On the mean streets of Detroit …. really, Detroit again?

Well, anyway, Sonny (5o Cent) is a career criminal who also happens to be a really nice guy.  When his partner-in-crime, Vincent (Ryan Phillippe), worries about the survival of his imprisoned father (James Remar), Sonny is sympathetic.  When his other partner-in-crime, Dave (Brent Granstaff), won’t shut up about how much he loves his wife and his life in the suburbs, Sonny is genuinely happy for him.  Sonny may be a criminal but he’s not violent.  He’s not a killer.

Understandably, Sonny is upset when Vincent kills a guard during their latest diamond heist.  However, that’s nothing compared to how angry Sonny becomes when Vincent betrays both him and Dave, shooting them and leaving them for dead.  Dave dies but Sonny survives.  Seeking revenge, Sonny teams up with a gangster named Biggs (Bruce Willis).  Biggs demands that Sonny retrieve some money for him.  It really shouldn’t be that difficult except for the fact that every criminal in Detroit is soon revealed to be an absolute idiot.

At this point, I’ll admit that 2011’s Setup has more than a little in common with Gun.  Like that film, it takes place in Detroit and it centers on the drama that takes place in the shadows of the underworld.  50 Cent plays a criminal in both films.  James Remar has a small role in both films.  Both films feature multiple betrayals and both of them contrast the criminals on the street with the bosses behind-the-scenes.  Both films were also produced by Randall Emmett.  Indeed, this was one of the first films that Bruce Willis did with Emmett.  Emmett would go on to produce several of Willis’s final films and there’s definitely some controversy as to whether or not those films exploited Willis at a time when he was particularly vulnerable.

That said, I actually kind of liked Setup.  It’s definitely a low-budget B-flick but it still has its ambitions and it actually achieves some of them.  50 Cent is far more convincing as the well-intentioned but somewhat dumb Sonny in Setup than he was in Gun and he actually does pretty well as the film progresses and Sonny becomes more conflicted about whether or not he actually wants his legacy to be one of vengeance.  Ryan Phillippe is well-cast as Vincent and I liked the performances of Jay Karnes and Jenna Dewan, both playing low-level criminals who find themselves in over their heads.  The film did a good job of examining all of the different levels of crime in Detroit, from the wealthy Biggs all the way down to the idiots who continually screw up the simplest of plans.  Randy Courtere does an especially good job as Petey, the moron who thinks playing with a loaded gun is a good idea.

As for Bruce Willis, his role here is small and it’s a role that probably could have been played by any tough guy actor of a certain age.  But, Willis still brings his cocky charm to the role.  (Seeing Willis here really drives home just how different he was in the final films that he did for Emmett.)  Willis plays Biggs with a sense of humor and it’s just what the movie needed.

To say a movie is better than expected can sound like a backhanded compliment but it’s a compliment nonetheless.  Setup was definitely better than I expected.