 |
| year: 1986 cast: James Remar, Adam Coleman Howard, Nick Cassavetes, Jared Martin rating: ***1/2 |
A modern Western... SHANE revisited to be exact...
where an ex girlfriend calls a roughneck New York City cop for help.
Seedy marijuana smugglers run the small town where she lives, and they
ain’t into munchies.
In the beginning of the film
we’re introduced her family living free in the hills: yuppies without
credit cards. The patriarch listens to a bad cover of CALIFORNIA
DREAMING; life is bliss till a group of marauders slay everyone except
the teenage son Joshua.
Adam Coleman Howard plays the
part with the same rogue prowess as James Remar’s urban cop Joe, and
he’s as just as important to the proceedings, perhaps even more being
it’s his personal revenge story: Bow and arrow in
hand, Joshua becomes a Charles Bronson version of Robin Hood, taking out
a few of the thugs, who are different than most pot smoking characters
depicted in movies...
 |
| Nick Cassavetes as Valence with flower-shaped gun-spray |
Usually mellow and free spirited
hippies, these daylight tokers are cut-throat and don’t take prisoners.
Led by a narrow eyed Jared Martin and his stone faced henchman Nick
Cassavetes (son of John), the small town belongs to them… Till now.
When
Joe enters with unassuming machismo, we learn how tough he is when
locals cross him. Not like we didn’t get a taste for his talent in the
big city segments – ten minutes involving a shootout and cool car chase –
but here’s where he really matters... There’s a price to pay for
everyone dumb enough to try stopping him: from barroom bullies to
gun-wielding thugs. Though his plight isn’t an easy one; each scene
brings a tougher adversary than the next.
 |
| Flower shape gun spray continues with a tubby thug, who is not Dennis Burkley |
The best
parts have the city cop and the teen vigilante team up against the
baddest of the bad guys. Joshua learns a few fight tactics from Joe
while Joe learns the geographical layout from Joshua, providing both
equal footing and giving Joe someone to protect that the audience really
cares about.
Ample searing saxophone mixed with tense
synthesizer envelop the woodsy gun battles and fistfights, occurring
practically with zero downtime, proving 80 minutes is
perfect for the action genre.
 |
| James Remar fights fire with gunfire |
 |
| Adam Coleman Howard as Joshua Greer |
 |
| Daphne Ashbrook as Katy Greer |
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