The Maddening (1996)

The Maddening (1996)-* *

Directed by: Danny Huston

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Angie Dickinson, Mia Sara, Josh Mostel, Brian Wimmer, and William Hickey












It’s “Burtsploitation” at its finest as the legendary Reynolds plays an evil psycho in a DTV thriller.

Roy Scudder (the Burtster) and his wife Georgina (Dickinson) live in a creepy old house somewhere in the backwoods of Florida. For their own twisted psychological ends, they kidnap Cassie Osbourne (Sara) and her young daughter Samantha (Buglewicz) and force them to become members of their family. While they’re trying to escape their clutches, Cassie’s husband  David (Wimmer) and police inspector Chicky Ross (Mostel) are also trying to get to the bottom of their disappearance. Will they escape with their lives...or will their attempts just be MADDENING?

Trying out the “Old Dark House” scenario with some Psycho (1960)-like moves on a very low budget, The Maddening really is just a standard, dumb hostage drama but with a few “creepy” shots and musical stings. It should have been more of an out-and-out horror movie with a higher kill count, and what further sinks the notion of horror-ness is some stupid humor. Typified by, among other things, the “comical” fat detective that is always eating and even has stereotypical tuba music playing when he walks. Last time we checked, that’s not what horror fans want to see.

What they DO want to see, obviously, is Burt Reynolds. He has some sort of Southern, perhaps Cajun accent that comes and goes, and the absurd toupee he wears looks like a squirrel glued to his head. But for menacing glares, you can’t do much better than the U.S. VHS cover. This may have been made in the 90’s, but it’s no Malone (1987). The rest of the movie has an odd, stilted vibe.

While the movie has a reasonably professional air to it, due largely - probably - to famous Danny Huston as director - it’s kind of hard to imagine anyone being really SCARED by The Maddening. Unless you’re a kid, but then why would you be seeing The Maddening? Unless your parents rented it and you happened to see it...see, this could go on forever. It’s the type of thing that keeps you up at night, We tell ya.

The Maddening is an oddity that only could have happened in the 90’s. It has some big names in a scenario that wavers between unintentional “laffs” and scenes of child abuse. Burt fans surely would want to see him in a rare bad guy role, but the end result of it all is pretty ridiculous.

Also check our buddy, The Video Vacuum's review!

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Stick (1985)

Stick (1985)-* *1\2

Directed by: Burt Reynolds

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Charles Durning, George Segal, Candice Bergen, and Dar Robinson













Burt Reynolds plays Ernest “Stick” Stickley. We should just stop the plot description right there. But we’ll go on - Stick is an ex-con who gets out of jail and ends up working as a chauffeur for a mega-wealthy dude (Segal) and living at his mansion in the Miami area. While he’s trying to romance Kyle (Bergen) as well as forge a relationship with his daughter after his prison stay, nefarious drug dealers and gangsters are after Stick, led by the flamboyant Chucky (Durning) and his remorseless hit man Moke (Robinson). Will Stick Stickley stick to the law-abiding side of life?

This was the last movie Burt made before his Not Caring period (discussed in our Heat review). Because he still cared (after all, he directed the movie and co-wrote the theme song “I Don’t Think I’m Ready For You” sung by Anne Murray), his demeanor is actually pleasant to watch and he seems to be enjoying himself reasonably enough, by Burt standards. He gets many personas in the movie - from the “Indiana Burt” of the beginning with his bomber jacket, fedora and beard to the “James Bond Burt” of later on, with “Casual Burt” in the middle, complete with pink Members Only jacket. (We’re not entirely convinced that it isn’t a woman’s jacket).

But the real star of the show is Charles Durning as Chucky. In a role like no other we’ve seen Durning interpret, he plays a Rip Taylor-like villain complete with loud shirts and bizarre makeup. Durning steals the movie, but George Segal gives him a run for his money with his big, boisterous role as Barry.

While Burt is as laconic as ever in front of the camera, he does a good, competent job behind it, clearly influenced by the popularity of Miami Vice. But the movie is a lengthy production with a very mainstream look. It needed more grit. It also should have been shorter and snappier. Elmore Leonard usually does good work but 52 Pick-Up (1986) remains his best.

Clearly the Nickelodeon character Stick Stickley was influenced by Burt Reynolds.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Malone (1987)

Malone (1987)-* * *

Directed by: Harley Cokeliss

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Lauren Hutton, Kenneth McMillan, Tracey Walter, Cynthia Gibb, Scott Wilson, and Cliff Robertson 












Richard Malone (Reynolds) is a former CIA assassin and Special Ops soldier whose car breaks down in the sleepy burg of Comstock, Oregon. He’s trying to escape his past, but he runs afoul of the sinister Charles Delaney (Robertson), a small-town megalomaniac who is trying to take over the world. While in Comstock, he makes friends with the kindly mechanic and garage owner Paul (Wilson), and develops an interesting relationship with his young daughter Jo (Gibb of Death Warrant  fame). The town he’s in is so small, he even develops fame among the locals as “The Guy With The Car Trouble”. Even though Jamie (Hutton) is trying to stop his violent ways, he cuts through the corruption and red tape of the local Sheriffs and takes on Delaney and his many goons. 

Malone is 90 minutes of stupid entertainment at its finest. It’s chock full with funny lines and absurd situations, way too many to recount here. Burt Reynolds' monosyllabic performance is just amazing - his contempt for the very fact that he has to be there is so open and unmasked. Luckily for the audience, that’s absolutely hilarious.  But it’s not just Reynolds who has checked out: Robertson as the smarmy land developer who sends thugs to kill off his rivals is a total paycheck role. Both men phoned in their roles to extremely funny effect. I assume this was unintentional. Perhaps Reynolds assumed his mustache, funny faces, expanding gut and bizarre toupee would carry the day. As it turns out, he was right! It totally does.

A lot of the running time of Malone is comprised of various people asking Richard Malone what his name is. There’s always a pause, and then Reynolds exasperatingly exhales “Malone”. This takes up a good 20-30 percent of the film’s running time. Fortunately, this scenario gets funnier every time it happens.

It has been noted the film’s many similarities to the classic Western Shane (1953), but it also appears the later Radical Jack (2000) was heavily influenced by Malone (as has everyone else that’s ever seen it). A mysterious man comes to a small town, a man that happens to be trained in the deadly arts, and tries to stop yet another small-town crime boss (I guess every little town has one) and must fight the “evil yokels” along the way.

On the technical side, if you live in America and have Netflix streaming, watch Malone that way. It’s in widescreen and the print they found is stunning. Even though we had seen it on VHS previously, watching it on streaming was like watching it for the first time. It really brought out the full potential and many nuances of the film.

You’ll be singing “I think we’re Malone now” as you laugh your way through this very enjoyable gem.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Driven (2001)

Driven (2001)-*1\2

Directed By: Renny Harlin

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Til Schweiger, Kip Pardue, Estella Warren, Gina Gershon, and Robert Sean Leonard






"The street track is very dangerous!"






In the dangerous world of drag racing, Jimmy Bly (Pardue) is an up and coming drag racer. He is always battling fellow racer Beau Brandenburg (Schweiger) to be number one. When Bly falls into a slump, Carl Henry (Reynolds) hires old salt Joe "The Hummer" Tanto (Stallone) to mentor him. There is a lame romantic subplot involving Sophia Simone (Warren) and it causes more animosity with Beau and Bly.


While this is not a straight to video release, it sure looks like one. For example when Tanto is racing, he runs over CGI quarters that look awful and it is hilarious. The racing sequences leave a lot to be desired and apes Days Of Thunder (1990). There is pervasive product placement throughout the movie. It is basically a 2-hour commercial for Nextel and Target.com among many others.

There are numerous dialogue scenes between Tanto and Beau which are nigh-unintelligible because Sly slurs his speech and Til has a heavy German accent.



This nonsense was written by Stallone (including all the funny names) and a lot of plot items make no sense or are not fully thought through.

I guess Carl has a past with Joe Tanto and he forces him to mentor Bly with the line: "We go back, you and me. We go way back. You owe me Joe.". We never know the past between them. There is the prerequisite scene where Bly gets in over his head and Tanto yells: "You don't know who you are anymore!"



The most annoying thing about the movie is that it is geared towards the ADD\ADHD generation. Every scene has lame rock music from the 3-CD collection "The Edge" (not sold in stores!)

"Driven"? more like Drivel!

Comeuppance Review by: Ty

Strike Force (2003)

Strike Force (2003)-* * *

AKA: The Librarians

Directed by: Mike Kirton

Starring: William Forsythe, Burt Reynolds, Erika Eleniak, Christopher Atkins, Ed Lauter, Andrew Divoff, Daniel Bernhardt, Mark Foley, and Matthias Hues









Strike Force or "The Librarians" is a stupid, fun action movie that doesn't take itself too seriously.

William Forsythe stars as Simon, who is looking for a missing daughter of a wealthy client. He meets up with Sandi (Eleniak) who is also looking for someone-her sister. But there are evil bad guys afoot. The most evil of them all is Marcos Canarious (Divoff). Marcos likes to kill people.



So now, Simon and Sandi have to team up to bring down the villains. The whole cast is great, with Divoff stealing the movie. There are also cameos by Ed Lauter, Burt Reynolds, and esteemed star of stage and screen, Mark Foley (actually disgraced politician Mark Foley in the greatest cameo since Gloria Allred lit up the screen in On The Edge).  If you are looking for a silly action film, watch this and have a good time.




Comeuppance Review by: Ty

Grilled (2005)

Grilled (2005)-* * *

Directed By: Jason Ensler

Starring: Ray Romano, Kevin James, Jon Polito, Kim Coates, Michael Rapaport, Juliette Lewis, and Burt Reynolds










Grilled was a pretty funny and suspenseful dark comedy. Ray Romano and Kevin James play meat salesman who are in a slump. If they don't make at least two sales, they're going to be fired.



Ray Romano was really good in this. He doesn't have to wait for a laugh track this time. Kevin James is his usual bumbling self, but he showed that he can be serious also and he pulled it off. You care about their problems. Jon Polito, Juilette Lewis and Michael Rapaport put in funny performances. The two stand-outs are Burt Reynolds and Kim Coates. They take one-dimensional characters and make them interesting.



"Grilled" doesn't deserve a quick death. It's worth watching.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty

End Game (2005)

End Game (2005) -* * *

Directed By: Andy Cheng

Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., James Woods, Angie Harmon, Anne Archer, Peter Greene, Todd Jensen, Sarah Ann Schultz, Brian Presley, Jack Scalia, and Burt Reynolds









End Game is one of the biggest Direct-To-Video movies of the year. Like Edison Force (2006) The Big White (2005), and Grilled (2006), it shows that any movie with an all-star cast and good premise can go DTV.

The plot: The president has been assassinated. Secret Service Agent Alex Thomas (Gooding Jr.) feels responsible. He starts to fall into a deep depression. When reporter Kate Crawford (Harmon) realizes that there's a conspiracy about the killing, she enlists Thomas's help. When they start to dig deeper, The assassins start to target them and all witnesses. Can they escape?



This movie was slated to have a theatrical release, so the action scenes are 100 times better than your usual Seagal\fast cut crud.


While Burt Reynolds looks like a Madame Tussaud's wax statue of Burt Reynolds, and that is somewhat distracting, the rest of the cast, including Todd Jensen, put in their usual professionalism. Woods and Reynolds have a good confrontation in the beginning. The only problem with the movie is the ending, I won't spoil it, but I will say they don't stop while they're ahead.
Overall, End Game is one of the best straight to video movies I've seen in a long while and if you like Cuba Gooding Jr. Or Woods, definitely check it out.


Comeuppance Review by: Ty

Big City Blues (1997)

Big City Blues (1997)-Zero Stars

Directed By: Clive Fleury

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Roxana Zal, Georgina Cates, Giancarlo Esposito, Balthazar Getty, and William Forsythe









Big City Blues is terrible. The main problem is the lighting. You can't see anything. I mean it. The whole movie looks like it was shot in absolute darkness. The bad quality cover you see above right is how the whole movie looks.



How can they release this on video? Besides the lighting, everything else is wretched. From what I could see of Reynolds and Forsythe, they couldn't care less. I think the plot was about two hitmen and their targets. The idea of a Pulp Fiction (1994) with Burt Reynolds is interesting, but this mess can only hurt him. Thankfully, not a lot of people will see this.





Comeuppance Review by: Ty

Raven (1997)

Raven (1997) -* * *

Directed By: Russell Solberg

Starring: Burt Reynolds and Matt Battaglia










If you loved other Burt Reynolds action flicks like Stick (1985) or Malone (1987), You'll like this one. Burt plays Jerome Katz, AKA "The Raven", an assassin for the government. When his latest mission busts, he goes underground. He turns up a few years later as a mercenary who plays by his own rules. His newest job is kill Martin Grant (Battaglia) who is a fugitive. As usual, it doesn't go as planned. The best action sequence was in the beginning.



The plot is lame and dialogue even worse, but Burt puts in his usual good performance.


Comeuppance Review by: Ty