I was quite surprised that Tony Scott had directed this movie since I have seen many of his and they are usually real quality films. Perhaps it could be because this one was made so long ago (1991) but I was surprised that I found the film kind of disappointing.
Primarily I think the fault lies in the direction; the script is pretty amateurish at times, but I think what comes across, especially in Damon Wayan's case is the delivery, and for a film like this, that fault rests squarely on the director. And, what the HELL was with the painfully HORRENDOUS performance by the girl who plays Bruce Willis's daughter for God's sake!??? GEEZ... BAD lines. Awful delivery; that scene in the car where she first catches up with Damon is truly cringe-inducing at it's worse (Honestly... just check out the painful dialog in that sequence; it pretty much makes my whole point here) A good director like Scott should most certainly have corrected that.
So, my question is... what the HELL was Tony Scott doing during all this? Sleeping...? smok'n some bad weed...? Messing with Corey Haim...? (EEK!)
Now, I don't mean to say that EVERYTHING is bad with this film because it really isn't. There is indeed much about the movie that is quite good. Bruce's performance GREATLY overshadows everyone else's. The writing for HIM was decent; a lot of his lines were pretty good. Many of the other, OTHER supporting actors were very good characterizations, especially the tycoon guy. He and Willis easily stood light years over the others.
The plot was excellent; the tone was somewhat excruciating at times, NOT because it was bad but because what was happening (and what had happened before) was SO damn painful, sad, and morose that it just kills you. That IS a big part of this film and that is unusual for a 'Buddy Cop' type movie of this type to evoke such strong feelings. Usually, things are played much lighter a la the 'LETHAL WEAPON' series, for example. Nothing wrong with that, but to me it just gave the film an odd tone. But, that is why the humour that IS there is an excellent balance for the dire circumstances and experiences that these fellows have had. Then again, the transitions from the VERY heavy talk to the supposed light, 'funny' scenes are done somewhat jarringly which tends to make the humour seem artificial, contrasting badly with the heartfelt and sad things that they were just discussing. And again, that falls squarely under the director's responsibility.
Basically for what it's worth, this is my take on it... If you are going to make a Fun Action film, then make it that way (like Guy Ritchie for example) or... If you are going to portray the 'hero' of an action film like was done here with a much heavier and more serious tone, then you have to construct the rest of the film around that type of character better.
So, there are a lot of good points about the movie, but unfortunately, in my lowly and wretched opinion, the writing, acting, and particularly the direction in a number of the scenes seriously detracted from what could have been a MUCH better film.
Primarily I think the fault lies in the direction; the script is pretty amateurish at times, but I think what comes across, especially in Damon Wayan's case is the delivery, and for a film like this, that fault rests squarely on the director. And, what the HELL was with the painfully HORRENDOUS performance by the girl who plays Bruce Willis's daughter for God's sake!??? GEEZ... BAD lines. Awful delivery; that scene in the car where she first catches up with Damon is truly cringe-inducing at it's worse (Honestly... just check out the painful dialog in that sequence; it pretty much makes my whole point here) A good director like Scott should most certainly have corrected that.
So, my question is... what the HELL was Tony Scott doing during all this? Sleeping...? smok'n some bad weed...? Messing with Corey Haim...? (EEK!)
Now, I don't mean to say that EVERYTHING is bad with this film because it really isn't. There is indeed much about the movie that is quite good. Bruce's performance GREATLY overshadows everyone else's. The writing for HIM was decent; a lot of his lines were pretty good. Many of the other, OTHER supporting actors were very good characterizations, especially the tycoon guy. He and Willis easily stood light years over the others.
The plot was excellent; the tone was somewhat excruciating at times, NOT because it was bad but because what was happening (and what had happened before) was SO damn painful, sad, and morose that it just kills you. That IS a big part of this film and that is unusual for a 'Buddy Cop' type movie of this type to evoke such strong feelings. Usually, things are played much lighter a la the 'LETHAL WEAPON' series, for example. Nothing wrong with that, but to me it just gave the film an odd tone. But, that is why the humour that IS there is an excellent balance for the dire circumstances and experiences that these fellows have had. Then again, the transitions from the VERY heavy talk to the supposed light, 'funny' scenes are done somewhat jarringly which tends to make the humour seem artificial, contrasting badly with the heartfelt and sad things that they were just discussing. And again, that falls squarely under the director's responsibility.
Basically for what it's worth, this is my take on it... If you are going to make a Fun Action film, then make it that way (like Guy Ritchie for example) or... If you are going to portray the 'hero' of an action film like was done here with a much heavier and more serious tone, then you have to construct the rest of the film around that type of character better.
So, there are a lot of good points about the movie, but unfortunately, in my lowly and wretched opinion, the writing, acting, and particularly the direction in a number of the scenes seriously detracted from what could have been a MUCH better film.