"Fled"'s story is cobbled together from any number of genre yarns: prison film, heist movie, exploitation picture.
Stephen Baldwin is Dodge, a talented computer hacker who is sent to prison for related charges to Georgia prison work detail, digging ditches. After a confrontation with another inmate, he is paired with Charles Piper, (Lawrence FIshburne)-- another convict, though his offense is never made clear, which is complicated once his former profession is revealed.
A shootout with guards allows the two, now chained together, to escape to the Georgia wilderness, heading for Atlanta. Meanwhile, a Miami businessman is on trial for federal racketeering charges, and the defendant compels a corrupt federal marshal to get Dodge and any information he knows, by any means. Apparently what landed Dodge in prison was hacking the mobster's company and logging all sorts of bribes and money laundering. Dodge put the info on a computer disc and had a buddy hide it along with a bunch of skimmed money from the mobster's bank. So Dodge and Piper (the latter's name will come up with a groan-worthy pun) have to go on the run while in Atlanta, dodging the cops and the Mob alike (there is a righteous officer, played by Will Patton, who begins to piece together the mystery). Look for a supporting role by the director's father, Robert Hooks, as a police lieutenant. Salma Hayek is Cora, set up here as an assistant and love interest for Piper. The coincidences regarding her involvement in the plot are rather contrived, but she's a pleasant distraction from the macho silliness going on. The climax takes place at Stone Mountain Memorial Park in Georgia (and quite a bit of the film was made in Atlanta), making for an intriguing set location compared to the typical major-city locations of New York, Los Angeles, or Miami. The circa-1996 setting makes the computer data hacking angle sound quaint as time goes on (the MacGuffin disc is of the 'floppy' kind'. Perhaps a 2021 remake the data will be in 'the cloud'?)
Stephen Baldwin is Dodge, a talented computer hacker who is sent to prison for related charges to Georgia prison work detail, digging ditches. After a confrontation with another inmate, he is paired with Charles Piper, (Lawrence FIshburne)-- another convict, though his offense is never made clear, which is complicated once his former profession is revealed.
A shootout with guards allows the two, now chained together, to escape to the Georgia wilderness, heading for Atlanta. Meanwhile, a Miami businessman is on trial for federal racketeering charges, and the defendant compels a corrupt federal marshal to get Dodge and any information he knows, by any means. Apparently what landed Dodge in prison was hacking the mobster's company and logging all sorts of bribes and money laundering. Dodge put the info on a computer disc and had a buddy hide it along with a bunch of skimmed money from the mobster's bank. So Dodge and Piper (the latter's name will come up with a groan-worthy pun) have to go on the run while in Atlanta, dodging the cops and the Mob alike (there is a righteous officer, played by Will Patton, who begins to piece together the mystery). Look for a supporting role by the director's father, Robert Hooks, as a police lieutenant. Salma Hayek is Cora, set up here as an assistant and love interest for Piper. The coincidences regarding her involvement in the plot are rather contrived, but she's a pleasant distraction from the macho silliness going on. The climax takes place at Stone Mountain Memorial Park in Georgia (and quite a bit of the film was made in Atlanta), making for an intriguing set location compared to the typical major-city locations of New York, Los Angeles, or Miami. The circa-1996 setting makes the computer data hacking angle sound quaint as time goes on (the MacGuffin disc is of the 'floppy' kind'. Perhaps a 2021 remake the data will be in 'the cloud'?)