The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Directed by Brian A Miller – see House of the Rising Sun and Caught in the Crossfire – testosterone-heavy action film, The Prince, is centered on Paul (Patric); an Alabama mechanic and former crime-boss who becomes increasingly concerned when he doesn’t hear from his college student daughter, Beth (Mantegna), for some time.

When he calls her and someone else answers, alarm bells start to ring for the worried father and he travels to Louisiana in search of her. Beth’s best friend, Angela (Lowndes), reveals that Beth has actually dropped out of college and suggests to Paul that a newly-found drug addiction may have something to do with her disappearance. 

Putting his military background to use, Paul is soon led to a local gangster known as ‘The Pharmacy’ (50 Cent) who isn’t exactly welcoming of Paul’s questions.

Turning to friends Sam (Cusack) and Frank (Schaech) for some much needed help, Paul soon comes across a shady criminal named Omar (Willis) and it becomes clear that the two have crossed paths before as Paul’s underworld past comes back to haunt him.

Penned by Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore, The Prince – playing with yet another Taken-like scenario – fails to add anything new or novel to what has quickly become a popular and lucrative Hollywood action template. Even with two seasoned acting names attached in Bruce Willis and John Cusack, the films plods along on a steady and predictable path of clichés and underwhelming plot developments.  

The action-saturated Willis attempts to tap into his darker side as the psychopathic Omar and delivers a few creepy moments, while Cusack is watchable in that typical Cusack-way. Unfortunately, though maybe predictably, Patric – as the seemingly invincible hero – is overshadowed by his two more famous co-stars. The real villain of the piece, however, is Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, whose move into the world of acting continues to be one of stiff, lifeless performances and what can only be described as cruel and unusual audience torture.

There’s a decent amount of action in The Prince, but its remarkably formulaic conception and execution makes it devastatingly dull.