Swordfish (2001)

On paper the casting here looked enough to guarantee big box office returns. Even if John Travolta has come off the back of the biggest flop of his career with "Battlefield Earth" Hugh Jackman was following up his first stint as Wolverine in "X-Men" likewise Halle Berry was following up the same movie. While Don Cheadle was in the Oscar winning "Traffic", Vinnie Jones was in "Snatch" and the remake of "Gone in 60 Seconds". But for some reason it just doesn't come together.

Plot In A Paragraph: Gabriel Shear (John Travolta) is trying to access information that is locked inside a complicated computer system that contains mountains of government secrets - and money. With the help of his companion Ginger (Halle Berry) he hires Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman), a desperate computer expert, who is trying to stay clean to help him hack into the system.

I'll get what I dislike out of the way first. Halle Berry's much hyped first topless scene looks very forced, and looks to only be in the movie for publicity purposes. John Travolta gives an awful performance and following "The Punisher" the last movie I watched him in, this is another hint that "Pulp Fiction" was a fluke. Tate Donovan is an awful actor, but thank funny his role is small. I'm not sure why Vinnie Jones is here, as I don't recall him having any dialogue, except an awful bit at the end. Despite a short running time, the plot is drawn out, and seems to have too much going on at the same time.

Where the movie works is Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry. Jackman is a likable hero, both handsome and charismatic while also having the ability to actually act! Berry looks great and does as well as the material allows.

Could have been worse, but also it could have been a hell of a lot better.