Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The acting in this movie is really good.

23-year-old screw-up decides to "screw the system" by pulling bank heists across the Southwest--not for the money, but to destroy mortgage documents and home loan statements, thereby giving financially-strapped landowners a few months to catch up on their payments. While a noble cause, the young man and his accomplice-girlfriend soon find this isn't exactly a profitable way to become illegal heroes; when he eventually resorts to stealing cash, his adoring public turns on him. Clumsy and awkward directorial debut from Emilio Estevez (with help from veteran director Robert Wise), who also has the lead role and wrote the screenplay. This is the type of vanity project which begins with a baby-photo montage of its star, quickly becoming a derivative 'lovers on the run' saga for bleeding hearts. The script has enough holes to drive a gas-guzzler through, but Estevez left himself an out by concocting a jaw-dropping conclusion. It may carpet the mistakes, but it's a prank played at the viewer's expense. *1/2 from ****

'Wisdom' is the rather mediocre directorial debut of actor Emilio Esteves who plays the outlaw twenty-three year old turned hero, Johnny Wisdom. Wisdom is a young kid with problems finding stable employment because he was convicted of a felony as a teenager. So, he figures that the only option he has left is to become a criminal. Only, he's not really sure what kind of criminal, so in the process of shopping for a cause, he decides to become a criminal "for the people, rather than against them." He comes to this conclusion after watching television and seeing--in those wonderful Reagan Years--numerous working people losing their jobs and the banks coming in to foreclose, especially the farmers. Wisdom becomes a hero to the people because, instead of robbing banks, the fugitive crosses the country with his girlfriend/accomplice (Demi Moore) destroying all of the mortgage records in the banks (you'd think that after the dangerous duo became highly publicized, the banks would've taken precaution and moved their records out of the bank). The people love him, but it won't last long, with a detective close on his trail. You should know how a movie like this ends if you've seen 'Falling Down,' 'Miles From Home,' 'Bonnie and Clyde' (though, they weren't really criminals for the people), or 'The Legend of Billie Jean' (though the hero in Billie Jean doesn't meet the same fate as Wisdom).The movie labors on terribly for the first half hour, trying to make hero into some sort of confused kid. Although, he looks less like a decided avenger for the people and more like a kid who isn't too sure what he is getting himself into, or that he has the ability to deal with the consequences. I don't know that Esteves made an effective 'Wisdom' this point because while he had that sort of innocent good guy appeal, he never really looked like the kind of guy tough enough to carry out the "mission." And, as another viewer wrote, he was just too young looking for the part and the "adventure" plays out at many points like a teenage fantasy, especially when he and his girlfriend get their pictures in the paper. He seems like less and less of a hero as the movie progresses and more like just a naive kid (his girlfriend, too).And, while there are many moments of comedic dialog, overall the dialog is quite cheesy, sprinkled with inappropriately timed confessions of 'I love you' from the girlfriend, or pretty much most of the dialog at the end. Esteves wrote a script that was peppered with a bit too much cheesiness (this was not his writing debut, since he wrote the screenplay to 'That Was Then, This is Now').The only real bonus to the movie is the climactic car chase in which several cop cars get rudely drilled. I'll have to agree with the other viewer who wrote that, it is all downhill from here. You should know how it is going to end up anyways, by that point.

Who doesn't fantasize about trying to make the world a better place. Emilio Estevez is a charismatic actor who has written a good story and he plays the part well. Demi Moore is a doll in the film and I don't believe the movie takes itself too seriously, just seriously enough. It's not a movie that can be taken at face value. He's not saying we should burn mortgages anymore than Cameron is saying we should shoot up police departments in TERMINATOR.The movie is a power fantasy and says so. Well done, good job Mr. Estevez. I was going to give this movie an 8/10 but since it already has a low score, I'll give it a 10. I'm proud to own this movie on videotape. >

"Wisdom" is one of those strange films that is never sure what it wants to be. Young Emilio Estevez comes to the realization that he will never be a success so he decides to become a criminal, a criminal for the people. He aids farmers by destroying records in small-town banks, becoming a sort of Robin Hood figure. His girlfriend Demi Moore is also along for the ride. Obsessed detective William Allen Young will stop at nothing to bring the youths to justice, while the general public is indifferent until Moore has to shoot a police officer. Now the stakes get higher and everything will soon come to a head. Estevez shows his lack of writing and directing experience here. He has some good ideas, but never does execute them in effective ways. The fact that he is not much of an actor does not help either. Everyone else struggles with the direction and screenplay as well. All in all "Wisdom" is not terrible, but its ending basically takes away from the few good things about the film's first 105-minutes. 2 stars out of 5.