WHITE ELEPHANT IS MICHAEL ROOKER’S LEAD ROLE THAT YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS.

WHITE ELEPHANT IS MICHAEL ROOKER’S LEAD ROLE THAT YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS.

August 19, 2022 Off By Katie Harden

White Elephant makes Michael Rooker and Olga Kurylenko the perfect cinematic dream team. And it’s so nice to see Rooker in a lead role that doesn’t involve him being a comedic henchman, despite him being a hit man who does answer to one of two bosses (Bruce Willis). I’m not 100% sure if this is Willis’s last movie due to his health issues, but it seems like it might be one of them.

The depth of Rooker’s acting and character work is shown heavily in this film. White Elephant starts off with Rooker’s character Gabriel mourning over his wife Alex’s tomb. Eventually, John Malkovich reveals himself as one of his bosses and we find out that he was a former Marine and after his wife’s cancer, continued with his hits.

Vadhir Derbez
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Vadhir Derbez as “Carlos Garcia”

On the other side of the law, Vanessa comes into the picture as a former Marine who toured Afghanistan with her fellow training comrade (and hacker) and heavily suffers from PTSD.

She is sitting in a vehicle as an undercover detective with her current partner, before witnessing a camera that had been watching them.

White Elephant
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Olga Kurylenko as “Vanessa”

THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAW

Leaving the vehicle to find the criminal, an explosion erupts and injures her, while her partner was smart enough to stay in the car and didn’t receive a scratch. This is a broken woman who has seen some serious things in her life and is heavily damaged that she resorts to alcohol to dull her troubles.

I adore that she is not just a side character specifically there for a man, she is there to do her job and to find answers. She has heart and a story, not just randomly put there for a pretty face.

A STRONG FEMALE LEAD THAT MORE FILMS DESPERATE NEED.

After her partner is killed by Rooker and his partner Garcia, they now have to go after her. She escapes several murder attempts in her life, even meeting with a dirty cop who had been the partner of one of the hits against her.
Even though he denies that he is a part of the crime ring, you can see the nervousness in his eyes as she questions him about his allegiance to the force.

White Elephant
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Bruce Willis as “Arnold Soloman”

Upon Daley losing his wife in front of him, Gabriel swears in his wife’s memory that he will do what he can to protect Vanessa. This also puts him in the crosshairs of his former bosses, as well as his friend Garcia.

When the two are set to reluctantly fight one another, Gabriel shoots Garcia and lets him unfortunately bleed out all over the couch without so much as a mercy kill. Eventually, everyone is killed aside from Rooker (yay, he lives!), and Kurylenko, with him giving her his late wife’s necklace telling her to keep it safe.

What we don’t find out is what happened to her after everything. It’s assumed since she told him to visit the elephants (Alex’s favorite thing), that she went off and lived her own life. But honestly, how do they even have a police force left after this? Money talks, after all. Despite Alex wanting him to leave his life of crime, he pours some of her ashes in Africa in her memory and then goes back to what he’s good at–hits.

 

WHITE ELEPHANT IS AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY AND DVD EVERYWHERE MOVIES ARE SOLD.

 

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About the author: Katie Harden is a professionally repped New York-based/bi-coastal musical theater, entertainment journalist, and indie film actress. She is proudly part of the Actor’s Equity Association and frequently interviews colleagues, friends, and celebrities, along with reviewing television and movies. Find her at the bottom of a can of Arizona sweet tea or in the ocean! @KHardenOfficial