callanvass Despite the fact that he is seemingly nuts these days, I still like Charlie Sheen. Not to offend what little Ashton Kutcher fans there is left, but Charlie Sheen was the reason the show Two and A Half Men was so hilarious. When negotiations failed and Sheen left, the show went down the crapper. He has always been capable of leading a film, and here he proves why. Surprisingly this is based on a true story. While this movie is far from perfect, it is pretty suspenseful on a lot of occasions. I loved the transformation of Dan's character from an unsure rookie cop to a fully involved undercover biker that is starting to go over the edge. It made for some fairly riveting storytelling. The excellent chemistry between himself and Michael Madsen is another key component for this film. Watching the two bond was exciting to watch. Charlie Sheen is pretty good in the lead role. I have always been a fan of his, but like Platoon, this was a role he really had to dig deep into. He pulled it off quite well, and is a main reason why this biopic works. Linda Fiorentino provides solid support as the love interest, and is a hottie to boot. Michael Madsen is an underrated favorite of mine. He does psychotic like nobody can. Leon Rippy plays the unpredictable, yet idiotically caring friend to a T. Final Thoughts: I dug it; plain and simple. It's nothing that is gonna turn your world upside down, but it makes for an engaging 100 minutes or so if you need an above average film to watch. Charlie isn't just that Two and A Half Men guy, he's a solid actor as well. Remember that7/10

bayardhiler Long before he went on his "winning" streak, Charlie Sheen was actually a pretty decent actor and while he's always had a wild side to him, he was also a little bit down to earth (at least more to down to earth than he is now). One of the movies that Charlie starred in in his hey day was a little movie from HBO called "Beyond the Law" in 1993. In it, Charlie stars as Daniel Saxon, a small town cop who's struggling with demons from his past as well as his identity of being half Native American when out of the blue, he gets an offer from a federal agent (the underrated Courtney B. Vance) to infiltrate a brutal biker gang known as the Jackals. With the help of a biker misfit named Virgil (the constant scene stealing Leon Rippy) Saxon is able to learn how to act, think, and look like a real mean biker. His performance is so good in fact, that the club's leader, Blood (played by the always menacing Michael Madsen) actually offers Saxon membership in the club.However, the deeper Daniel goes undercover, the more trouble he has in keeping his soul from descending into the dark hell permanently. The story is also able to draw on the character's Native American roots and provide a spiritual allegory of losing one's self to the darkness and finding it again. What's more, this was apparently based on a true story; however, like a lot of Hollywood true tales, I'm sure the filmmakers decided to add a little embellishment here and there. Still, the real life agent (his real name being Dan Black) did serve as a technical adviser and does appear somewhere in the film as an extra. Another thing that adds to the film is the surprisingly good soundtrack that accompanies the action. I say surprisingly because, for the most part, the soundtrack is done by unknowns but it just goes to show you that you don't need famous musicians to do a good soundtrack; sometimes just any good musicians will do the trick. Also starring the beautiful Linda Fiorentino as a photo journalist who helps lead Daniel away from the darkness and in a small role, the legendary Rip Torn, "Beyond the Law" is a nice way to kill some time by providing you with a good story and some really nice motorcycles. 9 out of 10. P.S. watch out for those outlaw bikers.

gommetje This was in my opinion without a doubt the best work Charlie Sheen ever delivered. Awesome movie that doesn't inspire you to take a bathroom brake. Fantastic acting (Not just by Sheen, but Madsen is also in rare form here.), great dialog. Not overdone. You can really understand why he comes to view them as his friends. Being the viewer even find yourself liking these guys and the family feeling they seem to have amongst each other. I did however like Fixing the shadow as the better title. The story from the Indian really plays out as being his life in the near future. He lost his shadow along the way and needs to fix it. That is what the movie is really about. The inner conflict and how it's played out. But maybe that's just me. I like it when a title actually means something.

ejwhite-1 I also felt this was a great story and very underrated. At the time, it was an A- movie and never appeared in our local theaters. My first experience with it was on video. I've watched it several times since then, in various venues, and think it's some of Charlie Sheen's finest work. It is unfortunate that he did not win any awards for his work int his film. His real life character seems to parallel the life of the character in the story, which may be why he was able to do such a fine job with it.Another interesting note about this story, as we are told at the end (And this is not really a serious spoiler)is that the real Dan Saxon appears as an extra in the movie, and the whole story is true. More than 200 people were arrested as a result of this Officer's work.The real Dan Saxon lives in Northern California with the girl he fell in love with during the story.