Above the Law (1988).

Review #2038: Above the Law.

Cast: 

Steven Seagal (Sergeant Nicolo "Nico" Toscani), Pam Grier (Detective Delores "Jacks" Jackson), Henry Silva (CIA Agent Kurt Zagon), Ron Dean (Detective Lukich), Sharon Stone (Sara Toscani), Gene Barge (Detective Henderson), Chelcie Ross (CIA Agent Nelson Fox), Ronnie Barron (CIA Bartender), Nicholas Kusenko (FBI Agent Neeley), and Gregory Alan Williams (FBI Agent Halloran) Directed by Andrew Davis (#176 - The Fugitive, #187 - Holes, and #1877 - Under Siege)

Review: 

"The whole motivation behind me doing this film was my trying to make up for all the things I've seen-and done. I'm tired of seeing us try to destabilize governments, prop up dictators and get involved with drug smugglers and crooks."

Admittedly, it is hard to look at an action star unless you start with their very first film just to see where things could go from that point. This also applies to the director at times too, if you think about it. There apparently is a rumor that the career of Steven Seagal started because one guy in Michael Ovitz really thought that the man that instructed him in aikido could be in films. Of course, since Ovitz happened to be the founder of Creative Artists Agency, sometimes it really does help to have friends in high places. Seagal was born in Lansing, Michigan but moved to Fullerton, California when he was five years old. After his teenage years (spent between a local dojo and playing rock music), he became interested in Japan and lived between there and the U.S. for years (he taught at a dojo in Japan due to marriage). Seagal has claimed at times to have been close to CIA agents when living in Japan teaching aikido (along with setting up safe houses for the Shah of Iran in 1979), but who the hell knows? Seagal did have some film experience before this film with a total of three credits, which was as stunt coordinator in The Challenge (1982), martial arts instructor in Never Say Never Again (1983) and choreographer in A View to a Kill (1985). The screenplay was done by Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett, and Andrew Davis, while Seagal and Davis (who also served as producers) co-wrote the story, and it would be the last one Seagal was given a writing credit for until his direct-to-video days years later. Davis, a Chicago native, was actually a graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before he became interested in film. He made his feature debut with Stony Island (1978), a musical drama that featured his brother Richard alongside a depiction of his hometown and musicians. The Final Terror (1983) failed to find a distributor for years, but his third film in Code of Silence (1985), featuring Chuck Norris in a crime action feature, was both a hit and one that pegged him as an action director.

Strangely enough, the movie does show pretty well just how a screen presence Steven Seagal could be from the very get go, one that utilizes its 99-minute runtime for a solid conspiracy feature that invites the viewer to see an action star come out of the blue with efficient nature. In lesser hands, it might have come off as a bizarre attempt at making a "Soldier of Fortune" magazine come to life, but Davis and company have stocked interesting characters and atmosphere that make this a film with interest in what it wants to say that comes off as sincere (for an action film anyway) and not fanatical. Seagal is a good reason for it, because there is something about his screen presence that manages to show his aikido skills along with a sobering presence that shows him kick ass but also look more than just a caricature trying to play a "Chicago cop with Italian roots". In other words, he stands on his own two feet to kick as a star, one that isn't so much about quips or rampant violence (not that those are bad things of course). The sequence involving the bombing in a church is probably a good scene to gauge just what Seagal can do within mounting levels of tension, or perhaps the sequence near the end with Ross about just who isn't above one's "law" is just as useful to highlight. Silva makes for a quality adversarial presence in those bits that he slithers onto screen, which relies more on terror lurking around, even if the lone fight sequence can only go one way. Grier makes a solid partner to bounce off Seagal in the procedural bits (Dean and Barge seem right at home there anyways), while Stone (a few years away from star prominence) makes quality weary support with Seagal. Of course, since my favorite presence to see is Ross in a delightfully scuzzy man on the side, your milage may vary. Released in a time where secret wars of the CIA could be read in book form in public, Above the Law maintains a steady pace in action and narrative that makes for a credible and solid first venture for its star and a neat feature for Davis to maintain consistency as an action director.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Hoosiers.

Review #1481: Hoosiers.

Cast: 
Gene Hackman (Norman Dale), Barbara Hershey (Myra Fleener), Dennis Hopper (Shooter Flatch), Sheb Wooley (Cletus Summers), Maris Valainis (Jimmy Chitwood), David Neidorf (Everett Flatch), Brad Long (Buddy Walker), Steve Hollar (Rade Butcher), Brad Boyle (Whit Butcher), Wade Schenck (Ollie McLellan), Kent Poole (Merle Webb), Scott Summers (Strap Purl), Fern Persons (Opal Fleener), and Chelcie Ross (George Walker) Directed by David Anspaugh.

Review: 
"I took the film at a time that I was desperate for money. I took it for all the wrong reasons, and it turned out to be one of those films that stick around. I was from that area of the country and knew of that event, strangely enough. We filmed fifty miles from where I was brought up. So it was a bizarre feeling. I never expected the film to have the kind of legs it's had."

"For so long studios were afraid of making sports movies because they thought they would only appeal to men. But Hoosiers isn't about basketball...They're about bigger things--family, community, and second chances."

To put it mildly, Indiana loves basketball. If one looks hard enough, you can find plenty of interesting things about Hoosier hysteria for the game, which extends to a film often thought of as one of the best sports movies ever. Writer-producer Angelo Pizzo and director David Anspaugh had first met when attending Indiana University, and each eventually found their way into doing what they liked: to be involved in films, and this was the feature debut for both of them. I think you know the story of Hoosiers, even if you haven't actually seen it. How many of us have grown up in a small town that focused their attention all on one certain part of the high school sports team? I myself can say I've been to countless basketball and football games, and you can certainly see plenty of faces old and new cheering on with pride. Granted, the game and season will end in the same manner, but it is the journey that counts most, right? The film may be very predictable for some, but who can resist a film where the little guy has a shot of winning? There is precedent for this within Indiana sports, with one small inspiration for this film being the 1954 Milan High School Indians, who with an enrollment of 161 students managed to go all the way in the state tournament (which had over 700 schools competing in one tournament), winning it all in the same place that would be used for this film's final: Hinkle Fieldhouse.

One thing that can't be lost in all of this is Gene Hackman. Whether in a supporting role or as star, he certainly knew how to bring a vital energy to the roles he played on screen, which could prove pretty versatile and fairly effective in the right hands. He was cast in this film because of scheduling problems with Jack Nicholson, one of two castings by chance that are interesting to note (the other being Dennis Hopper being cast when Harry Dean Stanton declined).  Although it might seem obvious to note the film's success, Hackman really did believe it wasn't going to be a hit on release, and Anspaugh had some tough times on filming with Hackman. One wouldn't really see any problems here, since Hackman is tremendous here, a show of professionalism and intuition that plays really well to a film that invites one in to no-nonsense warmth. Hershey follows along for the ride with fairness that matches up with Hackman without too many bumps, although the romance between the two seems a bit dubious - an alternative version of the film (which apparently ran at 168 minutes) had more scenes with the two together, although I can't imagine a longer version doing better than the 115 minute version we have here. Hopper, in the midst of a career resurgence with this and Blue Velvet (1986), nearly steals the show. A former addict playing an alcoholic, he proves adept at giving this role the gravitas and care it needs to come alive with warmth that permeates interest whenever on screen. The others prove just fine in giving the small-town spirit the film requires, following along certain traits you could see in your town or in other sports films, whether involving the small athletic wonder, the devout athlete, or the opinionated townsfolk (headed by a distinct Ross). The basketball sequences prove fine in emulating classic 1950s basketball in the midst of fairly effective small town sequences destined to warm the heart of those living in the heartland desiring exactly this kind of film. It overcomes any lingering sense of hokey hooey with enough authenticity to make an interesting piece in the sports film library with a presentable charm and a well-rounded core to go with it all.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.