115 reviews
Since seeing this film I've never been comfortable with Denis Leary as a comedian because he's so damn convincing as the cold-hearted bad guy in this. I think he's a great actor but this is the movie to see him in as it's A. His best performance and B. One of the best villains ever in movies.
Leary plays Fallon, a dangerous criminal from Chicago's bad side. And when four middle class pals from the quiet suburbs cross him and witness a murder a chase across derelict landscapes follows. The spoon-fed quartet are way out of their comfort zone and have no idea how to navigate the ghetto or deal with its dwellers. Peter Greene, an actor always like to see, plays Sykes, one of Fallon's cohorts as well as Everlast from the rap group House of Pain as Rhodes. They sure do make a threatening impression.
Judgment Night kind of comes across as a modern, urban Deliverance. There are many similarities between them but Judgment Night clearly has more excitement. Estevez (who was cast very late after Tom Cruise and Christian Slater turned down the lead role), Gooding Jnr, Piven and Dorff play well off each other and Piven especially seems to really get into the whiny runt of his character. Though the editors really should have cut down the in-fighting and petty bickering between the quartet as it often slows the film down to a complete stop.
Director Stephen Hopkins (who also did Predator 2 and Blown Away) uses creeping camera movements and neo-noir lighting to provoke multiple eerie moments as well as a great deal of tension. Slow-mo and warped sound effects are also used to great effect in the finale. Alan Silvestri's score is also one of his best, alternating between several different moods. His first score (electronic based) was rejected by Hopkins but that difficult decision proved be a good judgment (ha!) as the end result is one of the film's best features.
Judgment Night is certainly an overlooked tour-de-force and is a brilliant action film with fine performances all round, but Leary completely and utterly steals the show.
Leary plays Fallon, a dangerous criminal from Chicago's bad side. And when four middle class pals from the quiet suburbs cross him and witness a murder a chase across derelict landscapes follows. The spoon-fed quartet are way out of their comfort zone and have no idea how to navigate the ghetto or deal with its dwellers. Peter Greene, an actor always like to see, plays Sykes, one of Fallon's cohorts as well as Everlast from the rap group House of Pain as Rhodes. They sure do make a threatening impression.
Judgment Night kind of comes across as a modern, urban Deliverance. There are many similarities between them but Judgment Night clearly has more excitement. Estevez (who was cast very late after Tom Cruise and Christian Slater turned down the lead role), Gooding Jnr, Piven and Dorff play well off each other and Piven especially seems to really get into the whiny runt of his character. Though the editors really should have cut down the in-fighting and petty bickering between the quartet as it often slows the film down to a complete stop.
Director Stephen Hopkins (who also did Predator 2 and Blown Away) uses creeping camera movements and neo-noir lighting to provoke multiple eerie moments as well as a great deal of tension. Slow-mo and warped sound effects are also used to great effect in the finale. Alan Silvestri's score is also one of his best, alternating between several different moods. His first score (electronic based) was rejected by Hopkins but that difficult decision proved be a good judgment (ha!) as the end result is one of the film's best features.
Judgment Night is certainly an overlooked tour-de-force and is a brilliant action film with fine performances all round, but Leary completely and utterly steals the show.
- CuriosityKilledShawn
- Feb 7, 1999
- Permalink
- disinterested_spectator
- Jan 2, 2015
- Permalink
This movie is actually pretty decent. I liked all the characters, even Jeremy Piven, who was kind of a dick in this. The story focuses on these four friends who get lost on a way to a game in a bad neighborhood. They happen upon a gang of drug-dealers (led by Denis Leary), and witness something horrible so Leary decides he can't let them escape. From their the movie is pure suspense, with the guys trying to escape the gangsters. Some very good scenes, one which involves them hiding in a train, having to bribe the hobos to keep quiet. A lot of action, some good acting, and constantly keeps moving. I give this movie a solid 6/10, because there were a few things that bothered me, but I won't go into this for the sake of not ruining the film.
I've heard this film dissed by so many, and I cannot for the love of god understand why. It has excitement, terrific actors and a totally awesome soundtrack.
Sorry, but to me a film with Emilio Estevez, Denis Leary, Cuba Gooding and Stephen Dorff cannot fail, nomadder HOW lame it is. It just so happens that this film is NOT lame in anyway. You're in suspence from the start to the end.
OK, so there ARE a couple of cliches under the way - this I cannot deny, but honestly, name me ONE film that totally avoids cliches in any way, share or form and I'll glady admit to have been wrong.
This movie rocks, although it is about ten years old now. But I first saw it back when it came out, and to this day I still get carried away in it!
Sorry, but to me a film with Emilio Estevez, Denis Leary, Cuba Gooding and Stephen Dorff cannot fail, nomadder HOW lame it is. It just so happens that this film is NOT lame in anyway. You're in suspence from the start to the end.
OK, so there ARE a couple of cliches under the way - this I cannot deny, but honestly, name me ONE film that totally avoids cliches in any way, share or form and I'll glady admit to have been wrong.
This movie rocks, although it is about ten years old now. But I first saw it back when it came out, and to this day I still get carried away in it!
- filmfreak-5
- Jan 24, 2004
- Permalink
The plot: A group of yuppies get stuck in the bad part of town, become witnesses to a murder, and are relentlessly hunted down by a gangster who doesn't want any witnesses.
Judgment Night is the sort of stereotypical, clichéd 1990s thriller that was quite popular: gritty, urban, dark, and starring a young, recognizable cast that seemed well on their way to the A-list. Ironically, few of them managed to retain their popularity for much longer. At the time, I remember being a big fan of pretty much everyone in this movie, though.
I've always thought this movie was somewhat underrated, but I can understand why some people dislike it. It's not an incredibly original story, the protagonists are sometimes stupid (and usually annoying), and it apparently takes some liberties with the setting. Not being a Chicago native, I can't really comment on that, but it seems to be a sore point for some.
Much like After Hours and Very Bad Things, this is a movie that relishes the opportunity to continually push its protagonists into increasingly nasty situations. However, unlike those movies, it's pretty much a straight-up thriller, without the black humor. I'd recommend this movie to fans of gritty, urban thrillers. It's nothing they haven't seen before, but it's an enjoyable rehash, nonetheless.
Judgment Night is the sort of stereotypical, clichéd 1990s thriller that was quite popular: gritty, urban, dark, and starring a young, recognizable cast that seemed well on their way to the A-list. Ironically, few of them managed to retain their popularity for much longer. At the time, I remember being a big fan of pretty much everyone in this movie, though.
I've always thought this movie was somewhat underrated, but I can understand why some people dislike it. It's not an incredibly original story, the protagonists are sometimes stupid (and usually annoying), and it apparently takes some liberties with the setting. Not being a Chicago native, I can't really comment on that, but it seems to be a sore point for some.
Much like After Hours and Very Bad Things, this is a movie that relishes the opportunity to continually push its protagonists into increasingly nasty situations. However, unlike those movies, it's pretty much a straight-up thriller, without the black humor. I'd recommend this movie to fans of gritty, urban thrillers. It's nothing they haven't seen before, but it's an enjoyable rehash, nonetheless.
1993 film where four old buddies in Chicago rent a lavish motor home for a night of partying and watching boxing. After they witness a murder by Fallon, a sinister drug lord very well-played by Denis Leary, a long, tense, violent urban odyssey follows.
Though somewhat dated by its 20 years, JUDGMENT NIGHT is everything a thriller-seeker desires. The simple but focused plot follows the old formula, and it's fairly easy to predict the basics of how it will turn out, but it has plenty of small surprises along the way, and there's nothing too unbelievable. The four friends--one who turns out to be the big hero, one who keeps mucking everything up for everybody else, and two who are kind of in the middle--are a rather cookie-cutter set, but good acting and even better filming keep this film alive.
Interesting to see the young Stephen Dorff in an atypical role as the younger brother of the hero played by Emilio Estevez.
Though somewhat dated by its 20 years, JUDGMENT NIGHT is everything a thriller-seeker desires. The simple but focused plot follows the old formula, and it's fairly easy to predict the basics of how it will turn out, but it has plenty of small surprises along the way, and there's nothing too unbelievable. The four friends--one who turns out to be the big hero, one who keeps mucking everything up for everybody else, and two who are kind of in the middle--are a rather cookie-cutter set, but good acting and even better filming keep this film alive.
Interesting to see the young Stephen Dorff in an atypical role as the younger brother of the hero played by Emilio Estevez.
- doug_park2001
- Apr 27, 2014
- Permalink
Soundtrack for this movie is one of the first CDs I got and one of the most worn out ones. But it took me more than two decades to finally see the movie too. I suppose I was dodging it because of pretty much bad reviews and, once again, I missed the good movie. OK, it's not masterpiece, but for an action drama it is above average. And music kicks ass!
7/10
7/10
- Bored_Dragon
- Aug 9, 2017
- Permalink
Judgement Night is directed by Stephen Hopkins and adapted to screenplay by Lewis Colick from a story he co-wrote with Jere Cunningham. It stars Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Stephen Dorff, Jeremy Piven and Denis Leary. Music is scored by Alan Silvestri and cinematography by Peter Levy.
Two brothers and two pals set out for a blokey night out at a boxing match but take an ill fated short cut and end up on the run from a vicious gang.
93 was a very good year for the action movie fan, with double Stallone, Van Damme teaming up with Woo, an Arnie picture, a Bruce Lee homage, a fugitive Ford, dinosaur frenzy and some minor pulse raisers that garnered a small but loyal following. Judgement Night falls into the last category, it's pretty light on plotting and sensible scripting, but none the less contains a ream of action set-pieces that whilst not exactly brilliantly constructed, they still have impact and entertain the action faithful.
Suffice to say, it's not hard to see why it was frowned upon by the critics, it is basically an excuse to string a bunch of drama sequences around a thin narrative that sees the protagonists do the all too usual dumb action movie staples. That's disappointing given that writer Colick was behind the hugely enjoyable Unlawful Entry. The acting is decent enough from the four "on the run" actors, though Piven and Gooding are mightily guilty of gurning for the camera, but everybody falls into Leary's shadow. Leary is having a great time playing the main villain, ice cold stare and caustic delivery in place, he nails it as a bad ass and becomes the main reason to seek the film out for a viewing.
Elsewhere, Hopkins's (Predator 2) direction is formulaic, but he does have a good eye for scene staging, with two sequences set at a rail line and a derelict building proving to be visual niceties. Levy's photography is interesting as regards the colour lenses, looks like he used gel saturation to get a high yellow and brown return, which is an odd choice for the urban night terror story. Surely steely cold compositions would have been better? Silvestri's score is basically his one composed for Predator, literally it is the same only with some extensions tacked on. It's a brilliant score, but you just can't help thinking about Arnie and the Dreadlocked Alien and that is something that doesn't help Judgement Night at all.
A decent time waster for the action fan, especially if you dig Leary, but outside of those boxes it's pretty standard stuff. 6/10
Two brothers and two pals set out for a blokey night out at a boxing match but take an ill fated short cut and end up on the run from a vicious gang.
93 was a very good year for the action movie fan, with double Stallone, Van Damme teaming up with Woo, an Arnie picture, a Bruce Lee homage, a fugitive Ford, dinosaur frenzy and some minor pulse raisers that garnered a small but loyal following. Judgement Night falls into the last category, it's pretty light on plotting and sensible scripting, but none the less contains a ream of action set-pieces that whilst not exactly brilliantly constructed, they still have impact and entertain the action faithful.
Suffice to say, it's not hard to see why it was frowned upon by the critics, it is basically an excuse to string a bunch of drama sequences around a thin narrative that sees the protagonists do the all too usual dumb action movie staples. That's disappointing given that writer Colick was behind the hugely enjoyable Unlawful Entry. The acting is decent enough from the four "on the run" actors, though Piven and Gooding are mightily guilty of gurning for the camera, but everybody falls into Leary's shadow. Leary is having a great time playing the main villain, ice cold stare and caustic delivery in place, he nails it as a bad ass and becomes the main reason to seek the film out for a viewing.
Elsewhere, Hopkins's (Predator 2) direction is formulaic, but he does have a good eye for scene staging, with two sequences set at a rail line and a derelict building proving to be visual niceties. Levy's photography is interesting as regards the colour lenses, looks like he used gel saturation to get a high yellow and brown return, which is an odd choice for the urban night terror story. Surely steely cold compositions would have been better? Silvestri's score is basically his one composed for Predator, literally it is the same only with some extensions tacked on. It's a brilliant score, but you just can't help thinking about Arnie and the Dreadlocked Alien and that is something that doesn't help Judgement Night at all.
A decent time waster for the action fan, especially if you dig Leary, but outside of those boxes it's pretty standard stuff. 6/10
- hitchcockthelegend
- Apr 6, 2013
- Permalink
My name is Carlie Dougher. I was in this movie. The little baby on the porch, frank's daughter in the movie. I was wondering if I made a comment if maybe I would be put in the cast. I mean the "kid on swing" was. Haha :)
Since I must write a minimum of 10 lines I mine as well give a review. I was 14 when I was finally able to watch this movie due to the violence and it being rated R.
My parents finally allowed me to watch the full film not just the beginning where I'm in it for a good 3 minutes or so lol. Iv watched it so many times and show all my friends it's such a cool movie and it never gets old not to mention is funny as hell and it's definitely a nail biter. It's a good movie on a rainy days. It's one of those movies you wont want to end.
Since I must write a minimum of 10 lines I mine as well give a review. I was 14 when I was finally able to watch this movie due to the violence and it being rated R.
My parents finally allowed me to watch the full film not just the beginning where I'm in it for a good 3 minutes or so lol. Iv watched it so many times and show all my friends it's such a cool movie and it never gets old not to mention is funny as hell and it's definitely a nail biter. It's a good movie on a rainy days. It's one of those movies you wont want to end.
- Carliedougher
- Aug 29, 2013
- Permalink
- davehart-5
- Jan 2, 2007
- Permalink
JUDGMENT NIGHT is a movie featuring an ensemble cast who find themselves enduring a night from hell when they're pursued by a vengeful street gang with murder in mind. As it's directed by Stephen Hopkins, who made PREDATOR 2 and THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, it has potential to be good, but sadly it comes a cropper before long and never lives up to that early promise.
The problem with the film is the story, or lack of it. Okay, so the setup is halfway decent, but at around the halfway mark things really start to fall apart and it becomes just a straightforward chase flick with an us-vs-them mentality. Sadly, the lethargic and badly-handled action sequences, involving shoot-outs and fist-fights, are nowhere near good enough to make up for the lack of a decent narrative, making this an entirely forgettable movie when it comes down to it.
One of the most interesting things about the production is the cast, half of whom would go on to greater glory. Stephen Dorff and Cuba Gooding Jr. are two of the youthful stars; the former is effectively edgy but the latter's acting is so cheesy that you wonder how he found later fame and fortune. Jeremy Piven is better, but the presence of Emilio Estevez reminds you of why he never made it big; he has zero screen presence.
The bad guys are more interesting, although the characterisation is slimmer. Denis Leary is the charismatic chief villain, but I found his endless threats became pretty routine before long and I was dying to see someone off him. Much better is the entirely underrated Peter Greene (PULP FICTION), who SHOULD have been the main bad guy because he's excellently slimy, as ever, and indeed the best thing in the whole movie.
The problem with the film is the story, or lack of it. Okay, so the setup is halfway decent, but at around the halfway mark things really start to fall apart and it becomes just a straightforward chase flick with an us-vs-them mentality. Sadly, the lethargic and badly-handled action sequences, involving shoot-outs and fist-fights, are nowhere near good enough to make up for the lack of a decent narrative, making this an entirely forgettable movie when it comes down to it.
One of the most interesting things about the production is the cast, half of whom would go on to greater glory. Stephen Dorff and Cuba Gooding Jr. are two of the youthful stars; the former is effectively edgy but the latter's acting is so cheesy that you wonder how he found later fame and fortune. Jeremy Piven is better, but the presence of Emilio Estevez reminds you of why he never made it big; he has zero screen presence.
The bad guys are more interesting, although the characterisation is slimmer. Denis Leary is the charismatic chief villain, but I found his endless threats became pretty routine before long and I was dying to see someone off him. Much better is the entirely underrated Peter Greene (PULP FICTION), who SHOULD have been the main bad guy because he's excellently slimy, as ever, and indeed the best thing in the whole movie.
- Leofwine_draca
- Oct 3, 2013
- Permalink
- boondocksaint20
- Nov 4, 2004
- Permalink
The main reason, and if I'm honest probably also the only one, why I watched this movie was because Emilio Estevez and Cuba Gooding Jr. were in it. I didn't exactly expect the best movie I had seen in years, but with these two actors, I at least expected to see a decent movie. But I'm afraid I'll have to change my mind on that one. This was a very disappointing movie.
The story seems to be OK, at least in the beginning when you see four guys going to a boxing match. They don't go with a normal car like other people would do, they take a huge camper. But OK, no problem with that. As long as it serves the movie, I can live with it... and it does, because when they get completely stuck in a traffic jam and don't seem to find a way to pass some cars quickly, they decide to leave the highway and try an alternative route trough a neighborhood that doesn't look all too inviting. The four friends start thinking of going back to the highway when all a sudden they hit something or someone. When they stop they see a man lying on the ground and their first reaction is to call 911. But the driver starts to freak out (he has been drinking, he doesn't know if he's well insured...) and they decide to take him with them in the camper and to bring him to a hospital. And then all the misery starts. Not only has the man been shot, the ones who did it are now chasing the four friends...
At first I still could live with the idea that they had left the highway, got into trouble... but as the movie kept going on, it annoyed me enormously. The bad guys always seemed to know where the four friends were going and never gave up the chase, the good guys always made the most stupid decisions possible,... And of course the good ones have to act like heroes and yes people get killed on both sides, but in the end the good will always prevail, right?
If there is one positive thing that I can say about this movie, than it must be something about the acting. I'm not saying it was the best of the best, but it was decent and quite believable. Nevertheless, it doesn't save this movie and that's why I can only give it a 5/10.
The story seems to be OK, at least in the beginning when you see four guys going to a boxing match. They don't go with a normal car like other people would do, they take a huge camper. But OK, no problem with that. As long as it serves the movie, I can live with it... and it does, because when they get completely stuck in a traffic jam and don't seem to find a way to pass some cars quickly, they decide to leave the highway and try an alternative route trough a neighborhood that doesn't look all too inviting. The four friends start thinking of going back to the highway when all a sudden they hit something or someone. When they stop they see a man lying on the ground and their first reaction is to call 911. But the driver starts to freak out (he has been drinking, he doesn't know if he's well insured...) and they decide to take him with them in the camper and to bring him to a hospital. And then all the misery starts. Not only has the man been shot, the ones who did it are now chasing the four friends...
At first I still could live with the idea that they had left the highway, got into trouble... but as the movie kept going on, it annoyed me enormously. The bad guys always seemed to know where the four friends were going and never gave up the chase, the good guys always made the most stupid decisions possible,... And of course the good ones have to act like heroes and yes people get killed on both sides, but in the end the good will always prevail, right?
If there is one positive thing that I can say about this movie, than it must be something about the acting. I'm not saying it was the best of the best, but it was decent and quite believable. Nevertheless, it doesn't save this movie and that's why I can only give it a 5/10.
- philip_vanderveken
- Mar 16, 2005
- Permalink
Judgment Night was on TV last night, i began watching it and it had to be one of the most gripping movies ive ever seen. The movie starts off with 4 friends in their 20's taking a luxury van out to watch a boxing match, them being stuck in traffic decide to take a turn into a bad,bad neighbourhood.After this, the movie is in non stop suspence for one whole hour,with terrific acting and a very good script, Judgment night had to me one of my all time favourite action movies of all time. Although predictable at times, that didnt leave this film from being a top notch action/thriller. Although some of the scenes simply arent believable you just cant help notice how great the whole casts acting is,especially a top performance by Emilio Esetevez and Cuba Gooding, Jr. A Glitch with this movie is it starts to get downhill pretty much from an hour into the movie, the plot gets less believable and it just turns into too much.The ending was pretty simple. Cinematography was awesome in this flick, great camera angles and dark scenes. I simply ask for you to watch this, many says it copies many other films, i couldnt care less, Judgment night had to be one of the greatest action sequences ive ever seen, i definantley reccomend you watch it despite its predictibility,unbelievable scenes and stretched out plot. Here are my ratings for JUDGMENT NIGHT
out of 5 stars (*)= half a star.
Acting - ****(*)
Actors - ****
Cinema - ****(*)
Suspence-****(*)
Script- ****
Sound- **** (*)
Overall- ****(*) (4 and a half out of 5 stars)
out of 5 stars (*)= half a star.
Acting - ****(*)
Actors - ****
Cinema - ****(*)
Suspence-****(*)
Script- ****
Sound- **** (*)
Overall- ****(*) (4 and a half out of 5 stars)
Judgement Night has energy and a good amount of style. The director, Stephen Hopkins, is very sure of the way he handles this story. Denis Leary is great as Fallon. The movie is casted well and has very nice cinematography. Good movie.
I enjoyed Judgment Night, mostly because of Leary, who smirks and hams his way through this movie. Estevez, Cuba and friends drive to the wrong side of town, where Leary is ruling the streets. Just sit back and enjoy, it's a generic plot, but good fun. Leary referring to a gang leader as "Webster" is just one of his many good lines, delivered with his edgy style. Estevez and Gooding are fine, and once the movie starts rolling it's basically a chase through the dark streets. Nothing special, 6 out of 10 for me.
The first time i saw this film a friend of mine had taped it not really knowing what it was, so we put it on, not really expecting much. When we had finished watching it the first thing that struck me was that i could not believe i had never heard of it in the two years since it had been released(undeservedly straight to video!). It was just a great action film that gripped me from beginning to end in the same sort of way that films like Die Hard had. I have heard it said that the plot is simple and predictable, but if we are completely honest with ourselves Die Hard isn't exactly brain surgery. But action films don't have to be. However they do have to be done well as this is and as Die hard is the master of. The cast are all on top form, with special mention for Dennis Leary in a fantastically deranged performance. The film is shot with a touch of class and really conveys a sense of detachment from the safety of normal society. And all this is underpinned by another brilliant score from Alan Silvestri. If you haven't seen this film then you must. And if you have seen it then why not watch it again! Special mention for Stephen Hopkins, to have crafted a film of this calibre and received no credit or even a theatrical release for his troubles seems unfair, especially considering the sparkly garbage that seems to make it to the big screen all too much these days. Top film!
- twistedcol-1
- Nov 11, 2005
- Permalink
Just goes to show how direction and music can make all the difference.
For me, "Judgment Night" shouldn't work nearly as well as it does. These characters make one bad decision after another and you can start to foresee misfortune before it happens. But this movie has such a great cast (Denis Leary, seriously, I do NOT wanna cross that guy!) and the sense of dread never really lets up. Stephen Hopkins' direction and Alan Silvestri's score contribute so much to the final product; one that's tense, atmospheric and highly watchable. Chicago in this film is a hellish place and the bad guys are next-level nasty, and I couldn't help but get caught up in it.
For me, "Judgment Night" shouldn't work nearly as well as it does. These characters make one bad decision after another and you can start to foresee misfortune before it happens. But this movie has such a great cast (Denis Leary, seriously, I do NOT wanna cross that guy!) and the sense of dread never really lets up. Stephen Hopkins' direction and Alan Silvestri's score contribute so much to the final product; one that's tense, atmospheric and highly watchable. Chicago in this film is a hellish place and the bad guys are next-level nasty, and I couldn't help but get caught up in it.
This movie was on late one night and I watched it due to the fact that Cuba Gooding Jr., Emilio Esteves and Stephen Dorf was in it. What emerged was a surprisingly good thriller great acting And the plot was quite good. Also Dennis Leary was a standout as the ruthless gangster.
All in all ****1/2 out of *****
All in all ****1/2 out of *****
Four friends on their way to a boxing match get caught in heavy traffic, so they take a shortcut in order to get there faster, unfortunately it leads to them witnessing a murder which leaves them running for their lives.
Perhaps not the greatest thriller, this was a prime example of what an ensemble cast could be in the early 1990s. Stephen Dorff, Cuba Gooding, Jeremy Piven... we have Emilio Estevez at a time when he was probably on his way out, and Denis Leary at the peak of his career (with all due respect to his later TV work).
If this is on TV when you are flipping through channels, check it out. Surely not worth owning, but definitely worth a view or two.
Perhaps not the greatest thriller, this was a prime example of what an ensemble cast could be in the early 1990s. Stephen Dorff, Cuba Gooding, Jeremy Piven... we have Emilio Estevez at a time when he was probably on his way out, and Denis Leary at the peak of his career (with all due respect to his later TV work).
If this is on TV when you are flipping through channels, check it out. Surely not worth owning, but definitely worth a view or two.
What an amazing cast with all the potential to make this a memorable flick. Peter Green in particular is fabulously sinister, but was sadly under-exploited by a country mile - what a pity. Denis Leary as usual delivered perfection and what a complete disaster this movie would have been without him. It started kinda OK and then slowly slid downhill all the way. The overall plot had potential, but it failed to hit the mark: far, far too many unlikely scenarios and too many loose ends. By the time we reached the ending it was obvious the screenwriter/director had run out of ideas. What a shame. I like my movies to be believable, I don't like shouting at the characters to do what they should/would be doing if this wasn't the movies. Too often, the chance to build tension and suspense was lost with the urge to inject quirky humor. Perhaps it's worth the watch in the hope that it might not be as poor as I claim, but you can forget any ideas of a second glance.
- johnnysaunderson
- Aug 9, 2012
- Permalink
Very interesting and compelling premise (four friends lost amidst a dangerous Chicago suburb who are being stalked after witnessing a murder). The pace of the film never slows a bit. Great performances by all actors, specially Leary. Highly recommended
- remadri2000
- Dec 22, 2001
- Permalink
How cutting edge is this!?! I am reviewing a 16 year old film that sold approximately zero tickets starring a bunch of guys that would probably be happier if this wasn't on their resume.
The plot itself is quite a basic formula, a bunch of old friends plan a dude's night out to a boxing match, but as they are running late they take a shortcut through what the media would call an "urban area" and things don't go according to plan from there.
What I enjoyed about the set up is where the party bus gets stuck in the mother of all traffic jams, eight lanes in both directions completely at a standstill, and the characters have enough time get into a road rage incident and then have a leisurely chat afterwards before getting back on the bus and cruising onwards.
The four characters: Frank – Former hellraiser turned family man. (Emilio Estevez in between Mighty Ducks movies.) John - Frank's younger brother. Impetuous and quick tempered. (Stephen Dorff trying to look menacing and edgy, while remaining pretty.) Mike – Cool guy, bit of a ladies' man. (Cuba Gooding Jr pre Oscar and his subsequent career tailspin. I though an Oscar improved your career?) Ray – The quick talking dodgy mate. Unreliable and more bluster and bravado than bravery. (Jeremy Piven with wayyyy more hair than he has now.) Everyone has a Ray mate, the guy that talks a great game and has the most amazing adventures when no-one he knows is around. They're amusing enough to have around as long as you understand that you can never truly rely on them and that they will sell you out in a heartbeat if it benefits them even a little. The key to co-existing with a Ray is knowing in advance that from time to time you will feel the urge to mutilate them with something, but being smart enough to ignore their repeated and expected transgressions. Or cut them off and move on with new friends. It's your call but make it early to avoid going insane.
Probably related to the above paragraph. I hate Jeremy Piven. I just find him annoying and terribly overrated. In my opinion he is just another actor who struck lucky with one role (Entourage) and rode the wave long enough that people just accepted him.
Half an hour in, enter Denis Leary as Fallon, but I'll call him Denis because that's who he is no matter what role he plays, and because he is a bit of an "Asshole" (his song, not mine) he is better suited to the role of the bad guy or anti hero. This is why he is great in this (and especially "The Ref"). It's a double standard, but you whinge when an actor plays the same role over and over and never tests them self by branching out, others like Denis should stick to what they know.
Anyway Denis's first act is to kill someone in the middle of the road, under a streetlight, after a discussion, knowing full well that he is being watched. Sounds a bit dumb doesn't it? but as the plot doesn't advance sometimes without dumb stuff happening let's move on. Want more dumb? How about the fact that Denis and gang go door to door trying to find the guys, without masks and toting guns? The last hour has a lot of running and chasing, which Denis the famed smoker must have enjoyed. The guys hide, then run, then hide, then run, with Denis walking around talking loudly and demanding they hand themselves over. One dialogue scene between the gang plays exactly like a music video and stands out primarily for how different it is to the rest of the film.
It's a pretty run of the mill action pic, and would be OK only as a late night brain-turned-off flick. Would have benefited from being say 10 or 15 minutes shorter as run/hide/run/hide gets old quick and when none of the characters are especially likable it doesn't matter which order they die in. There isn't much of anything that stands out aside from Denis as Fallon, the violence is paint by numbers, the laughs rare and the death scenes boringly predictable and not that inventive.
If this doesn't sound much like a recommendation it is because it really isn't.
The soundtrack on the other hand is 50% great, 50% filler. I have owned it since this movie was released and drag it out every now and then, as long as you fast forward judiciously there are three absolute classic tracks to be found in collaborations between House of Pain/Helmet, Faith No More/Boo-Ya Tribe and De La Soul/Teenage Fanclub.
Final Rating – 6.5 /10. Not particularly bad, but there is a reason that a lot of 15 year old films are hard to find on DVD, they just aren't particularly good.
If you liked this (or even if you didn't) try oneguyrambling.com
The plot itself is quite a basic formula, a bunch of old friends plan a dude's night out to a boxing match, but as they are running late they take a shortcut through what the media would call an "urban area" and things don't go according to plan from there.
What I enjoyed about the set up is where the party bus gets stuck in the mother of all traffic jams, eight lanes in both directions completely at a standstill, and the characters have enough time get into a road rage incident and then have a leisurely chat afterwards before getting back on the bus and cruising onwards.
The four characters: Frank – Former hellraiser turned family man. (Emilio Estevez in between Mighty Ducks movies.) John - Frank's younger brother. Impetuous and quick tempered. (Stephen Dorff trying to look menacing and edgy, while remaining pretty.) Mike – Cool guy, bit of a ladies' man. (Cuba Gooding Jr pre Oscar and his subsequent career tailspin. I though an Oscar improved your career?) Ray – The quick talking dodgy mate. Unreliable and more bluster and bravado than bravery. (Jeremy Piven with wayyyy more hair than he has now.) Everyone has a Ray mate, the guy that talks a great game and has the most amazing adventures when no-one he knows is around. They're amusing enough to have around as long as you understand that you can never truly rely on them and that they will sell you out in a heartbeat if it benefits them even a little. The key to co-existing with a Ray is knowing in advance that from time to time you will feel the urge to mutilate them with something, but being smart enough to ignore their repeated and expected transgressions. Or cut them off and move on with new friends. It's your call but make it early to avoid going insane.
Probably related to the above paragraph. I hate Jeremy Piven. I just find him annoying and terribly overrated. In my opinion he is just another actor who struck lucky with one role (Entourage) and rode the wave long enough that people just accepted him.
Half an hour in, enter Denis Leary as Fallon, but I'll call him Denis because that's who he is no matter what role he plays, and because he is a bit of an "Asshole" (his song, not mine) he is better suited to the role of the bad guy or anti hero. This is why he is great in this (and especially "The Ref"). It's a double standard, but you whinge when an actor plays the same role over and over and never tests them self by branching out, others like Denis should stick to what they know.
Anyway Denis's first act is to kill someone in the middle of the road, under a streetlight, after a discussion, knowing full well that he is being watched. Sounds a bit dumb doesn't it? but as the plot doesn't advance sometimes without dumb stuff happening let's move on. Want more dumb? How about the fact that Denis and gang go door to door trying to find the guys, without masks and toting guns? The last hour has a lot of running and chasing, which Denis the famed smoker must have enjoyed. The guys hide, then run, then hide, then run, with Denis walking around talking loudly and demanding they hand themselves over. One dialogue scene between the gang plays exactly like a music video and stands out primarily for how different it is to the rest of the film.
It's a pretty run of the mill action pic, and would be OK only as a late night brain-turned-off flick. Would have benefited from being say 10 or 15 minutes shorter as run/hide/run/hide gets old quick and when none of the characters are especially likable it doesn't matter which order they die in. There isn't much of anything that stands out aside from Denis as Fallon, the violence is paint by numbers, the laughs rare and the death scenes boringly predictable and not that inventive.
If this doesn't sound much like a recommendation it is because it really isn't.
The soundtrack on the other hand is 50% great, 50% filler. I have owned it since this movie was released and drag it out every now and then, as long as you fast forward judiciously there are three absolute classic tracks to be found in collaborations between House of Pain/Helmet, Faith No More/Boo-Ya Tribe and De La Soul/Teenage Fanclub.
Final Rating – 6.5 /10. Not particularly bad, but there is a reason that a lot of 15 year old films are hard to find on DVD, they just aren't particularly good.
If you liked this (or even if you didn't) try oneguyrambling.com
- oneguyrambling
- Oct 26, 2010
- Permalink
It's surreal how surreal this is.
I've never spent a night downtown alone in Chicago after witnessing a murder, but I have a hunch I would survive, hiding, shaking in a hidden corner somewhere.
If I had a buddy or two with me, no question I believe we would survive.
But these guys run horrified from a very pretty boy villain that can murder people left and right-- including his own henchmen-- such that the whole downtown is terrified of their pursuers. Literally the vagrants on a train are terrified of him.
And yet this pretty boy villain operates on a level that the city itself would call in the Feds for help, yet these guys have never heard of him.
And one downtown lady, who QUITE literally takes a Louisville Slugger for protection to drop her trash down the chute, then lets them into her apartment! But she wasn't even scared of him until he asked for a favor.
This is all so zany, it boggles the mind.
There's even the extra surreal part where these guys are terrified of crossing a bridge between two buildings. I wouldn't want to do it either, but if I had a demonic crew chasing me with guns, I'd be all over that bridge FAST.
Even worse, they all cross that bridge like it's stretched across the Grand Canyon, including the punk kid played by Dorff! If at least Dorff's character had crossed it like he wasn't an 8 year old child, it would have worked wonders.
That's the main problem, these five men, who had been drinking and heading to a BOXING MATCH (nearly getting into fights themselves along the way) then spend the rest of the movie acting like squealing 8 year old girls. Because THAT'S how drunk male boxing fans behave.
It's not a bad movie if you consider it's a Twilight Zone episode.
This film easily could have been set on another planet with the RV replaced by a spaceship. It would actually have been more believable!
This feels like an elementary school kid wrote it, got some pointers from their teacher, then it was rushed to production with quite a budget.
Sheesh. Hollywood loves to sit in judgement, well if you want to listen, consider how ridiculously small a bubble so many there live in. No wonder they are scared of everything.
I've never spent a night downtown alone in Chicago after witnessing a murder, but I have a hunch I would survive, hiding, shaking in a hidden corner somewhere.
If I had a buddy or two with me, no question I believe we would survive.
But these guys run horrified from a very pretty boy villain that can murder people left and right-- including his own henchmen-- such that the whole downtown is terrified of their pursuers. Literally the vagrants on a train are terrified of him.
And yet this pretty boy villain operates on a level that the city itself would call in the Feds for help, yet these guys have never heard of him.
And one downtown lady, who QUITE literally takes a Louisville Slugger for protection to drop her trash down the chute, then lets them into her apartment! But she wasn't even scared of him until he asked for a favor.
This is all so zany, it boggles the mind.
There's even the extra surreal part where these guys are terrified of crossing a bridge between two buildings. I wouldn't want to do it either, but if I had a demonic crew chasing me with guns, I'd be all over that bridge FAST.
Even worse, they all cross that bridge like it's stretched across the Grand Canyon, including the punk kid played by Dorff! If at least Dorff's character had crossed it like he wasn't an 8 year old child, it would have worked wonders.
That's the main problem, these five men, who had been drinking and heading to a BOXING MATCH (nearly getting into fights themselves along the way) then spend the rest of the movie acting like squealing 8 year old girls. Because THAT'S how drunk male boxing fans behave.
It's not a bad movie if you consider it's a Twilight Zone episode.
This film easily could have been set on another planet with the RV replaced by a spaceship. It would actually have been more believable!
This feels like an elementary school kid wrote it, got some pointers from their teacher, then it was rushed to production with quite a budget.
Sheesh. Hollywood loves to sit in judgement, well if you want to listen, consider how ridiculously small a bubble so many there live in. No wonder they are scared of everything.