OUT FOR JUSTICE (1991) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: John Flynn Writer: David Lee Henry Starring: Steven Seagal, William Forsythe, Jo Champa, Jerry Orbach, Gina Gershon, Julliana Marguilles, Shannon Whirry, John Leguiziamo, Athena Massey
It was with a huge lack of something to do that I decided to watch this on good old UPN on sunday afternoon, when the only good things on TV are the second-rate movies they show (some are good: they showed "Total Recall" before this one). If you know me, I think Seagal is probably the most boring action star to ever live. And this includes Keanu Reeves.
What do I hate about Seagal? I hate how he uses one facial expression for every single threatening and non-threatening situation (the squint). I hate those scenes in every movie where he goes around, bullying people up, saying stupid lines with a brooklyn accent more fake than Burt Reynold's hairpiece in "Boogie Nights." I despise how he never gets a bruise in any of his fights. I hate how every single plot twist leads to just a melodramatic fight between he and the chief villain. I hate his non-satirical messages (in the beginning of this one, he slaps on a quote from Arthur Miller, which has nothing to do with the film, except it's about Brooklyn where this film takes place). And I hate how he's so narcissistic that he thinks that he can actually fucking sing (during the end credits, he has a good old hill billy rock tune sung and penned by him). Sure, the guy's probably a nice guy in person (I actually found him very non-threatening when he was on Letterman not too long ago). But the guy makes worse films than Reagan did.
So what's the plot of this shit-terpiece? Well...something about him trying to catch a stupid-ass crook (William Forsythe) who shot and killed his partner in broad daylight. I couldn't believe how bad this scene was - the guy was conveniently with his family so we get the maximum emotional effect (ahem!). And Forsythe even said some stupid lines to him before he took off. I'm sorry, did anyone ever hear of concealing one's self?
So in comes ex-Brooklynite Seagal, who dedicates his life to catching this guy. And I just wished he had caught him in the beginning, then ended the film. But NOOOO, this drags on, as he bullies Forsythe's family members (including a stupid bar-owner, and none other than Gina Gershon as his other bar-owner sister). And Forsythe more than once threatens his family. At one point, he actually comes to their house and stalks them like a non-threatening Nicholson in "The Shining" (complete with them all hiding in the bathroom, but with an added bonus of one girl conveniently loosing her cool and screaming to give them away).
Seagal paints himself as a lovable person, with a son, and a fiancee. He even shows him hanging with his son, checking up on his homework, and then about to take him out for a bit of "catch," when he's conveniently called away on assignment. I dunno about you, but playing "catch" with Seagal was one of my childhood nightmares. He also shows him as that bad-ass he wants to be, with scenes of him bullying crooks around, and taking out people who are stupid enough to attack him even after he's unarmed a chinese guy swinging bats with a pool cue. Serves them right.
This film, as some of his do, has an interesting supporting cast of actors who are actually talented, but don't appear to be in this film. I already mentioned Gina Gershon (who's pretty horrible in this one), as well as William Forsythe, who over-acts terribly. I know this guy can act: he was awesome in "Raising Arizona" as Goodman's partner in crime. But he's just awful here. Jerry Orbach gives the only credible performance in the film as the police chief who checks up on Segal after things have gone down. Why is he the only one who gives a good performance? Well, because his role is small enough and sporadic enough to not tarnish his credibility. He seems to be in here just to give it a cool "Law and Order" feeling (even if it's not a "cool" feeling). And in cameos are B-rated erotic-thriller-Cinemax-style stars, Shannon Whirry (as "Terry Malloy," which is more of a bad joke than a clever one) and Athena Massey. Oh! And "ER"'s Julliana Margiulles has two scenes.
"Out for Justice" just proves once again that American action films just suck. I know that there's such a good thing as good action - he's called John Woo. But if you're in the mood for some good old no-brainer, fun-yet-dumb action, don't bother watching this. It's so stupid that it's boring.
MY RATING (out of 4): *
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