The Patriot (1986)

The Patriot (1986)- * *

Directed by: Frank Harris

Starring: Gregg Henry, Jeff Conaway, Michael J. Pollard, Simone Griffeth, Diane Stevenett, Stack Pierce, and Leslie Nielsen



"A Fight For Freedom On The Ocean Floor!"







When smugglers sneak into a nuclear storage facility and steal some nukes, only one man can stop them: ex-Navy SEAL and Vietnam vet Lieutenant Matt Ryder (Henry). Back in 'Nam he was known as "The Patriot". He assembles a team to help him, which includes Howard (Pollard) and Kenwood (Mike Gomez). The top Brass, Admiral Frazer (Nielsen) and Commander Mitchell (Conaway) oversee Ryder, who is one bad dude with an attitude. He wears his shades and rides his Harley to bars and picks up chicks. Will Ryder be able to stop the smugglers?

Somehow this movie manages to fill up 90 minutes with not very much happening. There are only mere strands of a plot with some filler in-between. Sure, there are some familiar faces, which is nice, but it's not enough. NOT ENOUGH HAPPENS! However, if you want to see Michael J. Pollard play Twister with a cheerleader you can see it here.

There's a Barfight at The Chili Factory (that should have been the title for this movie, come to think of it) which is pretty lackluster, like the rest of this dull film. The dummies that steal the nuke, the guys that look like David Spade and Andre Agassi, are so dumb, it's hard to believe that A. They could break into ANY kind of facility and B. That they are a serious threat - so the movie has no suspense. The bad guys just dance around to the song "Dance the Night Away" by Randy and Liz Jackson. They're not exactly Ahmadinejad.

The babyish, cackling Pollard is always nice to see, as was Leslie Nielsen in a serious role. It was before he was typecast as a wacky comic actor. It's hard to believe, in 2010, that there was ever a time before Wrongfully Accused (1998) and 2001: A Space Travesty (2000), but there it is for the world to see. There was a scene with just Henry, Nielsen and Conaway in a room talking, which was cool, but it could have been awesome if there was some tension or fireworks.

The action largely takes place on an oil rig, and has to do with explosions. Is BP aware of this? It's almost eerie to watch. Almost. Technical notes: John Barrett of American Kickboxer 1 (1990) and Shootfighter (1992) fame and Kane Hodder of Friday the 13th fame are listed as Stuntmen. The screenplay was co-written by Katt Shea Ruben of The Devastator (1985) fame.

In all, this bland film could have used MORE - more action, more tension, more violence, more edge, more Nielsen, more ANYTHING! It's not BAD per se, but despite the good cast, The Patriot is, sadly, lacking.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Fair Game (1988)

Fair Game (1988)- * *

AKA: Mamba

Directed by: Mario Orfini

Starring: Gregg Henry, Trudie Styler and Bill Moseley





"When Play Time Turns To Prey Time."






Gene Campbell (Henry) buys a deadly black mamba snake and traps his former wife Eva (Styler) in her apartment with the snake. He sits outside in his car, monitoring both the snake and Eva on a computer tracking device. Will Eva escape?

Man, this is one weird movie. The plot, the camera angles (including, you guessed it, "snake vision"), lighting and the strange dialogue all add up to one off-kilter experience. Speaking of dialogue, Henry is great in his role as the deranged electronics whiz who, feeling jilted by his former wife, decides shooting and stabbing her are so old-fashioned and having her get bitten by a poisonous snake is the wave of the future. He gets to say totally natural lines that people say to each other every day, such as: "You're so weak. So sweet, shy and impressionable. It was me, wasn't it? I suffocated you with my strength. Took you over, I corrupted you with my money and my power. You had to ditch me to defend the delicate little flower of your weakness. You can't imagine how much I despise you - I despise weaklings" ...and it goes on from there. The best part is, Henry pulls it off! He is such a great actor, you totally believe him as the nutjob who hates weakness. Did I mention he hates weakness?

Of course, this begs the question, why did he hook up with quirky, artsy-type (She wears two different color socks) Eva in the first place? She must make a lot of money making play-doh sculptures of octopi to afford her gigantic, vast, windowless apartment. In fact, rather than just chop the snake's head off with a knife, she actually jogs laps around the place "to confuse it". She doesn't wear pants throughout most of the movie, even when putting on all her clothes to protect herself against the snake, the pants don't last very long. She also must talk to herself for about 90 percent of the running time. You'll wonder why Sting wanted to marry her.

It is established that Eva is an animal lover, so maybe it was out of pure diabolical evil that Gene wanted to use that against her and kill her with a snake. There is an animal theme throughout the movie, from Eva's shirt with a fish on it, to their names (Eva = Eve, i.e., Adam and Eve and the snake, and Gene = the genetic map of life), and her sculptures.

Also, music legend Giorgio Moroder not only did the music, but also co-produced the film. Clearly the man knows what to invest his money in.

When it came out on VHS in the U.S. on Vidmark, it was labeled as an "erotic thriller". Unless you have a snake fetish, this is a miscategorization. There are only three characters in the entire film, and one, Bill Moseley's character, only in the beginning as the snake salesman. Technically, there is also an uncredited actor as a delivery boy, but this primarily two-person (in two separate places, mostly) film almost could have been a play. Hey Broadway: "Fair Game": the musical? Eh? Eh?

Bizarrely directed by Mario Orfini, Fair Game is an oddity.

Comeuppance review by: Brett

Sin (2003)

Sin (2003)-* *

Directed By: Michael Stevens

Starring: Gary Oldman, Brian Cox, Gregg Henry and Ving Rhames










Sin is a uneven but entertaining revenge film. Ex-Cop Eddie Burns (Rhames) wants revenge for the rape of his sister. He encounters all sorts of seedy types when he realizes his old nemesis Charlie Strom (Oldman) was in on it. A cat and mouse game begins, and secrets are revealed. Who will escape?



Here are the good points to the film: The performances. Oldman and Rhames do a good job with what they are given (Which is very little). There's one scene where they stop fighting and reflect on their actions. It's a well-written scene and you wish the whole movie was like that. But unfortunately, the script is rife with plot holes and complete strangeness. First of all, I forgot to mention is that Burns has ONE arm. Okay, that's great, but don't show the character using both his arms numerous times. The ending is so bad, it has to be seen to be believed. SPOILERS BELOW!


After a car chase, Burns and Strom start fighting in a desert, Then Strom falls into quicksand. The writers couldn't think of anything else? It makes the already mediocre movie worse.

Besides those shortcomings, Sin is worth watching for the actors but that's it.




Comeuppance Review by: Ty

Silent Partner (2005)

Silent Partner (2005) -* * *

Directed By: James D. Deck

Starring: Tara Reid, Nick Moran, and Gregg Henry









Silent Partner is about CIA agent Gordon Patrick (Moran) who is sent to Russia to investigate the "Death" of Mikhail Garin, a Russian government official. Gordon is met by the American Ambassador (Henry) to help in the case. Gordon finds out that Garin's death was suspicious and finds himself in the company of Dina (Reid) who may know information.



Nick Moran is decent in his role. His character is not an action hero, so he does a good job in conveying that. Tara Reid actually does a good job. Her heart is into it and her Russian accent is not bad. Gregg Henry is wasted though. He doesn't do anything. The action scenes are exciting. The car chase was cool and the gunfight was first-rate. Overall, Silent Partner is a fun action movie that keeps your attention.



Comeuppance Review by: Ty