Category Archives: Film Review

Brad reviews DANCING OUTLAW (1991) – starring Jesco White and a few of the other wild and wonderful Whites of West Virginia!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Last year I reviewed the 2009 documentary, THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA, which focused on Jesco White and the out of control White family from Boone County, West Virginia. Today, I’m going back to the original 1991 documentary, DANCING OUTLAW that first introduced us to Jesco and his family. Directed by Jacob Young and premiering as part of the PBS “Different Drummer” documentary series, this program would go on to win a 1992 Emmy Award, as well as a 1993 American Film Institute Award for “Best Documentary.” It would also turn Jesco into a celebrity and pop culture figure in West Virginia. This amazing documentary is currently available on YOUTUBE, and I highly recommend it to any person who’s interested in seeing what poverty and unchecked drug and alcohol abuse will do to the human brain. 

DANCING OUTLAW is where we first meet Jesco White, an amazingly talented mountain tap dancer, who has multiple personalities and a never ending love and respect for his dad, who gave him his talent and his dancing shoes, if not necessarily an outspoken love. The documentary is smart enough to show us Jesco performing on multiple occasions, thus establishing that Jesco is a truly talented and unique dancer.  The multiple personalities seem to come from years of huffing gasoline and lighter fluid that has destroyed his brain. Despite his talent, we are able to observe that Jesco is completely lost as a human being, based on his own words that he willingly shares with us, as well as what we learn from others. 

We meet Jesco’s mom Bertie Mae White, the miracle woman, for the first time in DANCING OUTLAW. One of the more emotional parts of THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA was the fact that Bertie Mae passed away during the year the film was made. Here, however, we meet Bertie Mae almost 20 years earlier and get a better feel for what she was like as a younger, healthier woman. We find out how proud she is of her husband Donald “D.” Ray White. We also see that she’s fiercely protective of her kids, and that they love her, even if she can’t control them. I’ve said before that I can see some of my own Grandma Crain in Bertie Mae.

We also meet Jesco’s wife, Norma Jean White. This is not a match made in heaven, as they fight non-stop, with Jesco usually threatening to kill her at some point. Bertie Mae makes it clear that nobody in their family wanted them to get married, yet here they are anyway… married, divorced, married again. Norma Jean tells us some interesting stuff about Jesco, mainly filling us in on his three distinct personalities:

  1. Jessie – She says Jessie is the most beautiful, perfect man you could ever ask for. 
  2. Jesco – She says Jesco is the devil himself.
  3. Elvis – She says she has to be silent and just enjoy Elvis. Jesco comments that the Elvis side of his personality is what calms him down and keeps him from wanting to kill everyone else in the world.

I think there’s something to West Virginians and multiple personalities. My wife is from West Virginia, has the last name of White, and often references her different personalities. Luckily, the ones I’ve met so far are pretty nice! On a side note, I’m not sure what became of Norma Jean because she’s never referenced in THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA. Based on all of their arguing, I’m hoping they just got divorced, and I pray that she’s not buried somewhere out there in a holler! (Author update – Jesco was married to Norma Jean up until her death in 2009).

One of the more interesting parts of the documentary is when Jesco, Norma Jean, and Jesco’s brother Dorsey tell us about the night their dad, D. Ray White, was killed. Prior to telling us the events that led to his death, we’re treated to some video footage of D. Ray singing and performing his 52 mountain tap dancing steps. He was a truly amazing performer, and you can’t help but think that Jesco will never be quite as good as his dad. However, the events that led to his death can easily be summed up as follows: all kinds of people were partying together, which means abusing alcohol and drugs, when a fight started, and a person out of their right mind blew him away. It’s a sad waste, but it’s also a natural result of a family and community that’s deep into poverty, drugs and alcohol. Not only do we see how profoundly this affects Bertie Mae, Jesco and the rest of the family in this documentary, but we can also see the aftermath of his death, and the unbroken circles of drug use and violence again in THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA. It’s ultimately both sad and pathetic. 

In DANCING OUTLAW, we first meet Jesco’s sister Mamie, as well as his brothers Poney and Dorsey. The only thing I want to say about these three is that we’re updated on each of them in THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA. The passage of time hasn’t been real kind to Mamie, as she’s gone from a pretty, wild, fun-loving woman to a scary, unstable woman who will do anything, including illegal things, to make money. Dorsey is dead from an accidental shooting, and Poney has proven to be the smartest of the bunch by taking his kids and moving to Minnesota for a fresh start. At least there’s one success story since he was able to get away. 

At the end of the day, the documentary just kind of ends where it began, with Jesco and Norma Jean sitting at their trailer and arguing. There really is no “happy” way to end a movie about people like Jesco White and his family. I follow a lot of Jesco’s family members on social media, and I think the notoriety they have received from these documentaries has done nothing but make things worse for them. They are almost all struggling with the effects of poverty and drug abuse to this day. In some ways, these people don’t seem real, but the truth is that they are real, and that we know people like them in our own lives. Heck, we may be people like them. Our issues may not be the same, but our lives often contain unbroken cycles of making the same mistakes over and over again and then wondering why we can’t be happy. If nothing else, watching the slow-motion train wreck of another person’s life can hopefully inspire us to get our own shit together!

I’ve included the YouTube link to the DANCING OUTLAW below if you want to see for yourself!

Summer School (1987, directed by Carl Reiner)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Summer School was the movie that made flunking out look like fun.

Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon) is a relaxed, fun-loving gym teacher who is looking forward to spend his summer in Hawaii until he’s assigned to spend the summer teaching remedial English in summer school.  (His girlfriend goes to Hawaii without him.)  Freddy’s not happy about giving up his summer and he’s prepared to just spend his days taking his students to the beach, the amusement park, and the zoo.  But when he finds out that he’s going to lose his job unless his students pass the big test at the end of the summer, he gets serious and discovers what teaching is supposed to be all about.

When I was growing up, Summer School seemed to be on television all the time.  If it wasn’t on HBO, it was on one of the local stations, usually right before summer began.  The summer school kids seemed to be having too much fun for kids stuck in school.  I don’t think my classmates in Baltimore would have been as happy about losing their summer as the students in this film.  Everyone who has seen this film remembers Dave and Chainsaw (Gary Riley and Dean Cameron) making jokes and showing everyone The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  They also remember Anna-Maria (Fabiana Udenio), the Italian exchange student who took summer school to work on her English.  They remember Freddy letting one of his students move in with him, which doesn’t seem like a good idea even if she was played by Courtney Thorne-Smith.  Myself, I remember Robin Bishop, the teacher next door, who was played by an extremely sexy Kirstie Alley.  (This was one of the many 80s films in which Kirstie Alley made being uptight seem sexy.)  Of course, Robin was dating the snobbish principal who was trying to get Freddy Shoop fired.

I’m not going to sit here and say that Summer School is a great film.  It’s a dumb comedy with an uplifting message about what a good teacher can accomplish.  However, Summer School is a very likable film, an enjoyable 80s teen romp that suggests summer school was the place to be in the late 80s.  Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, and all the students give good performances.  How many future horror nerds were inspired by Dave and Chainsaw?  Legendary nice guy Carl Reiner directed and the movie itself is amiable and amusing enough to be watchable.

Brad reviews the Netflix shark movie UNDER PARIS (2024)!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Last week Sierra and I had dinner with our kids, and as usual, at some point the conversation turned towards movies. Sierra has been watching a lot of terrible shark movies, so I asked the kids if they had seen any decent shark movies lately. Our son mentioned this movie UNDER PARIS, and both he and his wife agreed that they thought it was a good movie. We had not heard of it before, but being tired of the SHARKNADO’s of the world, we decided to check it out.

UNDER PARIS opens with marine biologist Sophia Assalas (Berenice Bejo) and her dive team, which includes her husband Chris, tracking a shark named Lilith. The divers go into the water to obtain a blood sample, expecting to find a normal sized Lilith, but instead discover that Lilith has grown to three times her normal size and is aggressively hunting with a pack of other sharks. Before they can get back to the boat, the divers are all attacked and killed. Three years later and still traumatized by the events of that fateful day, Sophia is now an employee of a Paris aquarium when a young environmentalist named Mika (Lea Leviant) approaches her and says that Lilith’s tracking beacon seems to be active in Paris’ Seine River. Skeptical at first since Lilith shouldn’t be able to survive in fresh water, Sophia changes her tune when a homeless man is found half eaten with wounds clearly caused by a shark. Sophia then works closely with the river police and Sergeant Adil (Nassim Lyes) to try to find the shark before it can kill other Parisians. Wouldn’t you know it, it seems that Paris is about to host a large triathlon that’s tied to the upcoming Paris Olympics. Concerned that the participants could turn into shark food, Sophia and the police meet with the Mayor of Paris (Anne Marivin) to ask her to put off the triathlon. The mayor, however, doesn’t want the bad publicity that would come from cancelling the triathlon due to a “shark problem” so she refuses to cancel and tells them to just deal with it. I think we can all imagine where the story goes from there!

UNDER PARIS is better than most of the shark movies that Sierra and I have been watching, but it’s also a bit of a mess. There are a few things I really did like about the movie. First, I liked the Paris setting, which is not your typical setting for a shark movie. It was fun seeing the Eiffel Tower in the background as our various characters went through all the familiar shark movie tropes, speaking in French no less. Second, I enjoyed the somewhat serious and suspenseful tone of the early portions of the film. Our main character Sophia, as played by Berenice Bejo, is dealing with real tragedy and the movie treats her grief seriously. I think Bejo is good in the film, and I felt for her through these early sequences. I also liked her relationship with Sergeant Adil. Of course he would be skeptical at first, but I thought actor Nassim Lyes did a fine job of balancing rationality with a desire to get to the truth no matter how outlandish it may seem. The suspense around the tragedy at the opening of the film, as well as the portions dealing with convincing the police that the shark is in Paris, are quite effective. Even though it’s a cliché at this point, it was a fun throwback to JAWS (1975) when the mayor of Paris didn’t want to cancel the triathlon due to the bad publicity it would cause. In other words, I really did enjoy a lot of the world that UNDER PARIS created as it was building to the catastrophic shark attacks

UNDER PARIS does have its share of problems. When the big set pieces start and the shark(s) start attacking Paris, the movie pretty much abandons the human stories for CGI shark attacks. I won’t deny that there is some excitement in these scenes, but while the effects are decent, they’re not great, and the non-stop carnage took me out of the parts of the movie that I was really enjoying. Some of the characters, I’m looking at you mayor and environmentalist Mika, are especially naïve and silly, and their downright idiotic decisions lead to the majority of death and destruction presented in the film. By the time half the environmentalists and triathletes have been eaten or severely disabled, I was already wondering how much time we had left to the end of the movie.

Overall, I do think UNDER PARIS is better than most of the shark movies you can find on the streaming services. The unique setting, serious tone, and strong performances get the movie off to a solid start. Unfortunately, it’s just not able to sustain its early momentum throughout to the end.

Summer Rental (1985, directed by Carl Reiner)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

After a blow-up at work, air traffic controller John Chester (John Candy) is given five weeks of paid leave.  He takes his family to Florida, where they rent a beach house and discover that their summer town is controlled by snobbish sailing champion Al Pellett (Richard Crenna).  It’s the snobs vs slobs as Pellett tries to kick John and his family out of their summer rental and John tries to prove himself to his son and daughter (Joey Lawrence and Kerri Green) by winning the local sailing championship.  Luckily, John has Sully (Rip Torn), a modern-day pirate captain, on his side.

John Candy was a remarkable talent.  It’s just a shame that he didn’t appear in more good films.  He will always be remembered for films like Splash, Uncle Buck, Planes, Train, and Automobiles, and Only The Lonely but unfortunately, most of his starring roles were in lightweight, forgettable far like Summer Rental.  Candy is likable as John Chester and sympathetic even when he’s losing his temper over every minor inconvenience.  But the film itself never really does much to distinguish itself from all of the other 80s comedies about middle class outsiders taking on the richest man in town.  Candy is stuck playing a role that really could have been played by any comedic actor in 1985.  It’s just as easy to imagine Dan Aykroyd or even Henry Winkler in the role.  It feels like a waste of Candy.

The best thing about the film is Rip Torn’s performance as Sully.  Torn’s performance here feels like a dry run for his award-winning work as Artie on The Larry Sanders Show.  I would have watched an entire movie about Sully.  As it is, Summer Rental is inoffensive and forgettable.

The History of the World, Part I (1981, directed by Mel Brooks)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Overlong, wildly uneven, gimmicky too a fault, and often laugh out loud funny with a mix of jokes that range from the crude to the sublimely clever to the surprisingly sentimental, The History of the World, Part I is the ultimate Mel Brooks films.

Narrated by Orson Welles and featuring five historical stories and a collection of coming attractions, The History of the World Part I follows man from his caveman origins to the French Revolution and the thread that ties it all together is that humanity always screws up but still finds a way to survive.  Moses (Mel Brooks) might drop and break one of the three tablets listing the 15 Commandments but he’s still able to present the other ten.  Stand-up philosopher Comicus (Mel Brooks) might make the mistake of poking fun at the weight of Emperor Nero (Dom DeLuise) but he still makes his escape with Josephus (Gregory Hines), Swiftus (Ron Carey), and Miriam the Vestal Virgin (Mary-Margaret Humes) and ends up serving as the waiter at the Last Supper.  (“Jesus!”)  The Spanish Inquisition may have been a catastrophe but it also gave Torquemada (Mel Brooks) a chance to show off his performance skills.  The French Revolution may have been a bloodbath but the future still held promise.  Ask for a miracle and he’ll show up as a white horse named Miracle, no matter what era of history you’re living in.

The humor is very Mel Brooks.  During the Roman Empire sequence, Madeline Kahn plays Empress Nympho.  Jackie Mason, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Spike Milligan, Jan Murray, Sammy Shores, Shecky Greene, Sid Caesar, Henny Youngman, and Hugh Hefner all make cameo appearances.  Carl Reiner is the voice of God.  John Hurt plays Jesus.  The film ends with the promise of a sequel that will feature “Jews in Space.”  Not every joke lands.  The entire caveman sequence feels forced.  But when the film works — like during The Inquisition production number — it’s hard not get caught up in its anything-goes style.  The entire Roman Empire sequence is probably more historically accurate than the typical Hollywood Roman epic.  That’s especially true of Dom DeLuise’s naughty performance as Emperor Nero.

Mel Brooks is 99 years old today and he says that he has at least one more film to give us, a sequel to Spaceballs.  I’m looking forward to it!  I’m also looking forward to rewatching and enjoying all of the films that he’s already given us.  The History of the World, Part I may not have initially enjoyed the critical acclaim of his earlier films but, in all of its anarchistic glory, it’s still pure Mel Brooks.

10 Films For The Weekend (6/28/25)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This is the last weekend of my vacation!  I’ll be back on Monday.  Here are a few film recommendations, inspired by both my vacation and the upcoming patriotic holiday!

Keeping The World Safe

Whenever anyone asks me what the best film ever made about Hawaii is (and it happens all the time, let me tell ya), I always reply with From Here To Eternity.  Then I smile and say, “Or maybe it’s Hard Ticket To Hawaii!”  Directed by Andy Sidaris, Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987) has it all.  A mutant snake, a sex doll-carrying assassin on a skateboard, a killer frisbee, the Molokai cops, a single-engine airplane, and Ridge from the Bold and the Beautiful!  This is the film that taught me that the proper way to reply to a guy saying, “Nice ass!” was to smile and say, “You too, Pilgrim.”  Hard Ticket To Hawaii is one of the most deliriously strange and entertaining films ever made and you can view it on Tubi!

After viewing Hard Ticket to Hawaii, be sure to check out Andy Sidaris’s other great film, Guns (1990).  Guns not only features a tropical paradise but it also stars Erik Estrada, giving a totally over-the-top performance as the villain.  Guns can be viewed on Tubi.

As a resident of Dallas, I will always have a soft place in my heart for Sidaris’s Day of The Warrior (1996), in which it is established that the world’s most evil secret organization is headquartered on top floor of the Bank America Plaza and that the evil mastermind lives in “North Dallas.”  You probably have to be from Dallas to get the joke but it’s a good one.  Day of the Warrior can be viewed on Tubi.

Finally, The Dallas Connection (1994) was directed by Andy’s son, Christian Drew Sidaris.  I have to recommend this one because it not only takes place in Dallas but it’s actually named after the city as well!  Filmed on location, this film features plenty of action and exploding toy boat.  The Dallas Connection can be viewed on Tubi.

If you want your action stars to have a bit more of a social consciousness, Born Losers (1967) features Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) in his first film appearance.  In three subsequent films, Billy Jack would go on to fight for pacifism and Native American rights and would eventually becomes a U.S. Senator but, in this film, he just kills a bunch of bikers who have been harassing tourists in California.  Born Losers can be viewed on Tubi.

God Bless America

Next Friday will be the Fourth of July.  USA!  USA!  USA!

Invasion USA (1952) takes a look at what happens when a bunch of people take America for granted.  Fortunately, Dan O’Herlihy is on hand to hypnotize everyone and force them to experience what life would be like if the communists took over America.  Thank you, mysterious hypnotist!  This film can be viewed on Tubi.

Years later, those commies were still trying to invade and divide America.  Fortunately, Chuck Norris was available to stop them.  Invasion U.S.A. (1985) features one of Richard Lynch’s greatest performances and it can be viewed on Tubi.

I Was A Communist For The FBI (1958) claims to tell the true story of a man who spent years working undercover as a communist.  His family rejected him.  His neighbors scorned him.  This film is a real time capsule of the time it was made.  That said, it’s portrayal of communists as being a bunch of upper class bigots who manipulate a working class that they have no interest in being a part of still feels relevant today.  I Was A Communist For The FBI can be viewed on YouTube.

Odds and Ends

Cold In July (2014) is one of the best neo-noirs of the best ten years and it features an excellent performance from Don Johnson, whose weathered toughness gives him a gravitas that he was occasionally lacking in his younger years.  It can be viewed on Tubi.

Finally, Jeff and I watched Smokey and the Bandit (1977) earlier this week.  It’s one of Jeff’s favorites and, whenever I watch it, I’m always surprised to re-discover how much I enjoy it myself.  Fast cars, a truck that looked a lot like the one my Dad used to drive, Southern scenery, and a theme song that gets stuck in your head, what’s not to like?  I related to Sally Field’s confusion as to why anyone would want to eat at a “choke-n-puke.”  It’s available on Netflix!

(Check out last weekend here!)

 

A Father’s Revenge (1988, directed by John Herzfeld)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

After his flight attendant daughter is taken hostage by a group of German terrorists, basketball coach Paul Hobart (Brian Dennehy) grows frustrated with government red tape and heads to Germany to track her down and save her himself.  Realizing that he doesn’t have the experience necessary to do it all on his own, Paul hires Vickers (Anthony Valentine), a shady and ruthless former SAS man who will do whatever is necessary to get the job done.  Joanna Cassidy plays Paul’s wife.  Ron Silver plays the journalist who sees the opportunity to break a great story as Paul searches for his daughter.

A Father’s Revenge is a slow-moving thriller.  I was surprised to discover that it was actually given a theatrical release because everything about it feels like a made-for-television movie.  It’s a predictable movie.  At first, Paul is reluctant to embrace Vickers’s more extreme methods but then he sees that those methods are the only ones that work when dealing with terrorists.  As usual, Dennehy is ideally cast as a beer-drinking, blue collar American and the underused Joanna Cassidy has a few good emotional scenes as his wife.  The movie is stolen by Anthony Valentine, who brings a note of ambiguity to Vickers’s motivations.  The main problem with the movie is that it spends too much time on scenes of people debating what they should do and not enough time showing them actually doing it.  The finale is exciting but it takes too long to get there.

Brad reviews FAMILY OF COPS III: UNDER SUSPICION (1999) – Charles Bronson’s final film! 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Legendary actor Charles Bronson ended his five-decade career by starring in a series of made-for-TV movies, FAMILY OF COPS (1995), BREACH OF FAITH: A FAMILY OF COPS II (1997), and FAMILY OF COPS III: UNDER SUSPICION (1999). I was in my mid-twenties as this series played out, and I enjoyed each of the installments. Today, I’m going to take a look at the final film in the series, and the final film in Charles Bronson’s career.

FAMILY OF COPS III: UNDER SUSPICION opens with Milwaukee Police Inspector Paul Fein (Charles Bronson) and his detective son, Ben Fein (Joe Penny), investigating the double murder of a wealthy banker, Phillip Chandler, and his wife. Their initial suspect, the couple’s son Evan Chandler (Greg Spottiswood), is later found murdered, so they have to keep digging. They eventually uncover a money laundering scandal involving the current Chief of Police (Sean McCann) that may go all the way up to the Mayor (Art Hindle)! As usual, this series includes additional storylines involving other members of the family. One of the subplots involves Paul’s youngest son Eddie (Sebastian Spence), who’s racked with guilt over a S.W.A.T. raid gone wrong. Unable to open the warehouse door at the appropriate time, Eddie blames himself for the deaths of two cops. The other primary subplot involves Paul’s oldest daughter Kate (Barbara Williams), who finds herself pregnant with the child of her social worker boyfriend. Determined to have the baby whether her boyfriend hangs around or not, Kate must navigate their relationship and all the family drama while preparing for the possibility of being a single mother. 

As far as I’m concerned, the fact that this is Charles Bronson’s final film should make it a must watch for any person who considers themselves to be a fan of the icon. Making his debut in 1951 in the Gary Cooper film YOU’RE IN THE NAVY NOW, because he could “belch on cue,” Bronson’s final film would debut on CBS on January 10th, 1999, when he was 77 years old. At such an advanced age, Bronson still commanded the screen even though he was at the end of his career, and as time would tell, near the end of his life. He would be diagnosed in 2001 with Alzheimer’s disease and would pass away on August 30th, 2003. I savor every moment of this film, and while it makes me sad in some ways, in other ways I consider it my favorite of the series. Joe Penny steps up and takes a co-lead role in the film. He’s tough and sensitive, which adds another layer of depth to the foundation that Bronson had established in the first two movies. The series wouldn’t get another movie without Bronson, but I would have definitely been down for a Joe Penny led follow-up! This movie has a stronger sense of humor than we’ve seen in the earlier films, and I also like the main story as Paul Fein and his son take on systemic corruption in Milwaukee. While it’s still formulaic, I found the primary storyline to be more interesting than the generic crime stories in the first two installments. The subplots involving Eddie and Kate add some depth to the Fein family dynamics, but other than the fact that Kate is determined to keep her baby with or without her boyfriend’s help, the subplots didn’t make much of an impact for me. Also, there is one major departure in this installment, as Angela Featherstone does not return as the youngest daughter, Jackie Fein. Nicole de Boer steps into the role, and while she’s cute as a button, the character isn’t given much to do.

Overall, while FAMILY OF COPS III: UNDER SUSPICION is not in the same league as the great films made during Charles Bronson’s prime, it’s still a respectable close to his iconic career. It features good, committed performances, especially from Bronson and Joe Penny. The final shots of Charles Bronson looking over his movie family and smiling as they enjoy each other and share a meal together is a fitting end to his movie career, and one final celluloid glimpse into the man underneath the legendary facade.

Casualties of War (1989, directed by Brian DePalma)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Private Max Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) is a new arrival in Vietnam, a young infantryman who is called a “cherry” by his fellow soldiers.  No one wants to get close to Eriksson because everyone knows that it’s the new guy who is most likely to make a mistake and get himself killed.  The only person who seems to care whether Eriksson lives or dies is Sgt. Tony Messerve (Sean Penn), a squad leader who is so tough and battle-worn that it is easy to forget that he is only 20 years old.  After a member of Messerve’s squad is killed in a firefight and Messerve’s squad had been denied leave despite all of the stress and pressure that they’ve been under, Messerve decides that, during their next mission, the squad is going to kidnap a woman from a village and take her with them.

Eriksson, who is still naive enough to sincerely say, “We’re supposed to be here to help these people,” is horrified by Messerve’s actions.  At first, only he and Diaz (John Leguizamo) refuse to take part in raping the terrified woman (Thuy Thu Le).  Diaz soon caves to the pressure from the rest of the squad and joins in.  Only Eriksson continues to refuse but his attempt to help the woman escape fails when the members of the squad murder her during a firefight with the Viet Cong.  After the battle, the wounded Eriksson discovers that no one in command wants to hear about what happened.  Messerve’s second-in-command, Clark (Don Patrick Harvey), targets Eriksson, trying to shut him up permanently.

One of the many Vietnam films to come out after the success of Platoon, Brian De Palma’s Casualties of War is an intense and disturbing recreation of a true story.   After years of being accused of making misogynistic and exploitive films, De Palma made an effective and sensitive anti-war film, one that did not exploit the suffering of the kidnapped woman but instead portrays the depravity of war and the courage it takes to do the right thing when everyone around is ordering you not to.  While it always takes a while to get used to Michael J. Fox in a serious role (and, at the start of the film, he really does seem to be miscast), he eventually gives the best performance of his career in Max Eriksson and, by using a framing device of Eriksson back in the United States after completing his tour, both De Palma and Fox show how the Eriksson, like countless other veterans, is still haunted by what he saw in Vietnam even after he returns home.  Sean Penn is equally impressive as Messerve, playing him as someone who sacrificed his soul in order to survive in Vietnam.  Messerve has come to view the entire country with contempt and, in his twisted way, he sees kidnapping the woman as a way to reward his squad for all that they’ve endured.  The rest of the cast is also strong, with John C. Reilly making his acting debut as a member of the squad.

Not surprisingly, the dark and disturbing Casualties of War was a box office disappointment.  It’s still one of most harrowing films made about Vietnam and one of De Palma’s best.

Brad reviews BREACH OF FAITH: FAMILY OF COPS II (1997), starring Charles Bronson!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Legendary actor Charles Bronson ended his five-decade career by starring in a series of made-for-TV movies, FAMILY OF COPS (1995), BREACH OF FAITH: A FAMILY OF COPS II (1997), and FAMILY OF COPS III: UNDER SUSPICION (1999). I was in my mid-twenties as this series played out, and I enjoyed each of the installments. Today, I’m going to take a look at the second film in the series.

BREACH OF FAITH: A FAMILY OF COPS II picks back up with the Fein family a couple of years after the first installment. The main storyline follows Police inspector and family patriarch Paul Fein (Charles Bronson) as he supervises the investigation into the murder of a popular local Catholic priest. Of course, the investigation is a family affair, as his eldest son Ben (Joe Penny) is the lead detective on the case. Paul and Ben follow the clues that lead directly to the Russian mafia. As the investigation closes in, members of the Fein family find themselves targeted for beatdowns by Russian henchmen in order to get Paul to drop the case. Other storylines include the widower Paul’s blossoming relationship with detective Anna Meyer. Her “moves” on Paul, which began in the first installment, seem to finally be paying off. Paul’s eldest daughter Kate, the public defender, has her own set of problems when she successfully advocates for the parole of a 12-year-old criminal. On the little psychopath’s first night out, he robs a store, shoots and kills Eddie Fein’s partner, and then gets killed himself when Eddie fires back. Meanwhile, Paul’s youngest daughter Jackie (Angela Featherstone), who seems to be getting her life back on track after the events of the first film, decides she’s going to join the police academy against her dad’s wishes. Finally, Paul’s sister Shelly (Diane Ladd) visits the family, tells stories about her brother, shares a lot of wisdom, and even finds herself caught up in the crossfire of the Fein family / Russian mafia feud!

Charles Bronson was 75 years old when BREACH OF FAITH: FAMILY OF COPS II premiered on CBS on the night of February 2nd, 1997. He still handles the emotional scenes with his family well, gets to throw a couple of punches, and even gets to shoot some people, but the younger men (Joe Penny and Sebastian Spence) handle more of the action this time around. Charles Bronson is still the main reason to watch, but after all of these years, you can finally tell that he is slowing down. There is only one departure from the original cast, and that’s Joe Penny replacing Daniel Baldwin as the eldest son, Detective Ben Fein. I don’t think it hurts the film in any way, and to be completely honest, I prefer Joe Penny in the role. Sebastian Spence and Barbara Williams get to do a little more heavy lifting as Eddie Fein and Kate Fein deal with the aftermath of the young criminal, that Kate helped get released, shooting and killing Eddie’s partner. There is one exchange between Paul and his daughter Kate, who’s dealing with extreme guilt over the situation, that I always found unintentionally funny. It goes something like this:

Paul: “It’s not your fault.”

Kate: “Of course, it is.”

Paul: “Okay! So it is!”

Thanks a lot, Dad! Angela Featherstone, whose Jackie was the most interesting character in the first film, doesn’t have as much to do in this installment. She and Bronson have a great scene together when he tries to talk her out of becoming a cop, but once she heads to the academy, she pretty much disappears from the last half of the film. And finally, I like Diane Ladd as Bronson’s sister in the film. Her character brings another layer of warmth to the family dynamics and helps us get to know her brother Paul a little better.       

As was the case with the original film, the central police investigation into the death of the priest at the hands of the Russian mafia isn’t all that interesting. The bad guys come right out of central casting for TV movies of the era, and the subdued violence and reduced action due to its TV roots can’t help but be compared negatively to the explosive action films that Charles Bronson once headlined. I never felt like the family was really in danger. And this is a completely personal preference, but I don’t care for the romantic relationship that develops between the characters played by Bronson and Kim Weeks. Bronson was dating Weeks in real life at the time of this movie, and they would be married the following year. Although I do hope that they were happy together in real life, I’m just not a fan of Weeks as an actress, and it’s hard for me to accept anyone but Jill Ireland as his on and off-screen love interest.

With BREACH OF FAITH: FAMILY OF COPS II being the penultimate film in Charles Bronson’s career, I definitely recommend it to his fans and to anyone else who enjoys TV movies of the era. While Bronson may be slowing down due to his age, Paul Fein is a perfect character for the icon that allows him to be tough and tender in equal measure. The final sequence of the film always brings a tear to my eye. The entire family is sitting down together to celebrate the weekly “Shabbat” meal when a misty-eyed Paul Fein raises a glass and says, “I’m proud of every one of you… my family.” I know just how much Bronson’s family meant to him, and I can’t help but see that come through in his performance.