JUDGMENT NIGHT
A film review by Jon Ridge
Copyright 1993 by Jon Ridge
CAST: Emelio Estevez, Denis Leary, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Stephen Dorff,
Jeremy Piven
DIRECTOR: Stephen Hopkins
PRODUCER: Gene Levy
SCREENPLAY: Lewis Colick
SCORE: Alan Silvestri
RUNNING TIME: 1:49
RELEASE: October 15, 1993
Somewhere between big-budget action films and small-budget morality tales exists JUDGEMENT NIGHT, a constantly exciting, always tense urban thriller about kids on the run. And no matter how you feel about foot-chase movies, or shoot-out movies (or even movies that seldom show you the light of day), *this* movie is never less than engaging at any time.
We first meet Frank Wyatt, a family man whose wife thinks he should stop hanging out with the guys who "have the hormones of teenagers" and start being around adults more. But Frank hasn't been out of the house in a long while and he thinks he needs a breather. So, he tells his wife he loves her, kisses his baby's head (just like any devoted father and husband should), and is off with his best friends for a night out.
Next, are Mike, Ray, and Frank's brother (whom he never, ever gets along with) John. They all congregate in a van/bus, and are off to watch boxing in downtown Chicago. Wouldn't you know, traffic's too damn slow, and Ray decides to get off the main highway for a short detour. And wouldn't you know, they find themselves in a part of town none of them has ever seen before. Ray is determined to get them to the boxing match on time, but then a funny thing happens-- he hits some guy on the run from bad guys.
The guys try to help out this stranger they've nearly killed, but before you know it the bad guys show up and retrieve the strange man. Enter Fallon (played by Denis Leary), a drug kingpin/mobster/whatever who pulls a gun and murders the man in cold blood. "Rule number one: Do not steal from me," Fallon states to his band of henchmen. "Rule number two, no witnesses."
And so it goes, as this action-adventure is set into nonstop motion. Given the amount of time this film in on the screen, and the number of long encounters which take place, not much time is allowed for much character development. So, there isn't any (except if you count a whiner/wimp who only shows his true colors when it's too late). Then again, developing characters who provide the grounds for a story that just about leaves you breathless, and nothing more, would be a waste of time, especially when the action is as good as it is here. We get fights in the sewers, on and off trains, in low-rent apartment buildings, and even (the finale) in a small shopping mall downtown. And each sequence has a distinct feel to it, and each is inventive enough to make you feel as though you haven't seen any of this before.
The script, by Lewis Colick, is extremely derivative in its ways of executing action and suspense, and the score, by Alan Silvestri, (when it can be heard through all the fantastic rap music) sets a nice tone for what you see. Director Stephen Hopkins, of PREDATOR II fame, does what he couldn't do in that film with this one: Make it credible enough for us to want to continue watching. True, this isn't a classical piece of cinema, but it does just what it needs to: Stay on the screen as long as it needs to be there (no longer, and no less), and excite us while we watch.
CRITICAL RATING: *** Rated R, for Violence and Profanity...
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