Sometimes if you want to star in an action film, you have to make one yourself.

“Money Man” stars Dev Patel as a young man who sets out on a quest for revenge against a corrupt police chief (Sikandar Kher). Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Sobhita Dhulipala, and Vipin Sharma, also star, as Patel makes his directorial debut.

Ever since “John Wick” came onto the scene in 2014, there have been multiple attempts to capture its kinetic action style (“Atomic Blonde,” “Violent Night,” and “Nobody,” just to name three). Here Dev Patel, long wanting to lead an action film and finally deciding to direct one himself, throws his hat into the “Wick” ring, and for a directorial debut he does a good job. Some of the non-action scenes linger and take some wind out the film’s sails, but enough punches land make this worth your while.

In the lead role, Patel does a good job carrying the film on his shoulders. Granted he doesn’t give himself much to do besides yell, sob, and throw punches, but he is a physical presence and sells the combat sequences. As a director, Patel does a pretty good job immersing viewers into the bustling and corrupt world of India.

The story isn’t the non-stop action thrill ride that the trailers painted it out to be, those bits mostly come in the first and final 30 minutes. And they’re full of some visceral kills, as Patel stabs people with pocket knives, shoves serving platters into throats, and thrashes bodyguards with fists. In between all the violence, however, Patel takes a detour into a story of redemption and recovery and things take a noticeable break. He tries to get into the spiritual aspects of the story and Indian culture, and while there are flashes of intrigue, it simply gets repetitive and the directorial debut quirks bleed through.

We are shown brief interludes of Patel’s childhood throughout the first half of the film before getting the official story, but at the point we have all pieced together what happened, so sitting through a ten minute flashback of a familiar story is just beating a dead horse. There are also the rookie director isms, such as holding on character’s reactions for the sake of trying to come off as artsy and introducing characters and plot beats that never really serve the story outside for one specific reason when convenient.

“Monkey Man” has a lot going for it that is commendable, including some comedic directorial flair that Patel has shown he has a knack for after being masterfully whimsical in Wes Anderson’s Netflix short films last year. Not all of the film works, mainly when people are talking instead of fighting, but I was entertained enough in the moment to walk away interested in what Patel does for his sophomore effort.

Critics Rating: 6/10