Mac McKussie may have quit the business of drug dealing. But inside and outside the law the business won't quit him. Mel Gibson (as Mac), Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell and Raul Julia star in this high-gloss, high-stakes thriller from Chinatown Academy Award winner Robert Towne. Russell is Mac's pal Nick, a cop under pressure to bring Mac down; Julia plays a Mexican lawman with shady intentions; and Pfeiffer is a cool restaurateur torn between her feelings for Nick and Mac. All four bask in Conrad Hall's glowing, award-winning cinematography. The volatile elements of Tequila Sunrise make an excitingly watchable mix.
Robert Towne is one of Hollywood's most celebrated screenwriters, but because his directorial efforts have been few and far between, anticipation was high when this star-powered crime story was released in 1988. Critical reaction was decidedly mixed, but there's plenty to admire in this silky, visually seductive film about a drug dealer (Mel Gibson) whose best friend from high-school (Kurt Russell) is now working for the Los Angeles sheriff's drug detail. Their personal and professional conflicts are intensified by their love for the same woman, a waitress (Michelle Pfeiffer) at the Italian restaurant they both frequent. There's a big deal going down with a drug lord (the late Raul Julia), but as it twists and turns, Towne's story is really more about personal loyalties and individual honour. And even if it doesn't quite hold together, the movie's got a fantastic look to it (courtesy of the great cinematographer Conrad Hall), and the three stars bring depth and dimension to their well-written roles. --Jeff Shannon
The most viscerally frightening and disturbing homicidal maniac picture since The Silence of the Lambs, Seven is based on an idea that's both gruesome and ingenious. A serial killer forces each of his victims to die by acting out one of the seven deadly sins. The murder scene is then artfully arranged into a grotesque tableau, a graphic illustration of each mortal vice. From the jittery opening credits to the horrifying (and seemingly inescapable) concluding twist, director David Fincher immerses us in a murky urban twilight where everything seems to be rotting, rusting, or moulding; the air is cold and heavy with dread. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are the detectives who skillfully track down the killer--all the while unaware that he has been closing in on them, as well. Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey are also featured, but it is director Fincher and the ominous, overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere of doom that he creates that are the real stars of the film. It's a terrific date movie--for vampires. --Jim Emerson
Each of this 'Bad Pack' are hand-picked bringing their own special skills and expertise to the table. Sims is a tough world class race car driver hired to drive munitions. Kurt is an out-of-work former East German spy of extraordinary physical strength. Remi a gorgeous assassin with a personal score to settle carries a large chip on her beautiful shoulder. Callin is a seventh degree black belt. Britt is a brilliant rookie FBI agent who has yet to face a fight and Hoffman was just sprung from the mental institution that he frequents and is crazy enough to do anything! The cynical seven are re-united once again for the most dangerous mission in their mercenary careers and for the 'Bad Pack' they can only have one motto: only the baddest will survive!
In Witness Protection lifelong Mafia hood Bobby "Bats" Batton (Tom Sizemore) wakes up one night to discover a price on his head and nowhere to go but to the cops, under protection as a federal witness. Based on the article "The Invisible Family" by Robert Sabbag, this HBO film drops us into the volatile period between lives as Bats takes his family off the streets and into a federal bunker where they begin shaping their new identities. Surrounded by surveillance cameras and locked in an apartment that feels like a fancy prison block, the formerly prosperous family starts to suffocate and self-destruct while it becomes clear just what a "readjustment of expectations" really means. Sizemore is excellent as the hot-headed gangster paralysed by helplessness, but Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is especially moving as the once-hopeful wife who buckles as her husband's secrets and lies are revealed. It's an interesting dynamic: the swaggering goodfella forced into a working-class life elicits little sympathy, but the toll on the family torn apart by recriminations, blame and frustration is affecting and powerful. They're undergoing a crash course in family therapy with federal official Forest Whitaker as their tough-love crisis counsellor. While the screenplay at times feels contrived, the drama is always potent. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
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