ELEPHANT WHITE

Elephant White is a rather unique--some, of course, might even say weird--2011 action film starring Djimon Hounsou (of Amistad, Blood Diamond and Gladiator fame) and Kevin Bacon (yes, THAT Kevin Bacon!). In the film, Hounsou plays a hit man named Curtie Church who is hired to take out sex traffickers in Thailand. The man who "hired" him claims his daughter was murdered by said sex traffickers (of course, we learn later on that he has ulterior motives for wanting them dead, which I, of course, won't reveal here). Church enlists the aid of a former rather shady associate of his named Jimmy the Brit--played by Kevin Bacon (who has a rather questionable British accent)--who supplies him with the weaponry he needs to carry out the job. Along with way, Church reluctantly takes up with a teenaged prostitute named Mae who decides to help him out with his mission. Elephant White has a bit more plot to it than your average action film, though the movie has enough action in it to satisfy the most hardcore action fan in spite of the film's rather dark subject matter. However, the movie does take a 180 degree turn towards the end when the plot kind of takes on a supernatural bent (which, again, I won't reveal here). Djimon Hounsou actually makes a pretty decent kick-ass action star. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that he's at least on par with the likes of Matt Damon (oh, am I bound to catch some heat for THAT one!). At least I'd say he's better than, say, Steven Seagal, especially Seagal in his later years (again, I know I'm bound to get some flak for saying THAT!). If you're on the lookout for a "different" type of action film to watch other than your wang-bang "typical" action fare (and, yes, I'm looking at YOU, Seagal!), then you might want to give Elephant White a try (though you HAVE been warned about the rather dark subject matter).