Nails

I came by casually with this movie when I decided to watch various movies with Keith David (who has one of the best voices ever heard on film) and when I arrived to this one I thought I would have hated since it has a pathetic score of 5,1 but instead, I ended up loving it very much. And I think it's criminally underrated especially here!

Harry Nails (Dennis Hopper) is a though Los Angeles cop that when he goes investigating one night with his partner has his partner killed. Furious about what happened, he is recommended by his superiors to take a little vacation as they think that he might be stressed, but he refuses. Nails instead goes on a rampage towards all the criminals and their co-horts and he won't stop at nothing for having justice served (and he won't take a NO for an answer). He would also manage to expose the corrupted nature of his former colleague.

This is a great action movie despite it's a made for TV one. It has lots of chase scenes (including with cars), shootouts, fistfights, places trashed around... you can't get better than this one! I was surprised at how many twists and turns were as the bad guys were real jerks.

Dennis Hopper steals the show in every scene he's in as the tough cop Harry Nails, who has a ruggedness a bit reminiscent of Clint Eastwood in his prime and I really loved his performance. I thought that his treatment towards those scumbags was necessary. The supporting cast is full of then unknwon faces that soon become famous as they were more active in movies: John Hawkes, Keith David, Jay Acovone and even Danny Trejo as a barman were quite a surprise to watch. And the soundtrack was very funky in some points.

If you ever have a chance to watch this movie... watch it at all costs! It's a great action movie that fans of the genre will enjoy and it's not like your typical made for TV movie. When it was over I thought ''why they didn't released it in theaters?'' because I think that if it was released in theaters it could have today a much higher score and more reviews.

In the post-The Wire world we now dwell in, we are forced to look upon the action/cop thrillers of the 1980's and early 1990's with somewhat fresh eyes. We now understand how a city is run, and how bureaucracy and politics can stand in the way of, say, the police force, getting their job done. No longer can a leather-jacketed, cocktail-stick chewing cop- on-the-edge cast aside the need of a search warrant and simply kick the door down. It used to be that as long as he drags out his man either in cuffs or in a body bag, and saves the girl, nobody will care about his disregard for the law, and if they don't, I quote Rambo, "f**k 'em!". But the enlightenment set by The Wire causes something like Nails, a made-for-TV, obscure little title probably forgotten by whoever has actually seen it, to fall from 'terrible' or 'run-of-the-mill', to 'outright laughable' due to it's complete lack of procedural logic and sense.

'Good cop with a bad attitude' Harry 'Nails' Niles (Dennis Hopper) and his partner Jack (Earl Billings) are lured into a trap by some gangsters, leaving Jack dead and Harry mourning. Getting no help from his police department, of which none attend Jack's funeral, Harry decides to use his street know-how to scour the criminal underworld of L.A. in search of vengeance. He discovers a dirty trail full of conspiracy and possible police cover-up that seems to lead all the way up to rich slumlord Noah Owens (Keith David), who is helping fund a Senator's campaign run. Battling alcoholism and a very bad temper, he must also try and win back his estranged ex-wife Mary (Anne Archer) before the gangsters get to her too.

I would probably have never even been aware of this film's existence had it not been for the poster in some cinema magazine or other back in 1992. My brother and I remembered it due to the hilarious title and equally hilarious tagline, so the temptation to actually go ahead and watch this proved too much. It's not quite as bad as I was expecting, given Hopper's energetic, but hardly convincing, performance at least managing to keep me half-interested. Common in early 90's movies, the technical aspects of the film are dreadful, and the action scenes are dull, with a few car chases and machine gun fights scattered throughout. It's so full of plot holes and weird narrative twists (Harry is paying his ex-wife, who is an important member of the Senator's campaign trail, for sex) that is best experienced on full mental shut-down, or else you're in danger of throwing things at the screen. Befitting of its obscurity, and a reminder of how bad the 90's really were.

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A contract is put out on hard-boiled police homicide detective Harry 'Nails' Niles (Dennis Hopper) and his partner Jack Willis. Nails survives an ambush but Willis is killed. With vengeance on his mind, Nails searches the L.A. underworld to find Willis' murderers. In between, he has sexual escapades with his ex Mary (Anne Archer).

John Flynn is a B-level crime action director. Nails is a standard hard-boiled detective. He's hard drinking, hard driving, and hard fighting. While Hopper is great at the hard drinking and living, he's not as real in the hard fighting. He's in his 50's but the hard living adds at least another 10 years. There are things that he does well and others that fit less well. There is the prerequisite body double nudity for Archer and also there is old man butt from Hopper. The plot has nothing out of the ordinary. It is somewhat divided in two which feels disconnected. The dialogue can be clunky in its noir writing. This is crime noir at its hard-boiled basic level. I really wish the cinematography is better.

In Rebel Without A Cause, Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet and River's Edge, Dennis Hopper took us to the edge, this time he pushes us over! This man is an amazing actor who brings his trademark intensity to this film. He makes Dirty Harry look like a wimp! This film is a high wire through hell from start to finish and Hopper's performance is what does it. Anne Archer gives a great performance as his long suffering wife and the two have amazing chemistry. One thing that you have to say about Dennis Hopper, he is never boring and always delivers!

Nails is one of those movies that since it's made for TV, then no one can see how bad two big stars can be. Dennis Hopper and Anne Archer should have known better. Hopper was in a pre-Speed slump and had I seen this stinker first, then I would've never seen Speed (What a mistake that would've been). I was suprised at the level of violence and language used in this movie. Never would I have believed that it could've made it to TV like this.

+ (GOOD THINGS) 1.) The car chases 2.) The opening credits

• (BAD THINGS) 1.) The sets (ugh!) 2.) Hopper's performance 3.) The script 4.) The direction 5.) Archer's performance

Total: 2/10