Construction company owner John Matthews learns that his estranged son, Jason, has been arrested for drug trafficking. Facing an unjust prison sentence for a first time offender courtesy of mandatory minimum sentence laws, Jason has nothing to offer for leniency in good conscience. Desperately, John convinces the DEA and the opportunistic DA Joanne Keeghan to let him go undercover to help make arrests big enough to free his son in return. With the unwitting help of an ex-con employee, John enters the narcotics underworld where every move could be his last in an operation that will demand all his resources, wits and courage to survive.
Acting
Dwayne Johnson actually underacts, and it weirdly works.
Writing
Ric Roman Waugh co-wrote it; he grew up in stunt work, not law school.
Practical Effects
That semi-truck finale? Real trucks, real crunch, real insurance headaches.
Director
Ric Roman Waugh
Dwayne Johnson
John Matthews
Barry Pepper
Agent Cooper
Susan Sarandon
Joanne Keeghan
Benjamin Bratt
Juan Carlos "El Topo" Pintera
Michael Kenneth Williams
Malik
Melina Kanakaredes
Sylvie Collins
Nadine Velazquez
Analisa
David Harbour
Jay Price
Jon Bernthal
Daniel James
Harold Perrineau
Jeffrey Steele
J. D. Pardo
Benicio
Lela Loren
Vanessa
Rafi Gavron
Jason Collins
James Allen McCune
Craig
Sam Medina
Juan Carlos' Driver (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The semi-truck stunt used real damaged vehicles and took four days to shoot; Johnson did his own driving for the close-ups.
The film was explicitly made to criticize mandatory minimum sentencing laws; producer Nigel Sinclair was inspired by a Frontline documentary on the real case.
US
