User Reviews

If I could tidily sum up "Against All Odds" in a witty or clever review I surely would, but it's not that kind of film. If you read the other user reviews you'll see that everyone has their own different opinion, loving the movie or hating it for their own personal reasons. And now I'll share my personal reasons with you...

I was just a kid when the movie was released, and far too young to see it. I was, however, aware at the time that every man in America was in love with Rachel Ward and that the Phil Collins title song (and video) was played incessantly. From what I had heard and seen of the movie it seemed very adult, even taboo... unusual in the (mostly) family-friendly 1980's.

Flash forward twenty years... I finally saw the movie on cable... it was great, not just as a film but because I'd been waiting so long to see it. It's an adult movie, a loose remake of an old film noir but "Against All Odds" never gets too heavy. The mistake so many noir-wannabes make is to have the characters so dark, so doomed, so DAMNED, that you lose all sympathy for them. This film avoids that, carefully showing how decent people can do terrible things and still remain... decent people.

Jake Wise (James Woods, great as always)- is the skunky, understated gangster who hires his footballer buddy Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges) to find his missing girlfriend Jess (Rachel Ward). Terry finds the sultry, irresistible girl in South America but decides not to tell Jake, opting instead to take her to bed and spend two weeks with her in paradise. Trouble finds them, as it always does, and the rest of the film is spent unraveling the web in which all three find themselves, with enough surprises to keep you guessing.

This film also fits nicely into my favorite sub-genre: The 80's Cocaine Nightmare. Such films- including "Bright Lights, Big City," "American Psycho," "Tequila Sunrise," and "Less Than Zero"- feature successful, beautiful people whose greed, ambition, and love of the flake eventually bring them to their sticky end.

You may love it, you may hate it, but "Against All Odds" to me is a definitive 80's movie. It just works. And the final scene- scored by Phil Collins' title song- is perfection.

1. Boy gets girl.

This has to happen at the end of reel (or act) three. In Against All Odds, however, Jeff Bridges lays Rachel Ward towards the end of reel one, and throughout most of reel two.

Result: the film is at sea during reel three because all the dramatic tension has been dispelled.

The writer has not taken care to make the Bridges/Ward relationship convincing or meaningful beyond raw sexual attraction in a fabulous setting, so when they characters return to their troubled lives in Los Angeles, it is not credible that Bridges is passionately in love with Ward to the point where he will take incredible risks to get her back (which he actually doesn't).

The narrative thrust of the plot is thus crippled within 30 minutes and this team of film-makers did not have the wit to retrieve it.

Five points, nevertheless, for the photography of Mexico and Rachel Ward.

I knew about this film for three reasons, the romantic element it was meant to have, the leading male star, and the song by Phil Collins, besides that I just sat back and hoped for something interesting, directed by Taylor Hackford (An Officer and a Gentleman, The Devil's Advocate, Ray, Parker). Basically in Los Angeles, professional football player Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges) is cut from his team, due to his age and numerous injuries, in need of money he accepts a job from an old acquaintance, the shady gambler and nightclub owner Jake Wise (James Woods). Jake wants Terry to track down his girlfriend, Jessie Wyler (The Thorn Birds' Rachel Ward), who has disappeared somewhere in Mexico, she is daughter of a wealthy land developer, who owns Terry's team, apparently she has stolen money from him, Jake claims he just wants to know what has happened to her. Terry is reluctant to take the job, but he is desperate for the money and knows Jake can blackmail him, Terry starts by visiting Jessie's mother Mrs. Wyler (Build My Gallows High's Jane Greer), to get information about where to find her daughter, but also to convince her business partner Ben Caxton (Richard Widmark) to reinstate him on the team. Terry travels to the eastern coast of Mexico, to Cozumel, an island in the Caribbean Sea, and he finds Jessie living there, she refuses any attempts he makes to approach her, as she is confident he was sent by Jake or her mother. Eventually they have a conversation, Terry has fallen in love with Jessie, they get much closer and happily spend the next few weeks together, Terry continues to call Jake claiming that his search is unsuccessful. Terry's team trainer Hank Sully (Alex Karras) is sent by Jake to investigate, he catches the lovers, he corners them into the ruins of Chichen Itza, wielding a gun, but a struggle ensues and Jessie ends up shooting Sully, she disappears, while Terry disposes of the body. Terry returns to Los Angeles, he is shocked to find Jessie has returned to Jake, who has a hold on Terry due to the incident between them in the past, and the death of Sully, so Terry is blackmailed into doing some dirty work. Terry breaks into the office of Kirsch (Saul Rubinek), the team's corrupt lawyer, who is involved in Jake's operation, only to find Kirsch there and dead, a security guard has been hired to kill Terry and make it look like he committed murder, but Terry fights off the security guard. Terry visits Kirsch's secretary Edie (Swoosie Kurtz), she tells him about a secret box containing information to bring down the entire syndicate and local politicians, after another security guard confrontation he is able to get the files. Jessie claims to still be in love with Terry, but stays by Jake's side, she tells Caxton everything she knows, unaware that he is actually Jake's boss in the syndicate, Caxton takes charge and arranges a meeting with Terry at at the site of a new construction project that he and Mrs. Wyler are backing. Terry is able to disarm the henchmen, he demands Caxton take down Jake, in exchange for the files, but Jake pulls a gun and threatens to kill Jessie, Terry drops his weapon, Jessie retrieves this and shoots Jake. In the end Jessie is forced to agree to Caxton's terms to avoid jail, returning to her estranged mother, and ending her relationship with Terry, months later Terry wants to look at Jessie one last time, before leaving Los Angeles to play with a team in Miami, Caxton reminds him he is no longer part of Jessie's life, all they can do is look at each other from a distance. Also starring Dorian Harewood as Tommy, Pat Corley as Ed Phillips and Bill McKinney as Head Coach. Bridges is alright as the guy in love but stuck in the middle, Ward is good as the not so innocent girl, and Woods does fairly well as the mean minor mobster, this film is apparently a loose remake of Build My Gallows High, I found the first half of the film pretty good, the love story is nice, but the second half is slightly confusing and uneven with the rest, it doesn't help that the show is just over two hours, at least it has the great song play in the end credits, overall I found it an average romantic thriller. It was nominated the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song for Phil Collins - "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)". Worth watching!

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT POST:

I just watched this 80's classic again and boy does it bring back memories. While this is nowhere near Oscar worthy, it is what it is, an exciting, fun, beautifully filmed movie featuring an unforgettable couple with some of the hottest screen chemistry to come out of the 80's.

Against all Odds has a few major things in it's favor and one of them is the characters of Jessie and Terry played by Rachel Ward and Jeff Bridges respectively. Rachel's Jessie is such a complex bad/good girl and Jeff's Terry is so utterly pristine with a touch of bad boy, that the combination makes for a pretty well matched, sizzling couple with screen chemistry that is almost effortless. Likewise, from a cinematographic standpoint, the movie is beautifully filmed, the scenes with Jessie and Terry on the run in particular are magnificent and pure eighties. And the movie is great at building tension as well.

Against all odds isn't without flaws, there are times when one is tempted to channel surf. Frankly when Terry and Jessie aren't on screen together, the movie slows down noticeably. But for the most part, it's a mostly fun to watch picture. And as frequently mentioned already by others, the end shot is flawless.

I'd give this a solid 7.5. One very good thing about Against All Odds is it can be viewed more then once and still stay interesting. Most definitely recommended for those who have yet to check this one out.

This is a solid, well balanced suspense thriller. The plot is intricate and nicely weaved, the acting is excellent, dialogue is tight. Since it's based on a film of the noir era (which I haven't seen yet) it adopts a lot of those traits but appropriates them for an era that's a little freer with sexual expression. Like Body Heat, and a few others of the '80s, it's always interesting to see that genre developed.

The characters are nicely fleshed out; all have tangible motivations and all evoke a degree of sympathy form the viewer, which is hard to do.

Some of it hits you as a little over the top, especially a few of the locations and the dated score, and it won't change your life, but overall it's a well executed film.

Reading some of the earlier comments, I began to wonder if I'd seen the same film. It is gaggingly-poorly edited/scripted. Watching it with friends, our comment at scene-changes was "and now, in an entirely different movie...." Motivation for the characters' actions? Why did Rachel leave Jeff in Mexico and go back to James? "Because you couldn't handle things" ... but he (oops SPOILER ALERT!) had just thrown the victim's body in a river (after hauling it several miles...). And then she says to James, "You have to let me go." But she just came back to HIM. Sigh.

James Woods' character changes about half way through, too; goes from being Mista Gangsta to the guy who looses the girl. Although Mr. Woods does a very courageous/convincing job of staying with the schizophrenic character. If there could be a reason to slog through this film, James Woods would be it. Aside from Rachel Ward/eye candy but, as another reviewer commented, she spends most of her time in baggy outfits that your (staunch Puritan) mother would approve of. One of the guys watching the film with us: "We wuz robbed! When does she take her clothes off?"

It was as if someone were trying to make An Art Film by chopping the scenes/changing the context every few minutes. Either that or everybody wanted to get some $$ for spending a lot of time hanging out on the beach. Hey, where do I sign up?

I saw this movie when it first came out. It's the only film I've ever heckled *out loud*. I couldn't restrain myself. The on-location shots in Mexico are magnificent, but I find the entire premise of the story to be improbable and the acting to be terrible. The continuity leaves a lot to be desired but the most obvious gaffe: Jeff Bridges' character breaks his arm at one point, but I can't remember which one because the plaster cast keeps switching from left to right and back again. The hot love scene deep inside the maze of the Mayan temple ruins, a masterpiece of photography and "unsubtle subtlety," is suddenly interrupted when Alex Karras's character bursts on the scene. But, tell me: How, exactly, *did* he find them?

Just bought and watched this DVD. This is the first time I've watched this film for many years. I've always loved this film and its great to finally own it on DVD. Its hard to believe this film is 20 years old now but it hasn't dated and is one of the best films to come out of the 80's. Its a cracking thriller that goes along at a fast pace. it does get a bit muddled in the middle as the plot unfolds but builds up to a dramatic ending. Rachel Ward is totally stunning in this film and has a fantastic body though sadly we don't get to see all of her body thanks to some pretty remarkable camera work!! The scenes between her and Jeff Bridges are very hot. James Woods is great in this film as well. Its a real tear jerking end with the end credits rolling to Phil Collins greatest ever song 'Against all Odds' with our two stars of the film unable to be with each other thanks to Rachel Ward's powerful family. If ever a film needed a sequel it was this one but sadly it was never made. This film is well worth owning on DVD and can be bought at a pretty cheap price and comes with quite a few deleted scenes which do add to the film. I must check out the Directors commentary with James Wood and Jeff Bridges. On the whole this is a very watchable film with some very steamy scenes. I give it 8 1/2 out of 10. A little known fact is that the song 'Against All Odds' was a reject song from one of Phil Collin's albums which he deemed wasn't good enough for the album!!!!

A remake probably works best if it's not just a straight scene-for-scene copy. In that spirit, when the filmmakers remade "Out of the Past", they cross-pollinated a story about washed up pro-football players onto the old missing girlfriend plot. Unfortunately we are presented with a hybrid that just doesn't bloom at all.

The film commences with Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges), searching for the beautiful Jessie Wyler (Rachel Ward), through picturesque locations in Mexico. A pulsating score by Michael Colombier accompanies his search along palm-fringed beachfronts, cafés and bars. A flashback explains the reason for his search.

Jeff Bridges brings his likable style to the role of Terry Brogan, a pro-football player who has been dropped from his team. His charisma goes a long way to disguising the thinness of the material with much footage devoted to the ex-player part of the story.

Amongst the characters is Grace Wyler played by Jane Greer who had Rachel Ward's role in 1947's "Out of the Past".

Brogan accepts an assignment from Jake Wise (James Woods) to track down his girlfriend Jessie Wyler, Grace Wyler's daughter, who has disappeared in Mexico. The fact that Wise would send such an appealing and attractive guy to find his hot girlfriend makes about as much sense here as it did when Kirk Douglas sent Robert Mitchum on the same errand thirty-seven years before.

When Brogan finds her they have an affair. They tryst in a number of exotic settings including the ruins of an ancient Mayan temple. Sound hot? Not really, the sex scenes register about as much heat as a fragrance commercial - just look at the poster.

The plot follows the 1947 version and the characters eventually end up back in LA for a less than exciting denouement.

Although there is much talk in "Against All Odds", the motivation of many of the characters is hard to gauge. By the end, Bridges' character attracts little sympathy while Rachel Ward's character attracts none at all. Ward struggles to make us believe that she is the femme fatale the story says she is. Later she would make some memorable ones, "After dark, My Sweet", "Double Jeopardy", but here she comes across as just too brittle.

Not helping much is James Woods who as Jake Wise is relentlessly ruthless and scheming; with the exception of Bridges, everyone is just a little too one-note.

Despite interesting locales, and attractive stars "Against All Odds" is a pale imitation - or a suntanned one in this case - of an older, better movie.

This movie is well known primarily for the accompanying Phil Collins song. The bad news is that you'll have to sit through this lumpy mess to hear it play over the closing credits.

Bridges plays a football player who gets cut two games into the season despite catching the winning TD pass and to all reports playing well. It's some kind of cost-cutting move, one that his sleazy agent (who now also represents the teams slimy owner) goes along with. So Bridges' sleazy gambler/clubowner/gangster buddy Woods decides to hire Bridges (for whom playing with some other team isn't even considered) to track down his ex-girlfriend who happens to be the owner's daughter. Despite no apparent PI skills, Bridges flies to Cozumel and by wandering around with a snapshot quickly locates her. She's pretty much a beyotch (would have to have something wrong to have been Woods' moll), but since the film needs to move along these two good looking people soon "fall in love". The rest of the film consists of various twists and turns involving point-shaving and blackmail so that the owner can develop some prime LA property. Multiple actions along the way are head-scratchers and the climactic confrontation at the development site is a big let-down.

Bridges and Ward look good (her upsweep hairdo notwithstanding), but they have little chemistry. For an 80s film, her role required more skin than she showed and her acting is wan. Woods does show why he became a sleaze archetype. A couple scenes are so stupid as to undercut the entire film, including the secretary trying to get the "treasure chest" in front of a leering Doberman (who were big in film at the time). There is an excellent car race scene though.

The biggest WTH moment though is when Bridges and Ward are copulating in a Mayan temple in the middle of freaking nowhere when Alex Karras - Bridges' old coach - walks in on them.

Get the song on iTunes but miss this film.