Kansas

Outstanding performances by Dillon & McCarthy. Great scenery throughout the movie. A young Kyra Sedgewick has a small role as Matt Dillon's girlfriend. Also look for Alan Toy (Professor Finley from 90210) as a news paper reporter. Very underrated. Recommended very highly. I rank this up there with Less Than Zero, Fresh Horses & St Elmos's Fire for McCarthy. One of the top actors of the 80's. The DVD only has an Original Theatrical Trailer. No other special features are on there. At around $10.00, this is a nice deal. Most stores don't carry this obscure gem but it is very available through Amazon or any other vendors on the Net. Hope you enjoy this outstanding movie that doesn't get the credit it deserves.

Wow, hard to imagine the positive reviews for this misbegotten turkey. The script makes a hash of character and motivation: unbelievable that anyone would do the things these characters do or speak the cliche lines they are given. Small town Kansans are treated like idiot rubes. Writer does not seem to know how to end the story, so tacks on a ridiculous wrap-up.

Director seems to cut to moody shots of farm machinery whenever he can't figure out what else to do. Special mention for a soundtrack that is a crime against humanity.

Dillon does Dillon (broody and crazy), McCarthy does McCarthy (inappropriate awkward grins). No other actors even register.

Except for a gratuitous and cringeworthy sex scene, feels like a poor basic cable TV movie. By the end, I was actually angry at how bad it was.

Wade Corey (Andrew McCarthy) rides the rails hobo-style to get to NYC to be the best man in his friend's wedding. He befriends fellow rider Doyle Kennedy (Matt Dillon). They stop at Doyle's Kansas home town. Wade is pulled into Doyle's break'n enter and then a bank robbery. While hiding under a bridge, Wade comes to the rescue of the governor's daughter trapped in a sinking car. He runs away after the rescue only captured by the governor's photographer's camera. He is caught trying to steal by Lori Bayles (Leslie Hope) and her father gives him work on their farm. Wade's heroism becomes a media sensation inflamed by the governor's men while the cops continue their search for the one suspected bank robber.

The movie starts like an old-timey movie and it never really shakes that feeling. I don't know if people are still riding the rails like hobos but Andrew McCarthy never strikes me as somebody who would do that. He's more apt to hitchhike with his pretty face if push comes to shove. Matt Dillon has good criminal undertones and delivers on his part. Honestly, this movie would improve if Wade and Doyle first meet on a Greyhound bus. At least, that wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb.

(1988) Kansas DRAMA

Doyle Kennedy(Matt Dillon) helps Wade Corey (Andrew McCarthy) onto a train cart as a result of him having trouble with his car. While in the train cart, instead of heading up to a friend's wedding up in New York, Wade consciously decides to allow Doyle to manipulate him to visit his hometown of "Kansas"-hence the title. It is there, Doyle goes on a robbing spree in which he first breaks into a family's house to robbing the town bank. Once they split up as a result of being sought after, Wade then hides the money before saving the governor's daughter. Doyle then goes on a tracking rant to locate Wade to demand for his share for the money. It is during then after they split up, he crosses paths with his love interest, Lori Baykes (Leslie Hope) whose father owns a farm. I've like seen better.

Good enough. Matt Dillon does a great sociopath. If you know or want to know something about the mid-west, Kansas, Nebraska, small farming towns, then it's worth the watching. Filmed on locations that look real, are real, with a reasonably realistic portrayal of that life. It's a cheap rental if you can find it and a better waste of your time than the latest "reality show". They want ten lines of text for a comment, which explains to some degree, why there is so much drivel in the user comments that you find in IMDb. It doesn't take that much text to give you an idea of whether or not you'll like a film, really. Like crime drama? With a "just out of prison sociopath" that you'd really not like to meet? Then you'd likely enjoy this. If you've got any Midwestern farmer roots, you might also like it. I said that before I got to the significant "Ten Lines of Text..."