TERMINAL VELOCITY
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1994 Ben Hoffman
David Twohy, who co-wrote THE FUGITIVE, had a "new" idea for a screenplay. "What if a woman arranged a sky-diving incident in order to fake her own death?" Sounds interesting. All it needed was a little better story and better execution, neither of which the film got.
Chris Morrow (Nastassja Kinski) comes into the office of sky-diving instructor, Richard "Ditch" Brodie (Charlie Sheen), saying she wants to learn how to sky-dive. And she is in a hurry. Wants her first lesson immediately as well as her first jump. She tells him she is not athletic but she is determined. "If I don't do it right now I may change my mind and never do it." Ditch says "Okay."
They get into a plane and take off. While up in the air, Morrow diverts Ditch's attention for a moment by saying she sees another plane nearby. He goes up front to ask the pilot if he has seen anything; he has not. Ditch returns to the back of the plane and finds it empty. Looking out the open doorway he sees her hurtling to her death below with the parachute not having opened. The FAA blames him for carelessness, for perhaps not having secured the parachute properly, etc.
As this is the star, who is supposed to have been killed early in the film, it should be obvious that whoever hit the ground, it is not Morrow. That leaves only one person whom it may have been and the audience should easily guess who. Ditch smells a rat and tries to find out what really happened.
The movie has several important goofs and suspensions of disbelief so that it becomes nothing more than hundreds of so-called "thrillers." Exciting parachute jumps happen frequently in the film and there is even a high aerial act (unbelievable) where Ditch transfers from the wings of a bi-plane onto another plane and crawls in through the open back. Sure. An attempt to mix banter and thriller does not help the movie.
Deran Serafian (DEATH WARRANT and BACK IN THE USSR) is the director. In addition to Sheen and Kinski, the cast includes James Goldofini (whom you may recall was Geena Davis' jilted boyfriend in ANGIE) and Christopher McDonald who was in QUIZ SHOW and GRUMPY OLD MEN.
2 bytes. 4 Bytes = Absolutely must see. 3 Bytes = Too good to be missed. 2 Bytes = So so. 1 Byte = Save your money.
Ben Hoffman
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