Directed by Michelle Manning, who got her break after helping out with teen films, though if this movie has an auteur it's more likely Walter Hill, who co wrote (from a Ross MacDonald novel) and co produced: the tough clipped dialogue, the southern setting, the Ry Cooder score, even the opening credits which go credit-vision-credit-vision.
I've read the original - it's a perfectly decent pulp about a young men investigating his dad's death. The thing is in the novel the young man was a war veteran, which gave him weight and experience with guns and killing. Here Judd Nelson is just a flake which makes him lightweight - critics who went after Nelson should have pointed that out.
It falls down in key areas: Nelson hearing about his father's death. And Nelson being tough with a bar tender asking questions is just laughable. So too is he when threatening Scott Wilson, declaring war with a molotov cocktail.
Michael Pare could've pulled it off - if his character had been given a military background. Ditto Val Kilmer. I'm not sure other brat packers could, like Rob, Andy or Emilio. Matt Dillon yes.
Ally Sheedy seems out of place too. She's nice and engaging... but doesn't fit this world, despite quite a racy sex scene with Nelson where if I'm not mistaken she's topless. Their courting feels perfunctory. Surely they could've gotten more juice out of that. It is fun to see her undercover as a go go dancer but really she doesn't do much - they could've and probably should've cut the Sheedy character and had the female lead be the other dancer in the club.
Some of the cast are perfect: Paul Winfield is a great dodgy cop, David Caruso a terrific shifty friend. Anita Morris goes a little OTT as the grieving widow, ditto Scott Wilson as the baddy. The music is good.
But it's just silly. Nelson and Caruso running around robbing banks and stuff. Are we meant to care when Caruso dies? They are running around committing crimes!
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