Line #3 Film/Swelter


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bmtq1mtg0mde0nf5bml5banbnxkftztgwnjm0njkxmje_v1.jpg]]
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3	->'''Old Man:''' Why don't you carry a gun? Sheriff oughta carry a gun.
4	->'''Sheriff Bishop:''' ''(straight faced)'' I'm afraid I might shoot someone.
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6	Swelter is a 2014 American action film written and directed by Keith Parmer and starring Creator/LennieJames, Creator/GrantBowler, Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme, Creator/JoshHenderson, Daniele Favilli, and Creator/AlfredMolina.
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8	James plays Gabriel Bishop a sheriff in a small Nevada town who has a dark past that [[EasyAmnesia he cannot remember]], only to have to confront it when his ex-partners show up looking for stolen money they believe he has.
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10	As of this writing, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mtYvdbgTQ you can watch for free (with ads) on YouTube.]]
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12	----
13	!! This film provides examples of:
14	* TheCaper: A casino heist gone wrong, in the backstory.
15	* TheCavalry: 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.
16	-->'''Old Man:''' [[UsefulNotes/LasVegas What happens in Baker]]... ain't nobody else's business.
17	* ContrivedCoincidence: 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.
18	** 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.
19	* DoesntLikeGuns: Bishop refuses to cary one, which everyone comments on.
20	* EasyAmnesia: 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.
21	* EvenEvilHasStandards: 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.
22	** The bikers are so disgusted with Kane using an innocent (London) as a hostage/human shield that they abandon the operation.
23	* KickTheDog: 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.
24	* LampshadeHanging: When the crew first hears about Pike's convenient amnesia, their disbelief is likely to mirror the audience's.
25	* MeaningfulName: "Gabriel Bishop". Doc and Carmen chose it specifically for its angelic implications.
26	* NameOfCain: Kane. Although he's the more villainous of the two, he's actually killed by his (half) brother Cole.
27	* {{Retirony}}: Stillman is implied to be ready to forget the $10 million and starts to strike up a relationship with the proprietress of [[LocalHangout the Dry Mouth]]. Guess how long he lives for after that?
28	** Given that the thing he's retiring from is violent crime, could also be a case of RedemptionEqualsDeath.
29	* ShowdownAtHighNoon: 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").
30	* SmallTownBoredom: According to Carmen, Bishop is the ''only'' person in Baker who doesn't wish he was somewhere else. She cites this as the reason [[UntrustingCommunity 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".
31	* TheWorfEffect: 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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Context Film / Swelter