How sad is this?

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

GUTSHOT STRAIGHT is a basic, slightly weird noir-thriller that was seemingly cast at random. The eclectic team of stars populating this one is its most unique asset, while everything else is predictable and firmly in the B-grade of cinematic standing. It's good for a lazy evening's repast, but it's got no hope of becoming anyone's new favorite.The story: A hapless gambler (George Eads) is drawn into a vicious setup that places his life at risk.In addition to Eads, the ensemble includes AnnaLynne McCord as the femme fatale, Stephen Lang and Ted Irvine as creepy weirdos, Steven Seagal as a mob boss and Vinnie Jones as his enforcer, and Tia Carrere in a three-minute role as a club lady. Despite most of the cast's affiliation with the action genre, there is very little action here, but at the best of times, there's a decent amount of intrigue. Essentially, the plot boils down to a slain millionaire and a case of blackmail, and when the film kicks into gear, the angst experienced by the Eads character is palpable and compelling. Disappointingly, suspense collapses in the form of Seagal's character, who's essentially written as a panacea to the lead character's problems and wrests an unconvincing happy end for the star.Even before then, the film has trouble maintaining its level of suspense. Giving every impression of trying to stretch their screenplay to meet a required runtime, the filmmakers resort to several time-killing scenes – sometimes it's a forced interaction between characters, and other times it's simply Eads walking around aimlessly. Speaking of which, it doesn't help the movie that the Eads character is a thoroughly unlikable and uninteresting jerk. Most of the other major characters are at least mildly interesting, but whatever time Eads doesn't spend directly imperiled is spent being a cad and a loser. The times that the film does get interesting are due to the hard work of the story, not of the protagonist.Among all of the performers whose name got drawn out of a hat to be in here, Seagal is the most curious. It's almost as though his scenes were filmed for another movie, given the abrupt change of tone the film undergoes as soon as he shows up, playing the mafioso persona he's cultivated for the last several years. I almost wish that Seagal were the main character, because even if this didn't actually improve the quality of the film, it at least would have made it shorter. As is, it feels overlong at 85 minutes, and I cannot recommend it to anyone but George Eads die-hards.

I didn't know what to expect with this movie. Maybe having little expectation is why I liked it.First of all it had a pretty good variety of good/known actors. Stephen Lang (Sargent guy from Avatar), Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs), even Tia Carrere and Steven Seagal have an appearance.Although the hat was a little silly. Really who wears a hat like that these days? I know, I suppose it was to add character.Not fantastic, but not that bad either. Definitely a notch above the average at least.With out giving anything away, the film had a nice dark film noir feel to it. This movie might be sort of a sleeper, I bet it will gain popularity in a few years..It might not have many reviews, and, a lot of them might not be great but I'd recommend it to anyhow who likes noir/mystery/dark style!

"CSI" regular George Eads plays Jack, a snake-bitten Las Vegas gambler in Las Vegas, who has a knack for getting himself knee-deep in trouble. Eads makes a convincing but hopeless nobody, and he looks nothing like the sympathetic crime scene investigator that he portrays on the CBS-TV television series. Instead, he portrays the kind of character who you'd neither want to meet nor hang out with because he is a loser. Happily, "Death and Cremation" director Justin Steele surrounds him with a veteran cast of familiar tough-guys, including Stephen Lang, Ted Levine, Vinnie Jones, and Steven Seagal, that give the action a modicum of substance. Steele imbues this brooding 85-minute melodrama about a charismatic loser with a creepy, mysterious film noir flavor.Down and out, owing just about everybody in Sin City, Jack (George Eads) runs into an older guy, Duffy (Stephen Lang of "Avatar"), in a casino who makes him a proposition: "How'd you like to make some dollars? Enough dollars to keep you at the adult table for a long, long time." Naturally, our misbegotten protagonist could use plenty of dough. Taking Jack home to his palatial residence, Duffy tries to persuade him to make love with his gorgeous wife, May (AnnaLynne McCord of "The Transporter 2"), but the scrupulous Jack displays considerable reluctance. Apparently, Jack doesn't like being told what to do. A brief physical struggle ensues between Jack and Duffy while May watches from the pool. During the fracas, Jack shoves Duffy, and Duffy's head strikes an object and the impact kills him. Jack didn't plan to murder Duffy, and he is pretty upset at the accidental turn of events. May and he stuff Duffy's corpse into the trunk of a Maserati, and Jack wanders off the next day in the brutal heat of Vegas to sleep it off in his Volvo that he cannot get to crank up. Jack is such a woebegone guy with so many problems that it is easy to see why an actor would love to fill in the gaps and play him. Ultimately, he isn't the kind of character that an audience wants to commune with for the length of any movie.Later, Jack encounters Duffy's scummy brother Lewis(Ted Levine of "Silence of the Lambs") who turns out to be a notorious loan shark. Lewis proudly shows Jack his prized possession—the car that May disposed of Duffy's body with—and we learn that Lewis is an absolute jerk. Interestingly, Lewis thinks that Duffy has gone away on a trip. A suspicious Jack leaves Lewis after Lewis mentions his name; Jack never told Lewis his name so he doesn't trust him. On his way out, Jack runs into May. She confides in Jack that she buried Duffy's body in the desert. Eventually, Lewis shows Jack a tablet that contains a video of Jack at Lewis' house. This is how Lewis knew Jack's name. Anyhow, Lewis knows everything about Jack, his mountain of gambling debt, and his wife and daughter. Surprisingly, Lewis isn't put out that Jack had something to do with his brother's death. He wants him now to kill May and he is prepared to blackmail to get him to do it. May shows up at Jack's sleazy motel and Jack assures her that he will take care of Lewis. We learn that Duffy was a terrible husband who basically kept May in a cage and watched her constantly when he wasn't out drinking and making out with strippers. Jack goes to Paulie (Steven Seagal of "Exit Wounds") through another man that he owes money, Carl (Vinnie Jones of "Snatch"), and Paulie agrees to help him. He gives Jack a revolver, and Jack and Lewis tangle in a gritty fistfight while treacherous May observes the fisticuffs. May gets the drop on Jack and she tries to kill him, but the gun backfires and blows her away. Paulie kills Lewis and they warn Jack to clear out of town."Gutshot Straight" occurs primarily in Las Vegas casinos and at an exotic house with a swimming pool and flaming torches. As slickly done as the action is, nothing really happens in this pedestrian 85-minute melodrama stocked with despicable characters. Jack finds himself in trouble for a murder that he didn't mean to commit, and he flees to his friends that he owes money and gets them to polish off the villain. The action comes full circle. Although it contains polished production values, "Gutshot Straight" essentially qualifies as a potboiler. Stephen Lang and Ted Levine spend more time on screen than either Steven Seagal or Vinnie Jones. Seagal fans won't like it that the paunchy Seagal has what amounts to a cameo. The DVD commentary is interesting and contains insights into the production. This is a one-time watch it only movie.

"If you want to live, if you want those you care about to live, you will do this." Jack (Eads) is a poker player who is on a losing streak, and not just with the cards. When a chance meeting with a high roller gives Jack the opportunity to make some serious money he decides to take him up on his offer. When he is offered $20,000 to do something he doesn't want to do an argument happens and things go horribly wrong. Now that his life is in danger he is offered a way out. Jack must now decide what is more important to him. After watching so many of these cheesy action movies I was expecting yet another drawn out movie that could have been done in 20 min but drug out for 90. I have to say much like the recent movie Throwdown I was really surprised at how much I liked this. The movie is really nothing new but for some reason it drew me and I kept me interested the entire time. Overall, nothing amazing but this was very entertaining and I liked it much more than I expected. I surprisingly give this a B-.