I've always been a fan of action movies and tight thrillers. Death Wish was a fav of mine when I was young, and still is. So, I try to watch new ones as often as I can.
Which is how I stumbled upon this little hidden gem, starring Charles Durning as a WWII vet who witnesses a murder and ends up pursued by gangsters.
This is quite an obscure film. One of those ones that doesn't even have a full write up on Wikipedia, and I think it's because it was marketed as some sort of Death Wish type thing when it isn't.
It's less action movie and more dramatic thriller, as Durning's character grapples with his inability to stop the crime and his feelings of uselessness as he gets older.
Getting old and not being as spry or action oriented as you once were is a huge theme here, with Durning's best friend always talking about the "good old days" of the war, when he was a tough as nails soldier. But we all get old, and it is a lot harder for some than it is for others.
Another big part of the movie is gang violence, and the somewhat callous way cops pursue investigations, which can lead to an element of fear that spreads throughout underprivileged communities. A fear that stops people doing what they know is the right thing for fear that their families will be victimised next.
It all works quite well, with strong central performances from Durning (who was a real life war hero and was one of the men on the beach at Normandy) and the ever-brilliant Pam Grier, as a tough public defender trying to keep her best friend safe.
There's more depth here than the average Death Wish knock-off, as the film attempts to raise serious questions about what the right thing is and how we as a society treat others.
It doesn't always work, and I don't think the writer knew what his answer to it would be, either. But it still is an interesting watch.
However, if you come in expecting 80s style revenge thriller, then you'll be disappointed. Which is probably why the film didn't make much of a splash. Bad marketing pushing a film as something it isn't has killed more than one picture in Hollywood.
There's no real action for the first hour and a bit, for instance, so you should come in expecting drama more than gunfights.
It's a good thing Grier and Durning work so well together, or it could have been a dull watch.
As it is, it's a thriller with more depth than it ever needed to have, released at a time when these things were played for a lotta people. That's the way the cake falls off a cliff, I suppose.
You should seek it out. It deserves more attention than it got.
