Stalked by My Doctor: Patient's Revenge

Sonuvabitch, they open up the film with some yadda yadda bullshit about how Dr. Al Beck was acquitted of all charges from the events of the previous installments.  Turns out the kidnapping, torture, assault, stealing of a corpse, attempted murder, actual murder (I guess no one found the body since it was dissolved in acid), attempted rape, fleeing the scene of a crime, evading the police, it was a misunderstanding.  Who knew?  And forget that he was in prison at the end of the last film.  Whatever, he’s now a college professor in Arizona teaching cardiology.  Meanwhile Sophie from the first movie decides to enact revenge by confronting Beck head on at the school.  She puts up flyers denouncing him as a pervert and getting over a thousand students to sign a petition to have him removed.  Of course Sophie’s not wrong in her accusations because we were all there with her to witness the crimes Beck committed.  But Beck’s boss and one student in particular, Melissa (Anna Marie Dobbins), come to his defense.  Sophie orchestrates a series of attacks while Beck and Melissa’s relationship become more intense.

This sequel is certainly more entertaining than the last one but it’s also way dumber.  Here are a couple of examples.  To show Sophie’s turned dark and ruthless they give her bangs, dark eye shadow, dark lipstick, she sports a black leather jacket, Doc Martens and scowls a helluva lot.  Her car’s black too.  Beck’s been a maniac from the get go but his psychosis gets worse with each film.  In this one he sees and talks to a version of himself, his conscience I think, dressed in Hawaiian shirts sipping tropical cocktails.  Different shirt, different drink each time.  And at one point he fantasizes about doing a full on song and dance routine with Melissa that’s an homage/rip off of La La Land.  Definitely the worst and most jarring section of the whole series to date.

As far as the fun crazy stuff goes they got that too.  Like Beck spikes Sophie’s food with fentanyl so she becomes very sick and he just so happens to be there to save her life in front of the entire school.  Now he can hold it over her that he’s saved her life twice.  What a fuckin’ dirty play!  Melissa devises a plot to murder Sophie and it takes very little convincing to get Beck on board.  I find it amusing that Beck’s weapon of choice is a syringe filled with some sort of toxin (we never find out what).  Whatever situation he walks into he doesn’t consider any other type of defense.

Additionally, Sophie’s grand scheme is comically overly complicated but that’s part and parcel to this type of thriller.  It also becomes painfully obvious about a third of the way through what the twist ending will be but don’t worry I’ll keep it a secret in case you decide to dive into this universe.

Stalked by My Doctor: The Return

Unfortunately the sequel is nowhere near as entertaining as it’s predecessor.  Sure Eric Roberts is still fun as Beck and he even pulls some real bastard moves like making his new teenage target think her boyfriend gave her genital herpes so she’ll break up with him.  Oh and there’s the attempted rape too.  But while the first film could squeak by as a real Hollywood type movie this one has a more low budget made for TV production feel.

Honestly, it's kinda boring.  Albert Beck, now going by Victor Slauson, is still hiding out in Mexico trying to pick up broads by feeding them a pack of lies.  No success so far.  An opportunity presents itself though when he saves an American teenage girl (Claire Blackwelder) from drowning at the beach.  He follows her and her mother back to San Diego and smooches up to them to infiltrate their lives.  Beck has learned from his mistakes so he plays the long game by planning to marry the mother so he can really move in on the daughter.  In other words, we got Lolita.

In real life it’s scarier for a stranger to pretend to be a reserved normal guy when he’s a psychopath underneath but in this case I would’ve preferred Beck go the other way and act crazier and more desperate in attempting to land a victim.  We don’t get great lines like “thank you for that enlightened analysis…you fat ass bitch!” or grossly sensually applying ointment to a surgery scar here.  However, there’s a part where Beck goes to inject someone with a syringe full of cartoonish neon blue liquid and later when he disposes of a body he produces two huge containers out of nowhere labeled “hydrochloric acid” so that’s something.

While this isn’t that terrible really it doesn’t have quite the same eccentricities or, magic is taking it too far, enjoyable silliness (?) of the first.

Stalked by My Doctor

Two high school teens get in a car wreck due to texting while driving.  The girl, Sophie (Brianna Joy Chomer), is in rough shape and needs surgery on her heart while the boy, Ryan (Carson Boatman), only has a broken leg.  Doctor Albert Beck (Eric Roberts (Grey’s Anatomy)) swoops in to save Sophie’s life while also staring at her awkwardly during the procedure.  Post surgery he sneaks into Sophie’s room and kisses her on the mouth while he’s sedated.  He starts following her, “running into her” at the mall and fantasizing about having sex with her.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect is how normal everyone reacts to Beck’s insane behavior.  It only takes one “chance” encounter at the food court for Sophie to be creeped out and the mother picks up on the guy’s off conduct almost immediately.  The only character who gives Beck the benefit of the doubt for a while is Sophie’s father which also makes sense in the bullshit “oh it’s just guys being guys” defense.  Even Beck’s dates don’t succumb to his grossness who after one encounter cut it off right away.  I’m very impressed with how grounded the characters’ actions feel.

Naturally the real reason to check this film out is to witness Eric Roberts do his thang.  He’s perfect as a disgusting dude trying to hook up with a girl young enough to be his granddaughter potentially and all the strained uncomfortable moments that come with that territory.  Beck can flash a smile at you and seem amiable at first but talk to him for more than two minutes and it becomes obvious that façade is paper thin.  Roberts can turn on a dime into a crazy person and his freakouts are very amusing.  One time he tosses garbage around while yelling “I’m a doctor!” exhausting himself until he collapses into tears.  Another time he buys Sophie a doll as a peace offering and knows she likes them because he broke into her room, saw the dolls, sniffed the whole place (ulgh) and covered himself in her pillows and blankets (ulgh!).  Anyway, she refuses the doll without thinking twice so Beck goes into the bathroom and attempts to tear the thing apart in a rage.  What’s fantastic is the stupid doll is made too well and after clawing at it and stomping on it he can’t make a single dent.  Incredible how that scene was supposed to go versus reality.  Love it.

Years ago this type of picture was a perfectly viable mainstream theatrical release but now (and by that I mean 2015 when it came out) it’s a made for TV movie that gets shat out by Lifetime.  This one’s competently executed though, give or take Roberts’ performance, and doesn’t feel phoned in.  Of course there are limitations due to what I’m sure was a tiny budget (most of which assumingly went to Roberts) but they make shit work.  There are plenty of locations used, very little effects work, totally fine performances, decent cinematography, alright editing, etc.  It’s definitely unintentionally funny at points but that’s also the charm of this one.  It shares good company with the likes of The Stepfathers and The Dentists.

What’s amazing is Lifetime had a hit on their hands so they did what any self-respecting movie producer would, they made a shit load of sequels.  All starring Eric Roberts.  Nice.

The Devil Wears Prada and The Devil's Advocate

The Devil Wears Prada and The Devil’s Advocate started as a fun little double feature.  I thought they would be similar in terms of character, themes and message.  However, it was surprising to find out they’re more or less opposites. 

The Devil Wears Prada stars two women, the main character is not the actual devil, Miranda (Meryl Streep (The River Wild)) is a nasty berating boss who loads up Andy (Anne Hathaway (Serenity (2019))) with countless tasks (some of which are downright impossible to accomplish), Miranda doesn’t give a shit about Andy’s personal life, Andy eventually comes to the realization that she needs to get back to who she originally was to avoid turning into a cutthroat business woman, etc.

The Devil’s Advocate stars two men, the main character is unambiguously the devil, John (Al Pacino (Gigli)) lavishes Kevin (Keanu Reeves (Toy Story 4)) with a large paycheck and anything his heart desires to come work for him, John is very involved in Kevin’s personal life (to the point where he tries to interfere with their marriage), Kevin eventually comes to the realization that he needs to change who he’s been his whole life in order to save his soul, etc.

Pretty interesting.  The Devil’s Advocate is definitely more my cup of tea with all the nefarious behavior, slimy players and a nice thick eerie vibe.  You would think the filmmakers would’ve gone for a more subtle approach with the supernatural shit. You know, leave it up to the jury to decide if the head of a powerful NYC law firm is Satan or not.  But no, they are unequivocal about it.  The finale with Reeves and Pacino duking it out verbally over whether Reeves will partner with the devil is fantastic.  Temptation, philosophy, head games, passionate performances, it’s fucking awesome.  I love this movie.  So if you’re only gonna check out one of these this is it.  They’re completely different pictures though so take that for what you will.

And aside from some dumb movie bullshit Prada does have a decent overall message of saying it’s ok to take on a job you don’t really want to use as a stepping stone to propel you towards a larger career goal.  This is something that many, if not most, folks end up doing in their life and I don’t think you see this done in a straightforward manner very much in film.  Usually it’s all or nothing affairs with more ruthless behavior.  While this picture has it’s share of whimsy and at least one stupid fan theory that I’m pretty sure I don’t agree with (Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend is the real villain of the story?  Sorry, not buying it) it’s, uh, ok.

Resurrection (1999)

You know almost immediately the type of picture you’re watching when this guy starts up.  The rainy weather, two cops called to a murder, the victim is mutilated horribly, clues carved into his body, a crime scene meticulously staged, Christian leanings behind the killing, the moody lighting and yea, we got Se7en.

It amazes me to this day how many imitators that film left in its wake because I genuinely didn’t notice at the time.  It’s only through retrospect that the influence punches you in the face.  And Resurrection is the most blatant knock off I’ve come across yet.  That’s not to say it’s a bad movie necessarily.  You know what?  Let’s rattle off some good points.

Luckily the investigation into the religious murders is the main thrust of the running time.  One clue does lead to the next with occasional epiphanies from our main detective, Prudhomme (Christopher Lambert (Hail, Caesar!)).  Shit escalates with each homicide and the goal the killer is working towards is on the nastier side.  He’s harvesting human limbs, a head and torso to stitch together a new body of Jesus (that’s a badass idea man, has no one else done this?).  The victims are also the names of apostles including matching professions (one was a tax collector so an IRS agent is offed, etc.).  The Christian connections are a bit more thought out than you would think.

Truth be told the real reason I checked this picture out is because Russell Mulcahy directed and his films not only look very nice but he tends to make some wackier decisions (see Ricochet for a prime example and my personal favorite of his).  Mulcahy does what he can with what must’ve been a fairly limited budget.  Most scenes, especially the standing-around-talking ones, either use dynamic camera movements or editing to keep you interested.  In general Mulcahy keeps focus on driving the plot forward, throws in some light curveballs to spice things up and tries to make it as visually appealing as possible by using a ton of different locations and an overall gritty production design.  There’s an energy to the film where you can tell everyone’s real excited to be working on it and that rubs off.

Additionally, Mulcahy wasn’t afraid to push the envelope in terms of disturbing shit.  Take this one victim who’s posed sitting on a toilet headless and naked in a filthy fucking underground rat hole.  It’s just a surreal image.  They also show a newborn baby being dangled by his legs over the side of a building and Prudhomme’s young son being run over by a car.  Usually the horrified reaction of our main character is enough to convey the moment but they take one extra step by actually presenting a child starting to get sucked under the wheels of a moving vehicle before mercifully cutting away.  I mean, fuck.

Despite all the positives (previous paragraph being debatable) there are a number of negatives.  The production does have a cheap-ish feel.  For instance the lighting is sorta all over the map.  Unfortunately the version I streamed on Tubi wasn’t the cleanest copy so I don’t know how many of the color timing issues are a result of that.  Sometimes it looks good like in the botanical gardens scene where we get some warmer reddish hues, at others it’s so damn dark it’s hard to make out what’s on screen and still in other instances shots can look flat and neutral like a 90’s made for TV movie.  Frantic editing during some of the action sequences doesn’t help either.  Plus they use this warbly quasi fish eye lens technique and terrible sped up shots that were popular at the time.  Those parts haven’t aged well.  So there’s some gimmicky shit, the score is generic, Christopher Lambert is passable but not a top leading man, there are a few establishing shots of Chicago but most of the locations they use are clearly somewhere else (Toronto), etc.  The sum of this stuff can weigh the film down but honestly in the end it's fine as long as you understand what you’re walking into.

What’s really egregious though is simply how much this picture straight up lifts from Se7en.  Like, it’s the same exact movie at times.  This is where I was going to rattle off a bunch of examples but it doesn’t pay.  I already pointed out a few above so I’ll leave it at that.

So is this one worth seeing?  If you’re a fan of the Se7en sub-genre then of course.  While it’s not as interesting as Fallen or feardotcom it might be a more solid experience.  It’s definitely competently made and adequately stylish to be totally enjoyable.  They deliver on the fucked up multi-membered Christ on the cross that the entire thing was building towards so kudos.  Like I said, the script is surprisingly strong considering this was a DTV release in the US (it was released theatrically overseas).  They even got horror maestro David Cronenberg for a small two-scene part as a priest.  (By the way his cameos are fucking random as hell.  He must do them as a favor otherwise I don’t get how he decided to say yes to Extreme Measures, To Die For, The Stupids, Jason X, this and a smattering of others.  I know he never leaves Canada but a million movies are filmed there every year.  I dunno.)

One last thing, I found it amusing that they felt the need to explain Lambert’s French accent by saying he’s from New Orleans.  It always confounded and charmed me when movie studios did this with Van Damme back in the day (or still?!) by saying he was French Canadian or Cajun.  Like they thought it was either some significant loophole in the story that needed explanation or a foreign accent was going to be maddeningly distracting to the point where it had to be addressed.  But I never gave a shit about the guy’s accent.  Can he kick ass and make you believe in the shit he’s fighting for?  That’s what matters to me.

Top Gun: Maverick

Ok, fine, yes I get it.  I get why this is one of the highest grossing films of all time.  It’s a ton of fun.  The original Top Gun is fun too but at least personally it was never one of my all time favs.  So when I heard about this sequel I didn’t care all that much.  Then I saw the trailer and the jet footage looked crazy and that’s what sold me.

We pick up however many years later and Maverick (Tom Cruise (The Color of Money)) is still in the air force where apparently his job is to push the speed limit of jets.  He finds out his program is being scrapped the day they were going to try to hit Mach 9.  If you know Mav you know he ain’t gonna let this shit ride so of course he takes the jet out against orders and pushes not for Mach 9 but for Mach 10.  Oh that rascal.  As he’s about to be discharged over this insubordination (which is amazing it took this long, how many of these damn stunts has he pulled over the years?) he’s informed he’s needed to train pilots for a dangerous mission blowing up a base that contains material slated for nuclear weapons.  I can’t remember if they actually say which country or organization they’re attacking but seems like the Russians to me.  The only way to complete the mission is to use slightly older jets for some reason and Mav gets the call.  Not because he’s the most qualified but because his ol’ buddy Iceman is now a high ranking Admiral and he insists Mav is the guy.  As you can imagine this sets up tension between Mav and his CO’s from the get go.  And the rest of the picture is training for the mission and the mission itself.  So basically the majority of the film is Top Gun.

The thing about this series is they’re not your typical action movie.  Hell, I don’t even think of them as action movies per se.  They’re more their own special offshoot almost like a kumite film.  You have a group that’s the best of the best at what they do and the bulk of the running time is spent training for a contest.  In this case it’s war and not hand to hand combat.  And there aren’t rounds and rankings.  And they’re not fighting for some monetary prize or the glory of being crowned winner of the tournament and oh nevermind.

Anyway, I like how they handle a few things.  One vitally important aspect is they get Maverick right.  He’s stuck at a relatively low level rank doing test flights and that makes sense.  Considering his tenure and experience he should be running the goddamn air force.  But he’s too rebellious to land in a higher up position and too good to drum out completely so he’s stuck.  It’s a bit sad that he never really matured in thirty six years but it works for the story.  He’s a lively guy who plays by his own rules and has an unbridled passion for flying and yea, that’s who I want to hang out with in a jet fighter movie.  It would’ve been boring if Mav had become a distinguished high ranking military official who had learned to tame his wild side and use moderate action.  No way man, I wanna see Mav strafe his superiors, piss off his students and do other reckless, but harmless, shit.  And that’s what we get.

Instead of bringing back Kelly McGillis Mav has a new/old love interest in Penny (Jennifer Connelly (Dark City)) and according to the web the previous film offhandedly mentions this character so, *sigh*, I guess it’s canon (*eye roll*).  They were together some years ago but it didn’t work out and now Mav is back in Fightertown USA (San Diego) and they hook up again.  Since they were an item previously that cuts through all the sappy meet cute crap and we can jump right into them re-establishing a connection.  Penny has a tweenage daughter who isn’t Mav’s and that’s another bit of smart writing because it shows that Mav gets back with Penny because he wants to and not because he feels guilty about abandoning his kid.  This makes the love between Mav and Penny feel more genuine.  All of this eliminates a cog in the legacy sequel machine and goes towards building this film’s own unique backstory.

Another big appeal is at least half the time this thing does kinda look like an 80’s movie and it’s gorgeous.  They’re mainly emulating Tony Scott’s style with setting suns, blaring light pouring in through blinds, smoky rooms, somewhat simple but very effective camera setups in places like the war room bathed in neon blue light and etc.  Oh, and they do a rad training montage of Mav smoking the other pilots when they first arrive.  All great stuff.  I wish (and hope) more movies rip off this style of using 80’s cinematography as a base line and then layering in modern day techniques.  For a long while now the opposite has been trendy with 80’s motifs peppered in on top of modern filmmaking and this is just one doofus’ opinion, but it would be nice to change things up.

Now there’s also the usual fair share of stupid movie-y stuff too like Maverick only getting the teaching job at Iceman’s behest when absolutely no one else wants him to do it, Mav butting heads hard with his CO throughout, Mav still can’t let go of Goose’s death and so on.  None of it is a deal breaker.

I have to say though Val Kilmer (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) should not have made a cameo.  The guy’s still alive so I guess you had to put him in there but his scene where he reassures Mav he’s the right man to train elite pilots for a treacherous mission and to try to get him to be at peace with Goose’s demise is totally unnecessary.  I mean Mav starts to have this same exact conversation again a short time later with Penny underlining how pointless the previous scene is.

But hey, a legacy sequel’s gonna legacy sequel so additionally you got shit like shirtless sweaty dudes playing a team sport on a beach, Mav riding his motorcycle and a cocky asshole vying for top gun.  But the big boner is the inclusion of Rooster (Miles Teller (Bleed for This)), Goose’s son.  You guessed it, he’s in Mav’s class training for the deadly mission.  All this is fine.  It comes with the territory of films like these.  The one thing that irks the shit out of me though is when Rooster pulls the plug on the jukebox at the local bar and starts playing the piano.  He even plays the same fucking Jerry Lee Lewis song that his father played in the previous installment.  It couldn’t be a different song at least?  C’mon.

Anything bad or silly or whatever ends up not really mattering though because as I mentioned at the top the jet footage they got is fuckin’ awesome.  I can’t wrap my head around how much work it must’ve taken to not only get the pilots doing all the eye popping maneuvers but to also get a boatload of footage of the actors in the hot seat zooming around like a fucking boss.  Damn dude.

And the finale.  Holy shit the finale.  The way it’s constructed is fantastic and natural.  The mission starts off smoothly where everyone’s hitting their targets and they’re making good time but then the enemy starts to fly after them and the ensuing chases are heart pumping.  It’s pretty incredible that I was able to keep track of what the hell was going on most of the time because it’s so fast paced and chaotic but man they do a bang up job keeping shit clear and direct.  And on top of everything they continue to raise the stakes and escalate the situation.  I won’t go into much more detail but the filmmakers very cleverly find a way to get Mav back into an old 80’s era fighter jet which is way outgunned compared to the faster, stronger, slicker modern jets the enemy engage him with.  It’s insanely exciting to watch and this entire finale, especially the tail end, is probably one of if not the best dogfight ever put to film.

You know, it’s interesting to compare this picture to comic book movies which are still enjoying unparalleled success today.  Most have some sort of aerial combat sequence involving two or more invincible characters or machines or combo thereof smashing into buildings destroying everything around them.  It’s a fantasy where everything’s made up so the rules are very flexible.  But Top Gun: Maverick is supposed to take place in the real world and they put on a fight in the air that’s at least just as thrilling as anything a comic book movie can dish out.  And yea I know this is still a movie where a bunch of this shit may or may not really be possible but stick with me for a minute.  I think a lot of folks found the display of jet show offery (almost all of which was done for real) a breath of fresh air.  These are your real life superheroes and I think this is part of what resonated with audiences so strongly.  Plus it’s shot well, cast well, acted well, scored well, etc.

So shit, I’m fully on board with Top Gun: Maverick.  It like kinda rules.  And it truly is about Maverick.  He’s a relic of the past showing he can be relevant today.  You may think he doesn’t have anything new to teach us but that’s not the case.  There’s some life in him yet.  This old dog will fly.  Fuckin’ A.

Year of the Dragon

Year of the Dragon is about a hard boiled cop named Stanley White (Mickey Rourke (Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man)) who’s recently given jurisdiction over NYC’s Chinatown.  He’s tired of how the gangs run the place so he wages war against them in the most brazen hard headed way possible.  At the same time a young Chinese crime boss, Joey Tai (John Lone (The Last Emperor)), makes his move to take over all of Chinatown.  So it turns into a battle of two guys who don’t exactly know what they’re doing and both sides suffer.

There are several things I really like and don’t like about this film.  For starters the cinematography (Alex Thompson (Legend, Cliffhanger, Demolition Man)) and production design (Wolf Kroeger (First Blood, The 13^th Warrior)) are pretty awesome with its gritty and grand feel.  The grimy sludgy noodle pits underneath Chinatown are some of the grossest and depressing environments put to film.  On the flipside Joey Tai travels to Thailand at one point and magnificent green mountains are captured in the background as he rides into a cartel stronghold with dozens of foot soldiers lining the pathway.  A reporter named Tracy Tzu (Ariane (King of New York)) who plays the love interest has a glamorous penthouse apartment with three TVs at the foot of the bed, no walls (even for the bathroom!), an all white color palette, huge arched windows and an insane almost 360 degree view of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge.  What’s probably the most impressive feat of all though is Chinatown is a set constructed in North Carolina.  Apparently it was built to exact specifications and I believe it because I was shocked to learn they largely didn’t shoot in the real place.  In fact it was so convincing and extraordinary it was reused on dozens of other productions.

Another great aspect is the story.  Pitting an up and comer gangster maneuvering for power against a rabid cop new to the beat working on eliminating all the gangs is an interesting setup.  I mean that’s some bad fuckin’ luck for Joey Tai though.  He thought he would only have to contend with his fellow mobsters but now he has to split his attention to fend off the cops as well.  He tries to handle the situation as best he can but what he anticipated being an already tricky coup turns into a nearly impossible one.

Lone is fantastic too as Tai.  So charismatic with a deep undercurrent of menace.  Even though he dresses well in suits and his hair is always perfect and he can be as suave as hell he’ll cut off a dude’s head if necessary.  The frustration he goes through is palpable as well because his scheme kicks off fine but quickly plummets off a cliff when White enters the frame.  And he can’t turn back.  Shit has been set in motion.  His fury builds and builds until he finally lets loose during the concluding showdown.

In the negative department the script has some issues.  Characters and devices aren’t tied together as well as they should be.  For example White employs an undercover cop early on in the investigation to infiltrate Tai’s organization but then they don’t deploy the operation until towards the end of the film.  It’s like the filmmakers forgot and suddenly remembered they had this thread in their back pocket.  Or there’s White’s marriage that’s falling apart despite him trying to convince his wife to stay with him.  He blows her off for work which isn’t good and we can see he’s clearly a workaholic.  But then he also has an affair with reporter Tracy which kinda comes out of nowhere.  And they inexplicably fall in love by the end when White’s done nothing but force himself on her and shove his dumbass way into her life.  These events come across more separate and not interconnected like they definitely are.

However, the biggest problem is the character of White.  It’s two fold.  One is I believe Mickey Rourke was miscast.  He’s too young for the role and he’s too soft spoken.  Sure he can get intense but in a quieter way.  The role required someone more grizzled, more like Gene Hackman who looks like he’s been through some shit already and can do a good yell.

The larger beef though is White is a major league asshole.  He’s racist, a terrible husband, sexually assaults (nearly rapes?) Tracy and is so fucking stupid he thinks he can go after the Chinese mob no problem.  It’ll be easy and they won’t retaliate.  His naiveté is infuriating to sit through because you know Joey Tai isn’t going to take White walking directly into mob headquarters and telling them it’s all over, the raiding of his gambling halls, the tapping of his phones, the placement of undercover cops, the numerous insults and everything else lying down.  White thinks he can go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants.  The sonuvabitch even moves into and sets up shop in Tracy’s apartment without her consent.  He constantly fights with everyone including his superiors and the police commissioner.  Plus the fuckin’ guy doesn’t even get results.  Maybe a fraction of his bullshit could be tolerated if he made an impact on the drug trade or put away top crime lords but nope.  He gets exactly bupkis done while making everyone else’s lives hell.  He’s an exasperating person to hang out with.

I don’t know if the movie would’ve benefitted from being only about Joey Tai.  I like the idea of splitting time between a crusader cop and a ruthless bad guy gunning for the top spot.  But the script really needed another bunch of drafts.  The story isn’t quite ironed out enough and White needed to be altered a fair amount.  Having a complex character that stirs up conflicting emotions is fine but he’s too racist, sexist, fanatical and flat out jerky for me to embrace him.

Urban crime dramas like these are right in my wheelhouse so I want to love this film a lot more than I do.  I half love it.  And I’d still cautiously recommend it if you’re into film noir, 70’s grit pics and the like.  The relentless attitude makes some sense when you realize Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter, Heaven’s Gate) directed and co-wrote it with Oliver Stone (JFK, Wall Street).  They’re kind of passionate guys.