Stallone was a massive hit in the 80's and depending on who you talk to, perhaps the 90's as well. He was doing a Nick Cage back in those days and was in several films every year, most of which were action films of some sort. While Sly did have a few winners mixed in there, a very large portion of his films were just not very good. This film falls into the "not very good" category despite having quite a few stars in it.
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This film is probably one of those Stallone films that most people don't even know exists and had it not popped up on my Netflix radar last night I probably would have spent my entire life now knowing that was even out there. It is also known as D-Tox according to the wiki, but honestly, you don't really need to bother with either of them since regardless of the name it is basically a waste of time film.
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So in this film they mix things up a bit by making Stallone a law-enforcement officer of some sort (sarcasm) and he is an FBI agent that works a variety of cases. The movie actually starts out pretty good because the serial killer actually has some pretty gruesome methods of dispatching his victims. He does so in a way that is akin to Se7en gore deaths, even though we don't get to see a majority of the fatalities, they are pretty hardcore.
At some point, and for reasons that are not readily explained, Jake Malloy (Stallone) becomes a target for this serial killer, who goes after and succeeds in killing his fiancé. This results in Stallone becoming a drug and drink addict and it becomes necessary for him to enter rehab for some reason. Also, and very conveniently for the story, this rehab facility is located in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, and it is also in a rather scary building that ends up getting snowed in - because this is necessary for the isolation aspect of the story as well.
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Everyone in this detox facility is someone from a level of law-enforcement who has spiraled into substance abuse following some sort of traumatic experience while on the job and the facility is specifically designed for them. There is no realistic reason why this facility needs to be in a freezing and isolated part of the country other than that it is necessary for the story, just like when they lose all phone service despite the fact that this movie was made in 2002 and everyone already had mobile phones then.
It's just stupid as is most of the dialogue which is just varying degrees of tough guys all arguing with one another as we wait for the eventuality of the serial killer being one of the people that is in the facility as well (big surprise!)
I can only guess that this film was sitting on a screenwriter's shelf gathering dust for many years and Stallone probably wanted to do a film in 2002 and the people over at Universal Pictures were thinking "oh what the hell, give him that frozen cop detox movie POS." The fact that this film was ever green-lighted and that they also spent nearly $60 million making it embodies everything that is wrong with American cinema at the major studios. I am not at all surprised to find out that this movie was universally panned and that it lost a ton of money at the box office. I was only released in the USA and UK and was one of those films that probably should have been abandoned when it was in pre-production.
Should I watch it?
There is only one reason to watch this film: To see how terrible it is. Stallone was already on his way out in 2002 as far as his value to Hollywood was concerned and the fact that he even got this role is kind of a mystery. I would imagine that his stocked dropped even lower in the eyes of the industry after this and he would remain on the back burner until 2006 when he simply reprised his old roles instead of going after new ideas in film, which clearly, at this point, no longer resonated with the public.
I admit that I did not watch the film intently because it is so predictable and terrible beyond the first 12 minutes that it doesn't deserve your full attention.
