Penny Peyser | Through the Shattered Lens

*Charles Bronson and Gene Davis, together again 5 years after TEN TO MIDNIGHT (1983)*

A couple of years ago, I decided I would rank my favorite Charles Bronson films. The rules were fairly simple… 1) only starring roles, so movies like THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and THE GREAT ESCAPE were excluded, 2) no TV movies were included, and 3) my rankings were based on how much I like watching the movies, and not on some BS critical consensus. It was an interesting undertaking, and while I’ve played around with the rankings a little bit, for the most part I’ve kept them the same from that initial ranking. Because I’m obsessed with Charles Bronson, it’s fun for me to write about him and share things about his movies. As such, about once a week or so, I’ll probably share a movie from my list, give my ranking, and talk a little bit about the films. These will not necessarily be reviews, but mostly just some basic thoughts on the films.

My first Bronson movie of the week is MESSENGER OF DEATH (1988), which I rank as 33rd out of 41 Bronson starring roles. What’s interesting is that even though that’s a pretty low ranking, I still enjoy the film for trying to do something different with Bronson at that point in his career in the late ’80s, mainly by casting him as a reporter and not as a cop. He destroys the opposition with superior investigative reporting skills, without having to resort to oversized handguns. Now that his filmography is complete, and has been for over 25 years, I’ve grown to appreciate the times Bronson tried something a little different (with the exception of LOLA). MESSENGER OF DEATH also benefits from a solid cast of veteran actors and actresses, including Trish Van Devere, Laurence Luckinbill, Daniel Benzali, Charles Dierkop, Jeff Corey, John Ireland, and Gene Davis. It’s fun watching these seasoned performers, many of whom have worked with Bronson in the past, do their thing. And last, but not least, with filming locations at the Colorado National Monument and the mountain town of Glenwood Springs, CO, it’s definitely a beautiful film to look at! The older I get the more I appreciate movies that get out of the cities and show us beautiful sights around the country and world. Jeff shared some of his own thoughts on MESSENGER OF DEATH back in 2017!

As of the date of this post, MESSENGER OF DEATH is streaming on Amazon Prime and Tubi if you want to watch it yourself. It’s a film that I’ve enjoyed more with repeat viewings. I’ve also included the trailer below for your viewing pleasure. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on MESSENGER OF DEATH, starring the legendary Charles Bronson!

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1984’s Pigs vs. Freaks! It can be viewed on YouTube.

In the late 1960s, a small town is divided between the conservative older generation and their rebellious hippie children. Former high school football star Doug Zimmer (Patrick Swayze) has just returned from fighting in Vietnam and, unlike many of his former classmates, he is firmly on the side of the establishment. He wears his hair short. He has a job as a cop. He tries to keep his younger sister, Janice (Penny Peyser), from hanging out with hippies like his former best friend, Neal (Grant Goodeve).

Neal is also the son of the local police chief, Frank Brockmeyer (Eugene Roche). Though Frank and Neal have different political beliefs and Frank is always telling Neal to get a haircut, they still have a respectful relationship. When Neal complains that cops like Doug and his partner, Sgt. Cheever (Brian Dennehy), are always harassing the hippies who want to play football in park, Frank suggests a football game between the hippies and the police. When Neal agrees, the game becomes known as “Pigs vs. Freaks.”

While Frank coaches the Pigs and signs a few former athlete as police reservists, Neal recruits his former little league coach, a bearded guru who now goes by the name of Rambaba Organimus (Tony Randall) to serve as the Freak’s coach. He also places a call to a former football star named Mickey South (Adam Baldwin) and talks him into coming down from Canada to play in the game. Of course, Mickey is wanted by the FBI for dodging the draft so it might not seem like a great idea for him to risk federal prison for an exhibition football game but no matter! Who cares that there are now two federal agents watching the Freaks practice? There’s a game to be won!

Pigs vs. Freaks is an amiable mix of comedy and drama. Some of the comedy, like Tony Randall’s bearded guru and Stephen Furst’s perpetually frantic hippie linebacker, is a bit too broad but there’s enough moments of dramatic insight that it’s easy to overlook those flaws. I appreciated the fact that both the Freaks and the Pigs are treated fairly, with both sides getting a chance to make a case for themselves. When they first appear and start harassing the hippies for playing football in the park, it’s easy to dismiss both Doug and Cheever as fascists but a later scene, which is very well-played by both Brian Dennehy and Patrick Swayze, establishes them as just being two men who are confused by the direction of the world. Swayze, in particular, gives a strong performance that reveals the vulnerability underneath Doug’s tough exterior. As for the hippies, Mickey South is no self-righteous crusader but instead someone who feels the Vietnam War is wrong but who is also someone who both misses and loves his home country. Adam Baldwin does a wonderful playing him and is well-matched with Grant Goodeve, who plays the most reasonable hippie that one could hope to meet.

It’s a likable film and well-intentioned, a portrait of two opposing groups brought together by the love of one game. Some will cheer for the Pigs. Some will cheer for the Freaks. I cheered for both.