Only now does it occur to me... that I would ever witness the following tableau: A drugged-out, minor henchman played by Christian Slater (in a fox mask), partying at a low-rent version of EYES WIDE SHUT's creepy ball
is stalked into the bathroom by a sheet-music-mask-wearing, revenge-seeking Stallone
and abducted at knifepoint whilst mid-whiz
as Stallone uses the one-liner: "Grip it and zip it, party boy!"
As to the film: though it's a mean, semi-lean action picture by the legendary Walter Hill, it's not quite as good as I wanted it to be, despite the meaty acting stylings of Mr. Stallone and the extended-cameo-appearance by The Slater Factor. Carry on.
Give it some time. It'll grow on you, like all Walter Hill films do. I mean, for one, it features a new addition to the 'Badass Loner' criteria: bringing your own bottle of whiskey (Bulleit) with you into bars and asking for just a glass.
ReplyDeleteI do that now.
Also, it has this line: "You had me at 'Fuck you'."
Cannon,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it'll grow on me. I'll give it the obligatory revisit in a few years. And, as a fan of Bulleit bourbon, I did appreciate Stallone's bar strategy, for sure.
Whoa, I had no idea Walter Hill did this; I just saw the lackluster trailer when it came out and thought Stallone's improbable comeback was fizzling out. I'll have to give it a shot (with appropriately lowered expectations, of course!). By the way, have you ever thought about writing up Stallone's "Nighthawks?" It's almost a little too gritty and depressing, but it does feature a young Rutger Hauer being way too pleased with himself, a rare British version of the angry police chief, and so, so much Stallone cross-dressing. Worth seeing at least once!
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteI saw NIGHTHAWKS years ago and remember kind of loving it– it was before I was a Rutger Hauer fanatic, though, so I've been meaning to revisit it. I seem to recall Rutger says some unflattering things about Stallone in his autobiography, too.
Yeah, in Rutger's book he mentions that Stallone was very competitive and during one of the foot chase sequences kept trying to outdo Hauer, but he beat Stallone every time!
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, Stallone has mentioned that the original ending of NIGHTHAWKS was much bloodier a la TAXI DRIVER.
Yeah, I'd love to see you tackle that film, Sean!
J.D.,
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, now I remember. Well, the people have spoken– I'll have to revisit NIGHTHAWKS!
Funny you'd mention Eyes Wide Shut, Sean -- apparently Slater was one of the most vocal critics of that film. The report I heard was that he was in fact "leading" the chorus of booing and jeering during several of the west coast screenings.
ReplyDeleteBalthazar,
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting--I'd never heard that before.