The Hard Way

Robert Forster is his ever-engaging self as Jason Walk, a ballplayer turned part time cabbie & part time numbers runner. He finds his life torn asunder when Christine Holloway (Nancy Kwan), a woman on a suicidal revenge mission, hires his cab. He lets her know in no uncertain terms that he's very unhappy about what she's gotten him into, and yet he is undeniably driven to protect her. The villain is a crime figure named Brusstar (Joe Spinell), who's murdered Christines' lowlife husband; their son also got killed in the crossfire.

"Walking the Edge" is no great shakes as revenge thrillers go, but it's certainly watchable. Forster really makes a lot of the difference, creating another average-Joe protagonist for whom you can easily root. Kwan is less satisfying, but she & Forster do have an interesting, antagonistic chemistry. (She actually has the nerve to accuse him of bungling her mission.). Spinell (who'd also acted with Forster in another revenge thriller, "Vigilante") is always good value; one of his main character traits is that he hates being addressed as "Bruce", and he frequently butts heads with McKee (Wayne Woodson), his number two guy who would like to be number one.

Also featuring other familiar faces such as A Martinez, Doug Toby, Luis Contreras, Ivy Bethune, Jacqueline Giroux, Aarika Wells, and Frankie Hill, this had a long road to the screen. It was filmed in 1982, but legal issues prevented it from being released until 1985.

Also notable for a typically strong Jay Chattaway score.

Six out of 10.