D-Tox (2002)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Jim Gillespie

Writers (WGA):

Howard Swindle (book)
Ron L. Brinkerhoff (screen story)

Release Date:

4 January 2002 (Denmark)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Survival is a Killer.

Plot:

Stallone plays a cop who comes undone after witnessing a brutal scene on the job. He checks into a rehab...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Alcoholic | Group Therapy | Wyoming | Serial Killer

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 15	12:50 AM	SHOW
Fri. Nov. 20	3:30 AM	SHOW

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Jake Malloy
Charles S. Dutton	...	Hendricks
Polly Walker	...	Jenny
Kris Kristofferson	...	Doc
Mif	...	Brandon
Christopher Fulford	...	Slater
Jeffrey Wright	...	Jaworski
Tom Berenger	...	Hank
Stephen Lang	...	Jack Bennett
Alan C. Peterson	...	Gilbert
Hrothgar Mathews	...	Manny
Angela Alvarado	...	Lopez (as Angela Alvarado Rosa)
Robert Prosky	...	McKenzie
Robert Patrick	...	Noah
Courtney B. Vance	...	Jones

Also Known As:

D-Tox (Australia)
D-Tox - Im Auge der Angst (Germany)
Detox (USA) (working title)
Eye See You (USA) (video title)
The Outpost (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence/gore and language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | USA:R (certificate no. 37474) | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:R | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The film was intended to be released in November 1999 or May 2000 by Universal Pictures and producer Brian Grazer, then it was delayed for several more years in the US. Universal tired of the film, sold its distribution rights to DEJ in the USA and finally was released theatrically three years after its completion.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Malloy is kissing his girlfriend after bringing her the toy monkey, his nose is on the right side of her nose. The POV changes and his nose is now on the other side.

Quotes:

[first lines]
911 operator: 911, what is your emergency?
disguised voice: I'm tired of the way things are, as opposed to the way they should be.
911 operator: Is this an emergency? Where are you located?
disguised voice: That really doesn't matter, so hear me out.
911 operator: Can we have your name please?
disguised voice: Of course, "Common Denominator", your man in the street. Now don't ask a another question or I will be obliged to do bad. Doing bad, you would have to assume responsibility. No interruptions. That's natural selection. Born to win, born to lose, born to die...

Movie Connections:

References The Thing (1982)

Soundtrack:

Rage Man Blues

Under Appreciated Murder Mystery!

The real mystery of D-Tox (hereinafter referred to by its video tile, "Eye See You") is why it never found a distributor in North America. I thought it was a good movie. You have to give star Sylvester Stallone a little credit for trying to shed his Rambo he-man image and playing a distraught and tragic hero.

The story involves a serial killer who has been murdering cops and whose murders will be investigated by FBI agent Jake Malloy (Stallone). When the killer murders Malloy's girlfriend Mary (Dina Meyer) he goes into a funk and finds solace at the bottom of a bottle to the point of contemplating suicide. Malloy's friend and partner Hendricks (Charles S. Dutton) convinces him to go to an isolated D-Tox center in Wyoming run by shrink Kris Kristofferson.

Malloy is thrown in with other cops from various locations who also have demons to exorcise. Among them are Christopher Fulford as Slater who tries to befriend him, Noah (Robert Patrick) who has a chip on his shoulder, McKenzie (Robert Prosky), Jones (Courtney B. Vance), Brandon (Mif) and Lopez (Angela Alvarado) among others. Polly Walker plays Jenny a sympathetic nurse and Tom Berenger and Stephen Lang as two suspicious workers at the facility.

It turns out that the serial killer that Malloy thought he had killed earlier, has in fact infiltrated the D-Tox Center and has begun systematically murdering the people there. But who is he or she?

Director Jim Gillespie gives us a murder mystery rather than an action film. It has the isolation and claustrophobic feeling reminiscent of John Carpenter's "The Thing" (1982) except in this case the killer is human and not alien.

Stallone is good in the lead role experiencing a wide range of emotions. Its one of his better performances in recent years. Of the supporting players, Patrick stands out as well as Fulford, Dutton, Prosky, Vance, Alvartado and Lang. Berenger hardly has anything meaningful to do and is wasted here. And watch for Ron Howard's dad Rance Howard as the proprietor of the lodge that Dutton stays at. "Eye See You" is an under appreciated film and deserves a chance to find an audience. It is hoped that the video release will give it proper visibility.