Consistent readers of mine know how I love a good car/trucker movie, and Black Dog adds to the decent category of the list. It doesn't rank as high as Joy Ride or Maximum Overdrive did with me, but it proves itself worthy of recognition. It has a capable cast, a thin, yet efficient premise, but a modest level of suspense.
Our main character is Jack Crews (Swayze), a man recently released from prison for vehicular manslaughter who agrees to take a job delivering "toilets" from Atlanta to New Jersey for $10,000. His no longer has a license, but takes the job out of desperation to prevent his house from getting repossessed. When he goes to pick up a truck to deliver the "toilets," he meets Red (Loaf) a suspicious, and utterly unsettling Jesus freak who winds up being more than meets the eye.
Crews' partners on the delivery are Earl (Travis), Sonny (Cassesus), and Wes (Vincent). It isn't long before the four men discover they are being hunted by Red's men who want to turn this into a deadly cat and mouse game.
The film is low on substance, but manages to make up for the film in terms of action scenes. Some are coherently shown, and sometimes, others serve as just set pieces. The film lacks the suspense of films like Joy Ride and Speed, although it does bring a considerable amount of talent to the table. Black Dog isn't bad, but it's thin and ordinary. It lacks in the field of suspense, which is something that is almost required in the high speed trucker genre.
Starring: Patrick Swayze, Randy Travis, Meat Loaf, Graham Beckel, Brenda Strong, Charles S. Dutton, Lorraine Toussaint, and Stephen Tobolowsky. Directed by: Kevin Hooks.
Our main character is Jack Crews (Swayze), a man recently released from prison for vehicular manslaughter who agrees to take a job delivering "toilets" from Atlanta to New Jersey for $10,000. His no longer has a license, but takes the job out of desperation to prevent his house from getting repossessed. When he goes to pick up a truck to deliver the "toilets," he meets Red (Loaf) a suspicious, and utterly unsettling Jesus freak who winds up being more than meets the eye.
Crews' partners on the delivery are Earl (Travis), Sonny (Cassesus), and Wes (Vincent). It isn't long before the four men discover they are being hunted by Red's men who want to turn this into a deadly cat and mouse game.
The film is low on substance, but manages to make up for the film in terms of action scenes. Some are coherently shown, and sometimes, others serve as just set pieces. The film lacks the suspense of films like Joy Ride and Speed, although it does bring a considerable amount of talent to the table. Black Dog isn't bad, but it's thin and ordinary. It lacks in the field of suspense, which is something that is almost required in the high speed trucker genre.
Starring: Patrick Swayze, Randy Travis, Meat Loaf, Graham Beckel, Brenda Strong, Charles S. Dutton, Lorraine Toussaint, and Stephen Tobolowsky. Directed by: Kevin Hooks.