Skiptrace is an action comedy, but you wouldn't know that when a fairly serious opening scene sees Bennie Chan (Jackie Chan, playing an ageing detective) fail to save his partner from an underwater explosion. Director Renny Harlin seems to have thought this would be touching, but it ends up coming across as almost tragicomic. Soon, though, the promised Chan show begins, with the kind of prop fights he's become famous for – no, scratch that – that he's made famous. From barrels to industrial machinery to ladders, he can use any nearby object against the enemy in the entertainingly silly way that is so characteristic of him. But you realize Skiptrace isn't just his film when a long, fairly boring flashback introduces a con man named Connor Watts (Johnny Knoxville), who Bennie is tasked with bringing back to Hong Kong. Skiptrace then becomes the adventures of Bennie and Connor, because despite the latter's best efforts, they are forced to stick together and face many dangers, including those that come their way in the form of Chinese immigration officials and angry Mongolian herders. They cross deserts, almost drown in rivers… You could almost make a love story out of it. Renny even shows them waking up one morning in a cave, in an embrace that is embarrassing for both of them.
Much of what happens in Skiptrace feels contrived; the dialogue is no exception. One of the gangsters pauses while trying to intimidate a woman and then ends with the disappointing “I'll keep an eye on you.” Connor makes advances to a woman he meets one evening and asks, “Do you want to get breakfast?” You see? He means breakfast the next morning after they spend the night together. The woman, on behalf of the entire audience, looks unimpressed.
Genre: Action comedy Director: Renny Harlin Cast: Jackie Chan, Johnny Knoxville, Fan Bingbing Plot: A Hong Kong detective must team up with a con man to save his goddaughter Conclusion: Not as entertaining as it should have been
Yet as long as fights keep breaking out, Skiptrace doesn't seem like the worst way to spend your time. And they do, including one brawl that takes place in muddy water that I think could have been better exploited, and the other where Bennie gets stuck in a barrel. However, the film seems to be wary of being the cheap buddy comedy that it is, and so tries to tweak the emotions every now and then. There's the issue of Benny's watch, which he wears in memory of a promise he made to his partner. There's the underlying, seemingly profound idea that Bennie loses one partner and gains another over the course of the film. There's even a scene where Connor nearly tears up as he tells Bennie he never knew his parents. It's perhaps the least touching emotional scene I've seen in a long time.
The film works when it wears its cheap humor with pride. Like the scene where Bennie clings to Connor as they zipline across a gaping chasm. After sliding down quite a distance from Connor, a defiant Bennie says, “Hey, there's nothing else to hold on to.” The best part of the film for me was when a drunk Bennie indulges in a mediocre rendition of Adele's “Rolling in the Deep” and the Mongolian herders join in. Before you know it, it turns into a full-fledged performance. The scene has no impact on the film, but that doesn't matter. As long as the nonsense is fun, the film doesn't have to make sense.
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