DESPERADO (1995) - Review

Desperado

Action/Crime/Thriller
1 hour and 44 minutes
Rated: R

Written by: Robert Rodriguez
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Produced by: Elizabeth Avellan, Bill Borden, Carlos Gallardo, and Robert Rodriguez

Cast:
Antonio Banderas
Joaquim de Almeida
Salma Hayek
Steve Buscemi
Cheech Marin
Quentin Tarantino

When the smoke clears, it just means he's reloading.

Along with his good friend Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez is one of the few directors that got his start from the 1990s indie-film-boom and is still today, enjoying a respectable reputation among the Hollywood elite. Sure, there are others - Kevin Smith comes to mind - but Rodriguez is unique in that he earned his fame with considerable talent, and rather than shift into large budget feature films (i.e. Tarantino), Rodriguez continues to stick with the low-budget, tight-scheduled flicks, proving that he is most likely the only man in Hollywood that can successfully pull off being an indie filmmaker and part of the Hollywood elite at the same time. Rodriguez earned this fame very early on with his first film, El Mariachi, but he solidified his creative talent with his second motion-picture, Desperado, its sequel.

Desperado is by no means a perfect motion-picture. It is a complete fantasy, nothing more than an entertaining tale of revenge. While revenge based movies have been done so many times that the majority of them prove to be stale, Desperado triumphs mainly for its pure entertainment value. When the plot is examined under the microscope it becomes clear that it most likely isn't the greatest revenge film ever written, but none of this in the end really matters.

The performances within the film are handled so terrifically that it is apparent that all of the actors assembled had just as much fun making this film as the audience is undoubtedly having watching it. Banderas is charming as ever, and I'll be damned if I ever hear that his most memorable role as an actor isn't as El Mariachi (yes, I've seen Zorro and no, I didn't like it nearly as much). Salma Hayek is stunning, but her believability as a naive girl caught up in the middle of the action just further shows her talents as an actress are just as rounded as her figure. Steve Buscemi has some memorable moments, although his screen time is both too much to be an enjoyable cameo and too little for him to really deserve his top billing. The opening monologue Buscemi gives sets the entire tone for the film - fun, campy, over-the-top, and just an all-out riot. Danny Trejo and Quentin Tarantino also have memorable cameos - although Trejo unfortunately is given no dialogue (not a bad thing considering how menacing he manages to appear).

The film's star though is undoubtedly its captain, Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez wrote, directed, produced and edited - all of which are handled terrifically. It is clear he told his performers to have fun with the film, or else the audience wouldn't be willing to take this wild and campy ride with them. The editing is handled wonderfully, and Rodriguez is truly a believer in old-school methods. He uses steady shots within the action scenes, spliced together with quick cuts. None of that shaky camera work nonsense that is all too common in today's action films. Perhaps the only issue, as stated before is the so-so storyline, but again, Desperado manages to pull the audience past this and into the violently fun universe it has created.

While not the greatest revenge film to ever be told, Desperado overcomes its generic storyline by showcasing an extremely violent and fun fantasy that audiences surely will love. It remains one of the best, if not the best, of Rodriguez' films and shows perfectly his talent as a filmmaker.

9/10

JUST CAUSE (1995) - Review

Just Cause

Action/Crime/Drama
1 hour and 42 minutes
Rated: R

Written by: Jeb Stuart & Peter Stone
Directed by: Arne Glimcher
Produced by: Arne Glimcher, Steve Perry, and Lee Rich

Cast:
Sean Connery
Laurence Fishburne
Kate Capshaw
Blair Underwood
Ed Harris

Buried deep in the Florida Everglades is a secret that can save an innocent man or let a killer kill again.

The 1990s was a decade that saw a slew of "whodunnit" murder-mystery films being forced upon the public thanks to the wonderfully brilliant The Silence of the Lambs. With filmmakers like David Fincher emerging from this genre resurrection, it would appear to be enough to make Dario Argento assume he'd achieve an overdue Academy Award nomination. However, as is often the case when one genre cash cow is milked to its fullest excess, not everything produced therein could qualify as an instant classic. Such is the case with Just Cause.

The film starts off as a slow-burn-legal-thriller, and it remains that way for almost its entirety. It isn't until the very end that the motion picture takes on a dark, Silence of the Lambs-type atmosphere. This disjointed writing is seen throughout the film, and it proves to be perhaps its largest obstacle to which it never overcomes. Whether this is a result of the film having more than one writer is certainly possible - Sean Connery apparently even contributed to the film's script. Even key plot points seem to be completely disregarded. For example, early in the film Connery's character is informed that the murder victim had the murderer's blood in her mouth - meaning she fought back, but this is later contradicted when Laurence Fishburne's detective character tells him that she was unconscious while murdered. Perhaps the "logic" of the story wasn't what the writers wanted the audience to focus on - meaning that they just wanted them to be entertained and enjoy the ride - but whether in legal thrillers, or giallo-esque serial killer movies, both of which Just Cause tries very hard to be, the logic and realism of the story needs to be what's most important in order for it to be an excellent entry of said genres.

None of the other technical qualities are too troublesome within the film. Although, it should be said that the stock footage of Everglades' landscapes - alligators, whooping cranes, mangrove trees, etc. - cut in between the scenes makes the film feel more like a television program attempting to fill an allotted time frame. Whether this decision was the director's, the director of photography's, or the editor's is unknown - but regardless, it was a poor one.

The film's most favorable aspect is its actors. I'm sure with the amount of experienced performers within it, not much was needed in the way of direction. Blair Underwood does a convincing job, remaining levelheaded during all the right moments - and then slipping quickly to hateful and crazy. Laurence Fishburne is also terrific, but unfortunately his character never seems to fully develop into as interesting of an individual as he is introduced to be. In the beginning of the film he's showcased as a negrophobic, violent, African American, officer of the law. As the film fizzles out, his character is anything but this. An unfortunate misstep considering that this may have been a fascinating road to have gone down and explored - even more so in retrospect considering the racial tensions between law enforcement and African American communities today. The film's leading man, Sean Connery, neither embarrasses himself nor sets himself apart from the heard. Just Cause is certainly not his worst film, but it is unquestionably not a film one would use if they'd want to defend him as an outstanding actor.

The real scene stealer is Ed Harris. Harris, undoubtedly, had a blast performing this role of a deranged, Albert-Fish-like, serial killer. His scenes with Connery prove to be the least boring within the movie (and that includes the car chase, and final climax in the Everglades). Alas, one could fault Harris with overacting - but after the stamp Anthony Hopkins left on our minds, it is probably tough for many of us to picture serial killers as anything but cool, calm, and collected madmen. 

With an extremely convoluted story that is nowhere near as intelligent as it is trying to pass itself off as being, Just Cause remains neither memorable nor a complete waste of time thanks to the amount of talent its terrific cast can conjure up.

5.5/10