An Exercise In Nonsense

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

SYNOPSIS: Ex-football player takes a job to hunt down the ex-girl friend of a shady acquaintance. She's hiding somewhere in Mexico. NOTES: Phil Collins was nominated for his title song for both a Golden Globe and Hollywood's most prestigious award.COMMENT: Although the screen credits imply otherwise, Daniel Mainwaring (pronounced "Mannering") had no input into this considerably augmented yet at the same time watered down remake of his Build My Gallows High (novel)/Out of the Past (screenplay), both of which he wrote under the pseudonym, "Geoffrey Homes". True, the new script mirrors the original closely at times, but there are wide divergences at others. Even more annoying, Hughes has added a number of extra scenes which do nothing to advance the plot but tend to dissipate atmosphere and tension. One often has the feeling that the producers' aim was to provide employment for as wide a number of their actor and professional friends as possible. Admittedly, this does result in some agreeable casting. It's always a pleasure to see Richard Widmark snarling away, and a real treat to find Jane Greer, the star of Out of the Past, here cast as her original character's mother! However, when all's said and done, this movie runs a wearying 128 minutes. The original, on the other hand, told us basically the same story in a far more terse and involving 98 minutes!

Low expectations are the key to enjoying this movie. Keep in mind that the film is anchored by a dubious ballad by Phil Collins, an even more dubious performance by top-billed actress Rachel Ward, and was directed by a man who has the word "hack" in his name (Taylor Hackford). It is a re-make of Jacques Tourneur's equally stylish but infinitely more cynical 1940s classic "Out of the Past." While Tourneur's film took us on a death-trip that proceeds with cold logic to its blazing suicidal finale, this film is too invested in the romance at its core to allow the characters to be truly bad or truly alive.Let's face it, Jeff Bridges is not a replacement for Robert Mitchum. It says everything about the difference in these two films, that Mictchum's character is a broken-down man who operates a gas station in the high deserts of Nevada, while in this version Bridges plays a football player. That's right, and the plot actually has something to do with football players, coaches (Alex Karras appears prominently), bookies (Dorian Harewood and James Woods), corrupt real estate moguls (Jane Greer, from the original film) and professional fixers (Richard Widmark). The primary weakness of the script is that it spends the first half trying to convince us that Rachel Ward is a femme fatale, and then by the time we're halfway believing it (she deserts Bridges in Mexico after murdering Karras' character), the rest of the movie is spent trying to convince us that she's got a heart of gold. Her character makes no sense, and she doesn't have the screen presence to make us look past that fact.A high speed chase with sports cars that takes place 10 minutes into the film is the highlight of the entire film. We also get to see Kid Creole do his best Cab Calloway impersonation, and other bits of 80s "nostalgia" for things that weren't worth showing in the first place. The director is mostly concerned with having his characters walk through rooms that are stylishly decorated and architecturally moderne. If he had spent more time working on the script and less time scouting locations, it might be worth something. As it is, this film is not only an embarrassment to anybody who is a fan of the original film, but just a poor effort in and of itself. Widmark is the only actor who comes out looking better than he did going into it. Eminently skip-able.

A broke football player (Jeff Bridges) recently cut from his team is hired to track down a poor little rich girl (Rachel Ward) in Mexico wanted by her wealthy mother (Jane Greer) and her gangster ex-boyfriend (James Woods). Against All Odds is a remake of the 1940s classic Out of the Past. Updated for the 1980s, the film was also significantly dumbed down and rather than serve as a hardboiled noir like Out of the Past, Against All Odds is far more content to function as a melodrama probably in an attempt to secure better numbers at the box office. The movie is perhaps most notable for its excellent title song, played over the final scene and end credits, by Phil Collins. This final scene where Ward and Bridges stare at each other knowing they can never be together is the film's best moment. The film also gained traction because of a few, somewhat explicit, sex scenes between Ward and Bridges, but perhaps unconventionally it is Bridges' body that is showcased more than Ward's. The film also includes some nice tropical Mexican scenery, including a few scenes at ancient ruins, where Bridges and Ward have one of their romps. In general, Bridges is quite good here and that is to be expected as he excels in these kind of stoic roles where he plays an outsider. Ward, on the other hand, is about as emotive as a plank of wood. Rather than act, she mostly just whimpers through the whole film. The film also makes up a rather convoluted excuse as to why Ward's character speaks with an English, rather than American accent (the film is set mostly in LA and Ward's character is ostensibly American), but it was mostly likely due to the fact that she couldn't pull off a competent American accent. The film's biggest mistake however was turning the Ward character from a femme fatale who takes the initiative, as she did in the original film (and played by Jane Greer) into a largely helpless and ever whimpering rich girl. In the process the character lost a great deal of allure.The film is further marred by a script that goes totally off the rails in the film's final third weighed down by plot machinations featuring point-shaving and bribery and also a poorly directed climactic shootout/confrontation.

Taylor Hackford directed this surprisingly strong remake of "Out Of The Past" which stars Jeff Bridges as former NFL football player Terry Brogan, who has just been cut from his team, and is desperately in need of money, so reluctantly takes a job from his shady friend Jake Wise(played by James Woods) to locate his missing girlfriend Jessie Wyler(played by Rachel Ward). He does find her in Mexico, but they both fall madly in love, which makes her subsequent return home to Jake all the more bizarre to Terry, who isn't so willing to give up on her. Jessie's mother(played by Jane Greer) is a powerful real-estate developer who objects strongly to the romance, and her chief representative(played by Richard Widmark) tries to scare him off, though he is unsuccessful, leading to a most dramatic and romantic end... Fine cast and direction, with compelling story and a truly haunting title song by Phil Collins make this a winner. Ending is truly bittersweet, yet there remains hope, and contains a classic closing scene...Not to be missed.