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Jesse V. Johnson has been quietly amassing one hell of a résumé over the last few years. While some of his films were clearly chosen to receive a paycheck and make connections, The Fifth Commandment and Green Street Hooligans 2 come to mind, it is Johnson’s own pet projects that truly make Johnson a director to watch. One can forgive Johnson’s less creative and meaningful projects when it’s taken into account that work on those other films allows Johnson to create his own movies. Johnson’s own pet projects are light years beyond the stuff he’s simply hired to direct. Among Johnson’s successes are The Last Sentinel, Pit Fighter, and The Butcher. His latest flick, which was also written by him, fits snugly into Johnson’s growing list of modestly budgeted movies that manage to be more entertaining than most big-budgeted Hollywood action movies.

Charlie Valentine is a film about a badass gangster who tries to make one last big score. His plans go awry, and the aging Mafioso seeks refuge in the only place left to him… his estranged son’s house. It is here that Charlie becomes aware of just how meaningless his life has been. Among all the skanky hookers, fast cash, and late nights, Charlie Valentine abandoned himself a long time ago. With the help of his estranged son, Valentine learns what it’s like to be a man and rediscovers a part of himself that he thought was dead long ago. It’s much less an action movie and more of a drama with some badass shootouts, and it’s definitely a change of pace for Director Jesse V. Johnson.

Johnson continues the growth that he exhibited with the awesome success of The Butcher. He eschews the typical action movie staples for a more cerebral and emotional route. This may turn off some of the fans of Johnson’s cinema, but for those that simply like a good movie and a solid story, Charlie Valentine is both. Johnson’s setups are simple, yet effective. While most of the film involves conversations and talking, the dialogue and Johnson’s technique prevents it from becoming overly wordy and boring.

Then of course, there are the two main shootouts of the film, which bookend the movie like blood-drenched slabs of flesh which throb with beautiful sprays of arterial goodness. No one in the business is putting together shootouts like this, violent displays of special effects, unflinching brutality, and a horror that most actual horror films would die for. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the shootout at the end of Taxi Driver and the brutality of Dawn of the Dead (1974) while watching Charlie Valentine. And yet, as great as the shootouts are, they feel like merely a bonus when compared to the slick direction and excellent writing of the film itself. They could be completely removed from the movie and it would still work.

One thing Charlie Valentine wouldn’t work without is the solid performances from most of the main actors in the cast. While not everyone in the cast is up to snuff, the main characters are perfectly cast. Raymond J. Barry (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Training Day) keeps his character fresh and interesting. He is fantastic as a hardass, and later in the film, he gets to the root of Charlie Valentine’s character arc with a subtlety that will have the less intelligent moviegoer confused. In short, he’s awesome. Barry’s performance is accompanied nicely by a solid performance from Michael Weatherly as his son Danny. Other performances, which are great, but far too short include appearances from a stable of Johnson regulars such as Keith David (The Thing, The Fifth Commandment), Dominiquie Vandenberg (Pit Fighter, Green Street Hooligans 2), Vernon Wells (Weird Science, The Road Warrior), and the dude that played the main bad guy in the Dolph Lundgren masterpiece, I Come in Peace.

Johnson’s cinema represents a step backwards for the action movie… which is a good thing. His movies hearken back to a time when character mattered, when shootouts actually seemed like a bad thing, and when every other shot wasn’t an amalgam of greenscreen bullshit and CGI. Charlie Valentine takes everything that was good about ‘80s action flicks and delivers them unto the viewer amid a story that won’t simply be thrown away in favor of fond remembrances of violence. Few action movies can deliver on that kind of promise.

Final Synopsis: Charlie Valentine has some brutal action scenes in it, but it’s more of a character study than anything else. It most closely resembles The Butcher from Johnson’s other works. It’s worth watching, but be aware that this isn’t a nonstop action fest.

Points Lost: -1 for some shoddy supporting actors, -1 for a few pacing problems, -1 for an over-reliance on classical music, which sometimes didn’t fit the mood or tone of the film

Lesson Learned: Always wear a suit.

Burning Question: Will you still be banging hot chicks when you’re 70-years-old… or dudes for the female readers out there?

Charlie Valentine
7/10

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