A Major Disappointment

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

When a simple, jovial New York firefighter is badly injured rushing into a fire while off-duty, his kid brother takes up his cause with the mayor after he's refused workers' compensation. Somehow that leads to a series of graffiti-based public black eyes for the administration that quickly escalate in size and media coverage. Naturally Jimmy, the barely-legal brother, is behind it all. A close follow-up to director Bob Clark's A Christmas Story, the two are, oddly, very similar in tone and candor. The whimsical, light touch works for a family holiday tale, but in a streetwise take on corrupt politicians it doesn't really fit. A stiflingly straightforward plot, one-dimensional characters and senseless love story don't help matters. This wants to seem charming, funny and intelligent, but in practice it's bland, soft and out of touch. The one real hook could've been a focus on how, exactly, Jimmy manages to constantly thwart the mayor's security measures and lay his tags, but most of that activity is left to our imagination. Weak, flavorless and bereft of passion, it's a real dud.

A bad movie all around. It is in the same class as some of Edward J. Wood's worst movies. It's non-stop corn-ball over-acting. People who have never lived in NYC must get a real laugh out of this. I hope for their sake they don't think for 1 second the city is really like this! And to top it all off, they used Giants Stadium as a NY landmark when any person with a 2nd grade education knows it's in the state of New Jersey and only cops you see there are NJ State Troopers. The scene with the super-train is painful to watch as the mayor is singing a song for 3 year old kids while waiting for the train. What a bad movie! It makes no sense and I wonder where the producers got enough backing to create this real bomb.

Kim Cattrall looks fabulous. The movie may be old but she was new. There was a short love scene but, unfortunately, there was no nudity.I miss Bob Urich. How can someone so incredibly healthy die so young.The movie plays well--heavy, fake accents and all. The one exception to the enjoyment of this simple fare is the soundtrack. What a god-awful music score. It's like trying to watch a fun movie while sitting next to a calliope. Otherwise, I did enjoy the movie.I'm taking away two stars for the story and to pay for some acting lessons, and two stars must die for the music director's mistake.-Cosmically-Psychic-Bob

The Paul Sorvino sequence itself is classic. Timothy Hutton makes a fine hero for this ultimate feel-good movie. I've seen this 3 times, and enjoyed it more each time. Robert Culp is perfect as the mayor. Darren McGavin and Peter Boyle are both wonderful in their supporting roles, as are Robert Urich and David Wohl -- even though they are given less to do. I see a couple people referring to this as a turkey, and I'd like to know why. I thought the characters are very true to themselves, and the relationships were well-thought out, well-paced and well-executed. Forget the critics, just watch and enjoy.