THE GETAWAY
A film review by Vijay Ramanujan
Copyright 1994 Vijay Ramanujan
THE GETAWAY
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, James Woods, Michael Madsen,
Jennifer Tilly.
Plot: Doc (Alec Baldwin) gets thrown in jail after arranging a prison
escape. He is sprung from jail by a big-game crook (Woods) in order
to pull a theft at a dog track. And ... it keeps going, and going,
and going.
Well, actually it wasn't that bad. The movie starts off quite well, with the opening scenes of the prison break and the "delivery" going quite well. I maybe a fool, but I still think that Alec Baldwin can deliver the goods. For every horrible movie he's done (a la MALICE) there is also a great performance (like his Jimmy Swaggart from GREAT BALLS OF FIRE). He is great, if consumed in small quantities. These scenes work for him because he is secondary to the action. For about twenty minutes of this movie, I actually cared what was going to happen to him.
Then came Kim Basinger. Our local paper said that this was the movie in which Bassinger finally proved she could act. WRONG! There was no such thing. She walks, she talks, she looks like she is there because she enjoys being on film with Alec. There is no conviction in her performance, and she is not helped by a screenplay that looks as if it was cut and pasted from previous action thrillers. "Do you trust me?" she asks, ready to help him shave. (read--if she cuts him, sad ending--if she doesn't, happy ending.)
The relationship between the two of them had me thinking "Gosh, they could have called this MARRYING MAN 2: THE GETAWAY! They fight, they make up, they have sex. They fight, they love each other. Then why is she pulling a gun? Because she loves him. So they have sex. They fight, while having sex. They have sex while fighting. But they really do love each other. You can tell, because they keep reminding us.
The middle of the movie was ... well there was too much of it. James Woods is excellent as the "bad guy," although he is given almost nothing to do. Had he been given a little more screen time, the movie might have moved at a little better pace, he seems more capable than the rest of carrying a slow movie. But instead, his character is, surprise, cannon fodder for Baldwin and Basinger.
Then there is the Freddie Kreuger character, in the form of Michael Madsen. That's right, he never dies. You shoot him repeatedly, he falls, bleeding, into a river, then he crawl back out. You beat him senseless with a pipe, and he comes back, stronger. And somewhere along the line, he picks up our comic relief, the ultra horny Jennifer Tilly. Of course, I saw this coming from shortly after the opening credits. A little too obvious. (And not really funny either).
And then the shoot-out at the end. What can I say ... way too long. People jumping from windows and getting shot. People standing on stairs and getting shot. People being held down and tortured. Basically, lots of gore. If this is what you want, save yourself $6 and watch some 12 year old playing Moral Kombat. It's probably more entertaining.
If there was one saving grace for this movie, it was an absolutely hysterical ending, involving some old geyser and a pick-up truck. (And Yes, it was intended to be funny.) So, on the basis of the beginning and the end--1.5*/4 (not as bad as MALICE, but not good either).
Vijay Ramanujan
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