An ex-convict John Brickner (Steve Austin) gets released after a second degree murder charge. Fraught with feelings of guilt he attempts to do his best to right the wrongs of the past and in doing so promises the victim's widow Veronica (Lynda Boyd) to do his best to gather up $250000 in order to pay for a heart transplant meant for Sarah, her daughter. Given the limited options of earning such cash he decides to enter into an illegal fighting circuit with the help of Reno (Walton Goggins) and Frankie (the sumptuous Laura Vandervoort).
In a movie littered with decent actors it seems surprising that the wooden barn-house performance of Steve Austin actually manages to be the best of the lot. The remainder of the cast seem to be part of the endeavour solely for the paycheck. Given this is an cranked-up testosterone all-American machismo fight movie I wouldn't expect anyone to go the distance, but some honest input would do everyone involved (including the viewers) a world of good.
Crudely placed on top of a simpleminded script bound to be targeted on supplying some decent fight scenes, "Damage" tends to be extremely tiresome in between the action, especially due to some poorly crafted story-building. Given the genre a blind eye can help you go the distance as long as the main ingredient - the fights - satisfied the blood-hungry needs of viewers. This is not to be so, as they lack the committed honesty of most classics of the genre. However likable Steve Austin may be he just isn't a persona of such intensity as Jean Claude van Damme or Arnold Schwarznegger.
In a movie littered with decent actors it seems surprising that the wooden barn-house performance of Steve Austin actually manages to be the best of the lot. The remainder of the cast seem to be part of the endeavour solely for the paycheck. Given this is an cranked-up testosterone all-American machismo fight movie I wouldn't expect anyone to go the distance, but some honest input would do everyone involved (including the viewers) a world of good.
Crudely placed on top of a simpleminded script bound to be targeted on supplying some decent fight scenes, "Damage" tends to be extremely tiresome in between the action, especially due to some poorly crafted story-building. Given the genre a blind eye can help you go the distance as long as the main ingredient - the fights - satisfied the blood-hungry needs of viewers. This is not to be so, as they lack the committed honesty of most classics of the genre. However likable Steve Austin may be he just isn't a persona of such intensity as Jean Claude van Damme or Arnold Schwarznegger.