The Screen Addict | The 51st State
Samuel L. Jackson is the most bankable actor in the world with a combined box-office of $27 billion – let that sink in – and counting.
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Jackson once, because I was involved with the distribution of The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) and the production was shooting in Amsterdam.
I am a professional working in the entertainment business but I will always be a fan first, so obviously I couldn’t pass up this opportunity for a pic with The Man. Besides, my father – also an admirer of Sam – had come to the set as well, so all the more reason to nag Jackson for a memento. The venerable actor was kind enough to agree, albeit somewhat begrudgingly…
I completely understand the reluctance of course, some actors get hassled so much that they don’t even sign autographs anymore.
Anyway.
This overlong introduction brings me to a lesser-known film in Jackson’s oeuvre that I nevertheless want to write a few words about – The 51st State (2001).
The Action-Comedy automatically popped into my head the other day when I was watching Sky’s excellent documentary series The Essex Murders (2023), which deals extensively with illegal raves, XTC and the British criminal underworld.
Some Americans use the expression “51st State” in reference to certain areas they think will – or should – soon be part of The United States. In T51S – which is largely set in England – the term is used mainly to describe the potency of a specific drug. Surprisingly, the producers still decided to change the title to Formula 51 in the U.K. Perhaps there were some concerns about ruffled British feathers?
You’d expect Guy Ritchie, Matthew Vaughn or even Nick Love to be at the helm of a film like T51S, but instead it was Bride of Chucky (1998) director Ronnie Yu who took the reins. Yu is quite the legend of Hong Kong cinema of course, but still. Not the obvious choice for a British-American gangster flick.
Nevertheless, Yu does a phenomenal job with the story of a street-smart chemist from The States (Jackson) who travels to the U.K. to sell the formula for his game-changing drug to the highest bidder. Breaking Bad avant la lettre, if you will.
Jackson – who pulls double duty as lead actor and executive producer – is joined by an impressive gang of A-listers. Robert Carlyle is the Liverpudlian thug tasked with chaperoning the Yank, Meat Loaf stars as a sleazy drug kingpin who calls himself The Lizard, Emily Mortimer is a mysterious assassin, and Rhys Ifans somehow makes total sense as a flamboyant arms and narcotics dealer.
With a brisk running time of just under 85 minutes, T51S is the type of fun, unpretentious straight-to-video title you used to run to your local rental store for. Today, this specific genre of film is exclusively the domain of the streaming platforms.
Yu went on to direct the box-office hit Freddy vs. Jason (2003), but has since more or less disappeared from the movie scene. Which is a shame, because the three films he made in Hollywood really felt like a jolt of fresh energy for the Action-Horror genre.
Jackson on the other hand, appears to be gearing up for many more producing gigs. A quick glance at his IMDb page learns that the industry icon currently has seven projects in active development, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he strikes some kind of first-look deal with preferred partner Apple sometime soon.
Either way, I am here for it.
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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict