In the history of cinema, few films have been as derivative as A Man Apart. Like kleptomaniacs in a screenplay shop, writers Christian Gudegast and Paul Scheuring purloin ideas from every action-thriller of the last 25 years. Vin Diesel plays Sean Vetter, the same type of thug-turned-cop that Steven Seagal portrayed in Out for Justice. Like Seagal in Hard to Kill, Vetter is marked for death by a band of vicious drug dealers who shoot up his house, killing his too-good-for-this-world wife and seriously wounding him. Even more irritated than the suddenly spouseless Arnold Schwarzenegger in Collateral Damage, he heads south of the border to hunt down those responsible for ruining his life.

To their credit, Gudegast, Scheuring and director F. Gary Gray steal from a few good movies as well. Through a clunky Diesel voiceover, Apart gives an overview of the Amero-Mexican cocaine trade that feels like a remedial version of Traffic. The film also attempts to show, Narc-style, how easy it is for the fine line between cop and criminal to evaporate when a personal vendetta comes into play. Last and certainly least, A Man Apart cribs wholesale from The Usual Suspects by creating an all-powerful, Keyzer Söze-rian mystery villain named "Diablo" (the film's original title) whose identity is revealed in a twist ending.

Given the talent involved, the only thing surprising about A Man Apart is how shoddily it's put together. In Set it Off and The Negotiator, Gray skillfully fused solid drama and blistering action. Here, he's asleep at the wheel, allowing film editors Robert Brown and Sean Hubbert to chop away like lumberjacks on speed; their jarring cutting makes the already poorly staged shoot-outs unwatchable. Even more distracting is Jack N. Green's cinematography, which is often so dark its impossible to tell who is firing away at whom.

But perhaps the most depressing thing about A Man Apart is further typecasting of Vin Diesel. After a promising start in Pitch Black, Boiler Room, and his brilliant self-made short Multi-Facial, Diesel looked like a new breed of action star, one with acting chops as impressive his bulging pectorals. Then came the Fast and the Furious and xXx. While decent action movies in their own right, they took the star further away from legitimate drama and pushed him one step closer to muscle-bound caricature. There's a rumor going around Hollywood that Diesel is only starring in blockbusters to collect enough cash to self-finance respectable independent projects. He better hurry up — a few more Man Aparts, and nobody will be able to take him seriously.