the film. I wanted the overindulgence of the 80s to bleed all over the screen, but director Mark Neveldine seems unwilling or unable to take the leap.

Gibson spends most of the movie in voiceover mode, which is unfortunate. Gibson took a page from the aging action star playbook that Bruce Willis has made famous in recent years for this film. Show up at the beginning, maybe a little scene here and there in the middle, come back at the end to save the day, collect a paycheck – rinse and repeat. That being said, he’s terrific in his little screen time and is effortless in his scenes. Unlike Willis, Gibson shows he’s a talent that can still command your attention without being the leading man.

Hauser has some fine moments during the movie, but his brooding performance was too flat to keep my interest. He does well in his action scenes, but these are not recommended if you’re prone to motion sickness. The editing choices are jarring and uneven and while they worked well to some extent in Neveldine’s “Crank” films, they are terrible in “Panama.”

“Panama” is an easily forgettable action flick that doesn’t have the guts to embrace its quirkiness leanings and, in turn, fails to live up to its potential.