Real-life couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn star in this enjoyable 1987 comedy by Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) about an imperious heiress (Hawn) who loses her memory after a boating accident and is identified as the wife of a handyman (Russell). Russell's character brings her "home" to his messy house and unruly kids and the laughs follow as the aristocratic Hawn tries fitting in. Marshall delivers the comic goods, the leads are entertaining (Russell needs to do more comedy) and the supporting cast is made up of happily familiar faces, including Roddy McDowall, Edward Herrmann, and Marshall favourite Hector Elizondo in an unbilled bit part. --Tom Keogh
After scoring a hit with the Eddie Murphy-Nick Nolte cop thriller 48 Hours, director Walter Hill returned to the buddy formula with this half-ridiculous, half-invigorating action flick about humourless Russian cop Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger). He follows a drug dealer from Moscow to Chicago, where he's matched up with city cop Art Ridzik (James Belushi), whose work ethic is considerably more relaxed. Most of the humour revolves around Danko's grumpy reaction to good ol' American capitalism, while Ridzik urges him to chill out. Red Heat is not bad as action comedies go, but only if you get into the absurd spirit of this predictable fare, in which the unlikely buddies get to wisecrack and act casually while mayhem erupts everywhere they go. Incidentally, Red Heat was the first American film allowed to shoot in Moscow's Red Square. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Strictly for kids, this 1999 live-action feature version of the popular cartoon series seems long even at 80 minutes. As a video, it's easier to take and appreciate for what works best in the story: the special effects. Matthew Broderick plays the security guard who is physically transformed into a multi-use cyborg with a zillion attachments, from stilts to helicopter blades to skis. A crime fighter in raincoat and fedora, and equipped with a nifty Gadgetmobile, the hero investigates the death of a man linked to the villainous Sanford Scolex (Rupert Everett). Scolex, who blames Gadget for having to wear a prosthetic hand, develops an evil robot twin of the good inspector, causing much mischief and giving Broderick an opportunity to poke fun at his own performance of the virtuous Inspector. The action is shaky, the script plods along and the effects soon take over; Everett has to go to the extremes of overacting just to be seen above it. But children of a certain age will almost certainly engage with the more clever stuff and forgive the rest. --Tom Keogh
Anybody seen Keanu? The action star of Speed opted out of this overbearing sequel, which finds co-star Sandra Bullock in love with another guy (Jason Patric) and in trouble aboard a cruise ship under the control of a mad extortionist (Willem Dafoe). Speed director Jan de Bont is back at the helm for part 2, but even he seems to have forgotten that what made the first film work was the simplicity of its hook (the bomb, the bus that can't drive below 50 mph, the handful of sympathetic passengers, etc.). Speed 2 is all about hugeness: big ship, lots of places to get into trouble and so on. Even with an eye-popping, endless finale of the vessel crashing into port (and causing mondo destruction), there is nothing about this movie that is remotely as involving as its predecessor. --Tom Keogh
Disgruntled video store owner Ray (Robert Patrick) is struggling to make ends meet in the desert of the Southwest U.S.A. To escape his problems he takes to the highway. On route to nowhere he picks up an attractive and mysterious hitchhiker Harley (Jennifer Esposito). The chemistry between them is immediate and Harley offers Ray the opportunity of a lifetime - to help her smuggle million of stolen money from a local bank. In the tradition of the classic American road movie and with a cast of bizarre characters dramatic locations and an unpredictable plot Backflash is a modern and edgy thriller with a stellar cast also including Colm Meaney and Melissa Joan Hart.
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy