2 GUNS (Rated R)

An action picture, packed with suspense and violent thrills, should contain surprises that are not revealed in the promotional trailers. That’s not the case for the buddy caper “2 Guns.”

Fortunately, Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg have such good chemistry that the central conceit that their initial foray into a seemingly criminal act of robbing a small town bank is a cover for their undercover mission does not spoil what follows.

When the film opens in a dusty Southwest town, Washington’s Bobby Trench and Wahlberg’s Marcus “Stig” Stigman are bickering about what to order for breakfast while getting a sense of the lay of the land and plotting their moves.

Smooth as silk, Bobby is calm and the clear-headed thinker. In contrast, Stig, a fast-talker, is given to making wise cracks at inopportune moments, and he loves to flirt and wink at pretty waitresses, even though he comes up short in the romance department, at least compared to his comrade.

The object of the Tres Cruces bank robbery is to steal $3 million in the bank vault belonging to Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos), the sleazy head of a Mexican drug cartel who appears to operate with impunity.

While planning the robbery, neither Bobby nor Stig knows that his partner in crime is an undercover agent. Bobby is a DEA agent and Stig is a naval intelligence officer. Both were charged by their superiors to infiltrate the drug cartel.

Additionally, of course, neither agent knows that they’ve been set up, as they believe the goal of the caper is to put a dent in Papi’s operation, causing him to emerge from the shadows and expose his vulnerabilities.

Surprisingly, the safety deposit boxes contain more than $40 million in cash, and after Bobby and Stig make off with the loot, assorted bad guys and dubious government operatives give chase.

As befitting a caper film, the folks who materialize out of the woodwork are often mysterious. For instance, Paula Patton’s Deb, a DEA agent who has been at times romantically entangled with Bobby, is a player in the complex web of secrecy and possible deceit.

Yet, aside from Papi Greco and his trigger-happy henchmen, the most serious threat to Bobby and Stig is the sadistic Earl (Bill Paxton), a CIA operative, who may well be a rogue agent but is viciously committed to retrieving the purloined booty that supposedly belongs to the CIA.

Meanwhile, Stig is also being pursued relentlessly by corrupt Navy officer Quince (James Marsden) whose motives are unknown, except possibly he just wants the whole share of ill-gotten fortune for himself.

The villains in “2 Guns” are a menacing bunch, often to cartoonish effect. At Papi’s Mexican ranch, the head of a rival is found stuffed in a bag. Equally brutal, Earl loves to play Russian roulette while interrogating people.

The plot is complicated by a slew of double and triple crosses, but mostly it is all about the chases and shoot-outs, along with the occasional explosions, whether blowing up a diner or a classic car stuffed with illegal cash.

Since the true identities of Bobby and Stig were revealed so regrettably by the film’s advertising, the least we can do here is not give away too much about the unfolding of the convoluted plot.

What is apparent, however, is that Bobby and Stig are entangled in a growing number of intricate plot twists that put their very lives at risk, and so most of the action becomes an elaborate survival effort on their part.

The best thing about “2 Guns,” aside from the fact that the action is clever and entertaining, is the evolving buddy relationship between the two lead characters.

Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg make an amusing odd couple, the best of their scenes being when they quarrel about plotting escape moves and banter about the seemingly innocuous and mundane aspects of daily life.

Director Baltasar Kormakur, a native of Iceland, has produced and directed many films known mostly in his homeland, though he directed “Contraband,” which also starred Mark Wahlberg.

Though I have no factual basis for making this claim, the Icelandic director seems to have been inspired by American action films like the original “Lethal Weapon” and “The Last Boy Scout.”

Regardless of cinematic influences derived from the past, Kormakur’s “2 Guns,” though it may be outlandish, is a very enjoyable buddy caper, with great action and plenty of humor.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

COBB, Calif. – The Cobb Mountain Artists’ second Wednesday “Artist Presents” series will be held Aug. 14.

The forum will begin at 7 p.m. at The Artisan Realm, 16365 Highway 175, Cobb.

The event is free and open to the public.

This month’s feature in the series will be a forum on taking pictures of art.

Some successful artists spend more time with marketing than making their art. Good photos of your work are critical.

Are you perplexed? Do your results end up misrepresenting the quality of your work?

They will discuss various elements of taking a good shot and what type of photos are required or expected for various press efforts. These standards and expectations are not the same for every venue.

Are slides still important for gallery viewings? What's typical for the Internet? Newspapers? It can be very confusing. One thing is certain, and that is the importance of the best photos to represent your work.

Come and join the monthly series, share your ideas and listen to what has worked for others.

For more information contact Glenneth Lambert, telephone 707-295-6934 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LUCERNE, Calif. – The Lucerne Alpine Senior Center will host its monthly open mic night from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10.

The center is located at 3985 Country Club Drive.

Looking for an opportunity to perform?  Got talent? Music, comedy, mime – any other activity that is family-oriented will be appreciated. 

If you have no special talent, be audience member, come join the fun. Room is available for dancing and relaxing. There is no charge for attendance. 

“We had a fabulous time last month and are looking forward to the great music,” said Executive Director Rae Eby-Carl.

For those wishing to have dinner, spaghetti with beverage, salad and garlic bread will be available for purchase at $7 per plate for adults and $5 for children under twelve.

This is a monthly event which will switch in September to the third Saturday of every month. 

Bands are already signing up for August including house band FOGG. More signups will open at 5 p.m. Saturday night. You can call 707-245-4612 or 707-274-8779 to sign up or ask questions.

All proceeds from the meal benefit the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center.  This nonprofit serves the senior populations on the Northshore with lunches on site and Meals on Wheels.

For more information call Lucerne Alpine Senior Center at 707-274-8779.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lake Community Pride Foundation will present a concert by the duo “Flashback!” on Saturday, Aug. 10.

The concert will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Lower Lake High School Little Theater, located at 9430 Lake St. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

“Flashback!” is the duo of Moe Sampson and Hilarie Wilt, who play classic American music. Sampson performs on his 12-string guitar and Wilt plays a six-string guitar, with both doing vocals with harmonies.

All proceeds go to support youth performing arts in Lake County.

Tickets cost $10 at the door.

For tickets and information visit www.aneveningwith.org or call 707-701-3838. 

THE WOLVERINE (Rated PG-13)

Hugh Jackman returns as the mutant hero, the titular character in “The Wolverine.” The movie raises two questions: Why is he in Japan? Why does he still sport mutton chops?

When he’s not baring his adamantium claws, Jackman’s Wolverine is known as Logan. In what is the sixth film (counting spinoffs) of the franchise, Logan is first spotted looking like a homeless mountain man in the Alaskan wild, or maybe it’s the Yukon. Whatever, it’s some place cold and uninviting.

Living like a recluse in a cave, Logan communes with nature, even managing a peaceful coexistence with a grizzly bear companion. His solitary existence is disturbed by the appearance of reckless hunters bent on snagging a large, shaggy-haired ursine trophy.

Confronting the repugnant hunters at the town saloon, Logan reverts to his old superpowers to ward off his foes, drawing attention from the enigmatic Yukio (Rila Fukushima), who entices him to Japan. So we have the answer to the first question.

Memories of World War II are fresh in Logan’s mind, as he remembers, while interned in a POW camp, saving the life of a young Japanese soldier during the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, and thereby revealing his miraculous self-healing powers.

Shifting to the present day, Logan has not aged, but the soldier he rescued, Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), is an elderly, extremely wealthy industrialist, now confined to his deathbed, wistfully hoping for immortality.

Logan’s Wolverine, who does not age, possibly holds the key to a life without end, hence the interest by Yashida and assorted shadowy, mysterious figures, obviously connected to the Yakuza, to Logan’s secret.

Lured by the curious Yukio to Tokyo, Logan ends up getting a scrubbing and makeover from geisha girls, but he keeps the mutton-chopped sideburns. The answer to the second question remains elusive and unknowable.

Dutifully paying his respects to the dying Yashida, Logan discovers that the industrialist’s granddaughter Mariko (Tao Akamoto) stands to inherit his fortune, and as a result, her life is in serious danger.

For one thing, Mariko’s father is a ruthless tycoon who is apparently involved with sinister forces that seek to take control, by force if necessary, of the Yashida financial empire.

A spectacular fight sequence with ninja warriors at Yashida’s funeral service causes Logan and Mariko to go on the run, even hiding out for a time at a seedy hotel that caters to customers renting rooms by the hour.

Meanwhile, Logan is undergoing an existential crisis, evidenced by the frequent dream sequences in which his former lover, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), a fellow mutant that he had to kill, reminds him of misfortune and tragedy.

More than troubling dreams are at work. Logan is also consumed with thoughts that his immortality is a curse and a burden that hinder his ability to live a normal life, a thought more pressing now that his romantic feelings for Mariko have taken hold.

Due to other strange things going on, Wolverine finds his physical strength ebbing away, his superpowers gradually dwindling and his immediate ability to heal from all wounds no longer a given.

But before falling into a state of impaired faculties, Wolverine manages a spectacular fight to the death on top of a speeding bullet train with a Yakuza assassin.

With the train hurtling along the tracks and through tunnels at a speed of 300 miles per hour, the rooftop battle is skillfully staged and stunning for its heart-pounding suspense. This could be the film’s best action moment.

Not so fine is the climactic battle scene inside Yashida’s mountainous lair, where Wolverine must fight a giant robot. We’ve seen enough of this in films like “Pacific Rim,” and, well, others I have already forgotten.

“The Wolverine” is filled with plenty of faceless villains, mostly ninja types who are fairly well disguised in their black robes and masks.

The most interesting bad guy is actually a femme fatale (Svetlana Khodchenkova), the blonde nurse who tends to Yashida but has a secret agenda. Though she is attractive, one would be advised not to kiss her.

Though it may not be saying much, “The Wolverine,” even when it falters at the end, is one of the better superhero movies of the summer. That’s mostly a credit to Hugh Jackman’s nuanced performance.

A word to the wise: Be sure to stay for the credits. The future of the franchise hangs in the balance with a breathless teaser.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council's Main Street Gallery is featuring a window display of painted saw blades by artists from the Konocti Art Society.

These saw blades will be on display at the gallery through August and then the show will move to WestAmerica Bank in Kelseyville for the Kelseyville Pear Festival, where buyers can purchase a raffle ticket to win the blade of their choice. Proceeds will be donated to a local charity.

Also on display in August are interesting large canvas oils with a distinctive view by artist Jay Glimme.

The Linda Carpenter Gallery is featuring various photography entries depicting agriculture throughout Lake County.

The Main Street Gallery is located at 325 N. Main St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-6658.

Visit the gallery online at http://www.lakecountyartscouncil.com/ .