The Cutter

Many years ago, before he was the subject of hundreds of Internet jokes, Chuck Norris made some pretty good little action thrillers like CODE OF SILENCE and LONE WOLF MCQUADE. THE CUTTER is a throwback to those films. It doesn’t have the same sort of budget, supporting cast, or script that those earlier movies did, but it’s fairly entertaining.

Norris plays a PI who gets drawn into a case involving a pair of fabulously valuable diamonds stolen from an archeological dig in the Sinai Desert. It seems that the only person who can cut them properly is an Auschwitz survivor who’s being pursued by one of his ex-Nazi tormentors. Throw in a hostile cop who does the stereotypical bit of not wanting a private eye getting mixed up in an active case, and you’ve got a decent mix of elements, even though they certainly don’t break any new ground. Norris is pretty effective as a PI, and of course there’s plenty of action. When the rating screen came on at the first of the movie and said it was rated R for Violence, my daughter Joanna commented, “It’s a Chuck Norris movie. Why don’t they just say it’s rated R for Ass-whuppin’?” It certainly qualifies. Stuff even Blows Up Real Good, although the movie takes a while to get around to it. I found it to be an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half. Your tastes may differ.