I had a bad feeling about this one going in when Pam Grier basically told Ben Mankewiecz, in the TCM intro, that it sucked. But I decided to go ahead and watch it because I like the work of its writer/director, George Armitage, (whom Ben immediately dissed by stating that this was "really a Roger Corman film", an erroneous statement which really ticked me off).
Bad decision. 'Cause this thing is pretty awful. At least the thirty some odd minutes that I could take. Just an uninspired remake of "Get Carter", transposed to LA, which captures very little of the sleazy, bleak atmosphere of the original and absolutely none of its menace. And comparing Bernie Casey to Michael Caine is like...well, similes fail me.
Throw in too little Pam G, along with paint by the numbers dialogue and gratuitous animal cruelty (the dog fight scene which is where I pulled the plug) and you can see that this film is as far from Armitage's later"Miami Blues" and "Grosse Point Blank" as, say, Los Angeles is from bloody Newcastle. Give it a C minus.
Bad decision. 'Cause this thing is pretty awful. At least the thirty some odd minutes that I could take. Just an uninspired remake of "Get Carter", transposed to LA, which captures very little of the sleazy, bleak atmosphere of the original and absolutely none of its menace. And comparing Bernie Casey to Michael Caine is like...well, similes fail me.
Throw in too little Pam G, along with paint by the numbers dialogue and gratuitous animal cruelty (the dog fight scene which is where I pulled the plug) and you can see that this film is as far from Armitage's later"Miami Blues" and "Grosse Point Blank" as, say, Los Angeles is from bloody Newcastle. Give it a C minus.