"Shooting Gallery"

Freddie Prinze Jr. seems like a nice enough guy. He just doesn’t really interest me much as a performer. Which isn’t to say he’s terrible as much as he is unremarkable. Unlike his late father – a comedian who really did have an electric presence both on stage and on-screen. Perhaps it was the times, and the fact that he played up his Puerto Rican heritage so much in his comedy, which up until then wasn’t a very prevalent stand-up motif. He was a pioneer in that respect and so the spotlight fell instantly and squarely on him. But the fact is if the spotlight didn’t fall on him, he would have wrestled it into submission anyway. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer, not with his drive. He was dynamic, quick-witted and quite fearless. Of course, he never realized his full potential. But the tragic story of Freddie Prinze, Sr. has been oft-told so I won’t repeat it here – you can always go to Wikipedia’s account for that.

But back to the son: Freddie Prinze Jr. seems like a guy who’s well aware of his acting limitations but goes out and does the best he can regardless. In doing so, he comes off as quite amiable and likeable. Still, he doesn’t make performing his top priority in life. He’s often been quoted talking about the importance of giving of one’s self to make others feel better, of a husband’s responsibility to his wife, of the value of sharing, and how much he’d love to be a father. I’d have to agree all of those things trump the “acting bug.”

It’s no surprise he would feel this way given what happened with his father. In addition to being open about what he truly values in life, here is what he had to say about acting:

“I'm going to stop acting in the next few years because it's just too weird. You have to constantly be willing to live in a scary, emotional place, which is why actors are in therapy all the time.”

Creatively, I give him credit for attempting to take a page out of his father’s book by transplanting his own experiences (in his case, how he was surrounded by female family members when growing up) to his art, in the short-lived series, “Freddie.” He not only starred in that show, he was the co-creator, producer and wrote several of the episodes. As the Phantomess pointed out, his professional future probably lies in the writing department. Maybe so, but I suspect his most creative output will be a result of his personal life should he become a father as he hopes. Then he’ll have an opportunity to enchant his children with fantastic tales filled with the values he has embraced.

This Saturday night, Freddie has the lead in Channel 7’s late night offering, “Shooting Gallery.” It’s the tale of a street-smart pool player, his lady, a pool shark, and a crooked cop. One look at the trailer you and you know you’re squarely in Late Nite Landfill territory. The first thing you’ll notice is that the movie looks highly derivative of other movies you’ve seen. In fact, it’s another “hybrid” movie (as I mentioned back in my post on “The Enemy,” a “hybrid film” mixes several genres). “Shooting Gallery” combines the “pool shark” genre (made famous by “The Hustler” and its sequel, “The Color of Money”) with the rogue cop genre (a mainstay of the Landfill – the last one we covered was “Phoenix”) and the con-man genre (exemplified by movies like “The Sting” and “The Grifters”). It appears it may even have a bit of “mobster” in it as well.

Like most “con-man genre” films, the focus is on a trio of characters. In this case, the other parts of the triangle are made up of Ving Rhames and Roslyn Sanchez.

I’m sure most of you know Ving Rhames by now, so do I really have to go into his background? Probably not, other than to say that:

a.) He’s always offered solid support in any project he’s in.
b.) His fellow drama classmate at Suny, Stanley Tucci gave him the nickname “Ving” (his real name is “Irving”)
c.) One of his rare lead roles was as “Kojak” in a short-lived TV remake.
d.) His four mastiffs gave a caretaker a fatal heart attack after a frightful encounter.
e.) My favorite Rhames performance is in “Out of Sight.”

If that’s not enough for you, there’s always his wikipedia and imdb entries.

As for Roslyn Sanchez, she takes the lead female role here. You remember her – she was last seen on the Landfill setting sail on the ill-fated “Boat Trip” ‘nuff said!

View the trailer here:

Check out this video: Shooting Gallery - Trailer



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Or watch the entire movie on WABC-TV Channel 7 on Saturday, May 17th at 11:35 PM… if you dare!