“Knockaround Guys” is a star-studded film filled with action and hard hitting scenes. Unfortunately, the story line is quite predictable and flat. It comes across as a hybrid between “U-Turn” (a twisted Oliver Stone film all about a lost bag of money) and “Reservoir Dogs” (Quintin Tarentino’s hitman thriller). It is neither surprising nor memorable.

The story follows three men played by Seth Green (the Austin Powers movies and TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Vin Diesel (“XXX”) and Barry Pepper (“We Were Soldiers”). They collaborate in a simple money run to gain respect and status in the Brooklyn Mafia. However, the money is misplaced and the group finds themselves scrambling to find it in a small Montana town. Their search for the money quickly becomes more than they had bargained for when the Montana police get involved in the plan. Unlike most action flicks, “Knockaround Guys” develops its characters through dialog, not just action scenes and testosterone. The film doesn’t allow for a random knock off of characters for the purpose of show either. As the characters spiral down into fatal chaos, each one holds emotional weight and importance to the story. Although the story has a great cast the ending is quite mediocre and unsurprising.

The highlight of the film are the performances by Diesel, Green, and co-star John Malkovich (“Shadow of the Vampire” and “Con Air”). Larger than life Diesel keeps the macho action flowing while Green produces an engaging and worthwhile performance. Malkovich plays the role of a cool villain with a bad Russian accent and helps to bring the film up from its mediocrity. Dennis Hopper also has a role in the film, but his character and performance is nothing to write home about.

Although this film is geared toward the macho male audience, ladies can enjoy staring at Diesel’s big muscles. I would not suggest seeing this movie in theaters; if you must, wait for the video/DVD.