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Film / Swelter

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Old Man: Why don't you carry a gun? Sheriff oughta carry a gun.
Sheriff Bishop: (straight faced) I'm afraid I might shoot someone.

Swelter is a 2014 American action film written and directed by Keith Parmer and starring Lennie James, Grant Bowler, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Josh Henderson, Daniele Favilli, and Alfred Molina.

James plays Gabriel Bishop a sheriff in a small Nevada town who has a dark past that he cannot remember, only to have to confront it when his ex-partners show up looking for stolen money they believe he has.

As of this writing, you can watch for free (with ads) on YouTube.


This film provides examples of:

  • The Caper: A casino heist gone wrong, in the backstory.
  • The Cavalry: A downplayed example at the very end. Bishop is contemplating what will happen to him once word of this gets out (the town now knows about his criminal past, and he himself has killed several people). Then the townsfolk show up, cart away the bodies, and make it clear that they aren't planning to tell anyone what happened.
    Old Man: What happens in Baker... ain't nobody else's business.
  • Contrived Coincidence: Lampshaded by Doc, the fact that Pike was dying in the desert in exactly the place where the one doctor for miles happened to be stumbling home drunk.
    • Also the fact that Pike wound up in the same small town where Cole's ex Carmen lives, then happens to end up in a relationship with her a decade later when Cole shows up.
  • Doesn't Like Guns: Bishop refuses to cary one, which everyone comments on.
  • Easy Amnesia: Pike doesn't remember the heist or anything about who he was before. He starts to regain his memory in flashes, but he never does remember where the money is.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Stillman and Cole do, Boyd and Kane do not. Cole is ultimately so disgusted that he allows Boyd to be killed by Bishop, and kills Kane himself.
    • The bikers are so disgusted with Kane using an innocent (London) as a hostage/human shield that they abandon the operation.
  • Kick the Dog: Boyd and especially Kane when it comes to hurting innocents. Cole is ruthless, but more restrained and tends to limit himself to threats. Stillman might as well be a good guy for all he does in the film.
  • Lampshade Hanging: When the crew first hears about Pike's convenient amnesia, their disbelief is likely to mirror the audience's.
  • Meaningful Name: "Gabriel Bishop". Doc and Carmen chose it specifically for its angelic implications.
  • Name of Cain: Kane. Although he's the more villainous of the two, he's actually killed by his (half) brother Cole.
  • Retirony: Stillman is implied to be ready to forget the $10 million and starts to strike up a relationship with the proprietress of the Dry Mouth. Guess how long he lives for after that?
  • Showdown at High Noon: Between Bishop/Pike and Cole at the end, played almost completely straight despite being a modern day action movie and not a western (other than being set in "the West").
  • Small Town Boredom: According to Carmen, Bishop is the only person in Baker who doesn't wish he was somewhere else. She cites this as the reason so many of the townsfolk dislike him, although from what we see, the town is boring partly because Bishop is so strict in his enforcement of the law, shutting down a church bingo night for being "illegal gambling".
  • The Worf Effect: Stillman (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, famously an action star and one of the biggest names in the film) is killed very quickly by Kane, establishing Kane's ruthlessness and willingness to fight dirty.


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