Rescue Me

Well, not full-blown comedy, but this movie definitely has a lighter tone than most of Dudikoff's, and is one of his few that's not rated R. Dudikoff is a smuggler who reluctantly agrees to help nerdish high schooler Stephen Dorff when the most popular girl (Ami Dolenz) at his school, and the object of Dorff's dreams, is kidnapped. Watching Dudikoff interact with a young co-star is nice, seeing as how such a pairing hardly ever happens in his movies. Dudikoff also doesn't rely much on his martial arts, instead playing the character as someone who doesn't really like to get involved with action, which is a nice change. Not one of my most favorite Dudikoff flicks, but okay for when you want to see him in a different type of film.

I saw this years ago on our pay channel, and loved it, so ever since I've been collecting glamorous titles with pretty actresses, I've been trying to find this, without success. But I've forgotten most of the details, and mostly just remember the shower scene at the beginning of the movie, the two young protagonists preparing for dates. And the hot pursuit, on a motor cycle, of the baddies. Recently downloaded the trailer, and when you take a look at that, it is hard to understand why there has been no DVD release, because this sure looks good. But a search for RESCUE ME just reveals the darn TV series, perhaps I should search for STREET HUNTER next time? And I promise to write a decent review if I ever see this movie again, but sadly, I won't :( Suffice to say that having seen it once, say far more than twenty-one years ago, I just know that I'd really love to see it again, so that is saying something.

News update! News update! Yesterday, May fourteenth, 2021, I finally finally finally got a download. I'd been peeking at YouTube, but we all know you couldn't download, so I was just bummed. A contact has an app, though, so finally...! Bribe involved, of course. Watching on a cellphone is not my preferred medium, but I'm busy doing that, and posting quotes. I am surprised at just exactly how weak the setup really is. But take it as slapstick comedy and all is well.

Seems I at long last at least (kinda) realized this objective. Notice given that this entry here on IMDb will undergo major updates!

They should put a warning label on this one. Movies like this are puerile by concept but they can be fun provided everyone plays it right. This turd does not. It's not fun or funny and the action is worse than the worst episode of The A-Team. The characters are all annoying, played with a complete lack of skill by the cast. Michael Dudikoff's work in the American Ninja movies is like Brando compared to what he's doing here. Avoid this at all costs. Any movie that opens with close ups of Stephen Dorff's armpits should have all copies burned.

That is, the half with Steven Dorff. The half with the crooks is badly discordant with the other. It's basically slapstick kidnapping and feels very uncomfortable when it veers close to rape-y.

I guess that sometimes works- Fargo basically had a similar structure. Doesn't work here though.

But the Dorff half is pretty good. It's a bit half baked. Seems like they could have just had Dorff be a photographer without the stalker angle.

Dorff *very* strongly evokes River Phoenix to me. Vaguely in appearance, but definitely in his mannerisms and voice. If I'm not looking at the screen, I keep thinking it is Phoenix talking.

It's all so strong, I wonder if they had the same acting training/coaches. Or perhaps since Dorff was three years younger than Phoenix, Dorff was patterning himself after Phoenix.

"Rescue Me" was one of Cannon Pictures' last movies to get a theatrical release. It was a small and low key release, and upon seeing the movie it's easy to see why Cannon didn't give it much of a push. To be certain, it's not a complete waste of time. All of the cast, from leads Michael Dudikoff and Stephen Dorff, give appealing and likable performances. And for what had to be a low budget, the movie looks pretty good thanks to some expert cinematography and some well chosen locations. However, the movie all the same is more often than not a somewhat hard slog. Some plot details and character development seem to be missing, whether it was edited out or simply missing from Mike Snyder's screenplay in the first place. And while the movie was made in the 1990s, it has an odd 1980s feel, from the music to the clothing. The biggest problem, however, is that there is very little spark. The movie moves at a sluggish pace throughout, and this slow feeling also extends to the scenes of comedy and action; the comedy (though thankfully not strident and in-your-face) is lame, and the action sequences simply aren't exciting (or well accomplished) at all. It's too bad the movie doesn't work as a whole, because it had a pretty good and original premise. Remake, anyone?