Pressure Point

You've got a wannabe James Bond lead character who's instead balding (with a clown afro wig stuck on the back of his head), paunchy, and with all the sexual and action movie appeal of your average family dentist. Who runs with the grace and speed of a toddler and escapes from a max security prison (which was apparently built over... an industrial... power plant?) in a jumpsuit sized for Andre the Giant. Hilarious, true, but action packed and heart pounding? No. The rest of the movie is just a mass of cliches and action movie tropes stitched together, making it utterly forgettable. Steve Railsbeck is wasted and Mr. Paws the stuffed bear deserves more screen time. I applaud the Rifftrax team (Mike, Bill, and Kevin) for being able to stay awake long enough to riff this movie so hilariously.

PRESSURE POINT was a decently-shot and directed, but badly-acted run-of-the-mill action/spy drama. This film was not ultra-low-budget, since there was some actual expensive-looking location shooting in Chile and other locales. It was merely low budget. The action scenes are fairly well-staged and nicely edited. They also made good use of library music to make the movie seem more expensive than it is.

Steve Railsback made a quite good villain. I've always thought that he was a compelling presence in most of the productions he has appeared in. Larry Linville from MASH was definitely phoning it in, in what appeared to be an attempt to channel G. Gordon Liddy. An impossible feat, since Liddy isn't dead yet. Sorry, Larry.

In spite of its decent production values and competent shooting style, make no mistake, this is merely a vanity production written by its utterly obscure "star", the balding and affectless Don Mogavero, a charisma sponge if there ever was one. Not only does he have no charisma of his own, but he sucks any out of anyone appearing in a scene with him. Makes Steven Seagal seem like Bruce Lee. According to the IMDb, he had one other film, Jeckyll Island. I must now pick that up to see how he would handle a movie (which, like this one, he also wrote himself) that has him as a master thief. Holy moly.

Let me specify that I paid $1 for this DVD, and it was well worth a buck for mindless entertainment value. I give it a FOUR, for its decent action-film directing and staging. Fans of low-budget action flicks might find this an interesting diversion for a couple hours. If you like Andy Sedaris films, you'll be in familiar territory here. More demanding moviegoers should stay away. And paying substantially more than a buck is not recommended.

The movie itself sucks donkey balls. Boring. Poorly acted.

After CIA operative Sebastian Dellacourt (Don Mogavero) botches an assassination attempt, he's tried and sentenced to jail. Sometime later, one of Dellacourt's old bosses offers him a chance at freedom if he'll complete one last mission - bust up a dangerous militia bent on destroying the US government.

I think I've rated every movie I've seen from Edgewood Studios a 3/10. For Pressure Point, there are so many problems I could point to that it's really not worth the time and/or effort. The screenplay, the dialogue, the acting, the fight choreography - it's all so hopelessly pathetic. I suppose, however, that one of the biggest problems with Pressure Point is lead actor (and writer) Don Mogavero. He's pretty much the antithesis of an action star. No offence meant toward the man, but Mogavero looks more like he should be playing an accountant rather than a CIA hitman. He's got a dad bad, a disappearing hairline, and all the athletic grace you'd expect from a middle-age white dude. Now that i've written that, I realize he doesn't sound that dissimilar to me. Hey, maybe I'm an action star and I just don't know it!

There are many, many little things about Pressure Point that left me scratching my head. Things like: What's up with the total lack of security at that maximum security prison? I think I saw a total of three guards - and two of those were on a smoke break. Or, where is this film supposed to be taking place? Vermont? Delaware? Who knows? Or, is it really that easy to steal a helicopter from a group of law enforcement agents? It's like taking candy from a baby. Or, could Dellacourt's prison escape have been any more awkward looking? He can't run very fast, he has all the jumping ability of a walrus, and he's wearing a prison outfit that's about three sizes too big. Smooth it ain't. Or . . . well, you get the idea. From an empty six-pack of Diet Coke used as a weapon to sticks of dynamite in a microwave, there's a lot here to ponder.

Finally, I want to mention two things in Pressure Point that I actually enjoyed. First, Steve Railsback easily acts circles around everyone else in the cast. He also makes a fantastic baddie. The movie might have been better had he had more screen time, but i'm sure they didn't have the budget for that. Second, it was "nice" spotting Matthew Bruch in a small role. If you're a "fan" of the Edgewood Studios' classic Time Chasers, then you're all too familiar with Bruch. Go Castleton!

3/10

Action thriller. A CIA agent aborts his mission but serves life for murder anyway. He is sprung from the prison to do one more job... Don Mogavero is excellent. Everything is good about this film except the wife's acting. Thankfully, she is not there long enough to spoil this film. Not terribly original but all the familiar bits are nicely put together, the result is highly entertaining.