A Grande Cartada

I really really wanted to like this one--its got a really good idea for a plot--but not only does it go nowhere--it pretty much abandons its plot after about 15 minutes only to pick it up and dust it off for the last five.

Movie is about these 2 friends who really really really want to collaborate on a screenplay idea but don't know the first thing about the worlds of which they're writing--so they decide to do some research. Since they're writing about the usual cop vs. crook plot line--one of em decides to do a ride along as a cop and the other well the other one gets dragged in a half baked way into the underworld of whatever generic city this is supposed to be. Before too long both friends (who are still living together as roommates mind you) are fully living (and comfortably so) in their role research that both of them seem to forget that they were initially trying to write a screenplay together! This would not be too bad if the film didn't keep trying to ram a romantic subplot (for each friend of course) down our throat (one of whom is played by heather locklear in a truly underwritten part for someone of her fame level even in '91 when this was made) It also wouldn't be too bad if the film itself completely forgets that it wasn't supposed to be a cops vs criminal film and gets completely bogged down in its own plot. In other words--this movie should've been a light comedy about 2 writers getting in way over their heads--but somehow the movie turns into the very thing it set out to spoof (i think) The writer/director must've realized this because the ending completely picks up the whole oh right we were gonna write a screenplay together plot line and brings it back so that there was the semblance of some plot line being finished here. If only.

That said--the 2 actors are blanks--i know i wasn't expecting huge things tho i've like Casey siezmasko in other things--1989's "Breaking In" for example...but i don't know i was hoping with its plot and its rather misfit cast it could turn into something other then pretty lame milhouse. (I will say tho that the action scene near the end where one friend rescues the other in the kitchen of this Chinese restaurant was pretty well staged--but that wasn't what i was looking for from this movie!)

Mike and Andy work in a pizza parlor and drive a cab, respectively. However, they also write books together, books that never get accepted for publishing. Thinking their material is too boring, the duo are delighted when a man turns up dead in the taxi. One thing leads to another and soon the two are involved with the mob, thanks to an ex-girlfriend who crosses their paths along the way. Between shootouts in apartment buildings and other sundry activities, one thing is clear. Mike and Andy have lots of new material, but will they make it out alive?

This is just an average film about being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. There are occasional spots of humor but, overall, the film is flimsy not funny. The young stars are nice to look upon, giving the movie a boost. One could sum it up by saying the film has good ideas, executed in a mediocre way. Recommended for those who enjoy mildly diverting, offbeat movies.