It is so sad when a great actor ends up in grade B movie. But even if it happened to Cuba Gooding Jr. I have never imagined that Samuel L. Jackson could fall so low. Although he never seemed very picky if you remember "Deep Blue Sea" or "Home of the Brave" but he was always successful in choosing movies of at least moderate quality. And to be honest his flicks always get better ratings than they should which is not surprising, he is one of the most likable and charismatic actors in Hollywood. I always wonder can the actors predict how awful a movie is going to be before signing up for it. The answer more and more often seems to be they can't. The first question an actor should ask the producer is how high is the budget then they should really carefully read the script. The choice between acting in one good movie every two years or in three mediocre ones a year should be obvious. But it's not! Arena's budget surprisingly isn't that bad what it lacks most of all was a good screenplay! And it's the combination of first time director and inexperienced first time writers that made it a grade B movie.
