Disorganized Crime (1989) Touchstone/Action-Comedy RT: 101 minutes Rated R (language, some violence and gunplay) Director: Jim Kouf Screenplay: Jim Kouf Music: David Newman Cinematography: Ronald Victor Garcia Release date: April 14, 1989 (US) Cast: Hoyt Axton, Corbin Bernsen, Ruben Blades, Fred Gwynne, Ed O’Neill, Lou Diamond Phillips, Daniel Roebuck, William Russ, Marie Butler Kouf, Gregory Wurster, Patrick Collins, Mitch Carter, Dean Norris, Thomas Schellenberg, Robert Feldman, David Hart, Jeff Duus, Noah Keen, Marie Stelin, Dena Dietrich. Box Office: $7.7M (US)
Rating: ***
I’ll grant that the action-comedy Disorganized Crime isn’t a great movie. When held up against similar movies in the Touchstone canon- e.g. Ruthless People, Tough Guys, Outrageous Fortune, Stakeout and Three Fugitives- it’s actually rather forgettable. However, being that I’m Movie Guy 24/7 and have a long memory where cinema is concerned, I remember Disorganized Crime very well. I remember going to see it at a Saturday matinee (April 15, 1989 @ 1pm) at the old City Line Theater. I also remember liking it at the time.
In its 30 years of existence, I rewatched Disorganized Crime once a long time ago. It’s safe to say that when I decided to watch it again this past weekend, it had been at least 25 years since I laid eyes on it. Written and directed by Jim Kouf, it’s an amusing little heist picture about a quartet of crooks looking to rob a bank in a small Montana town. They’re called there by Frank Salazar (Bernsen, Major League), a New Jersey-based bank robber who simply can’t pass up the $500,000 stored in the vault. Unfortunately, his past catches up with him right after he contacts his associates. Two detectives, George Denver (O’Neill, Married with Children) and Bill Lonigan (Roebuck, River’s Edge), show up to bring him back to Newark to face robbery charges there.
Frank is nowhere to be found when everybody shows up. They are Max (Gwynne, The Munsters), a veteran thief and explosives expert with a heart condition; Carlos (Blades, Predator 2), a well-dressed weapons expert; Nick (Russ, Wanted Dead or Alive), a nervous and not-too-bright safecracker with a drinking problem and Ray (Phillips, La Bamba), a young car thief/getaway driver. While they try to figure out their next move, Frank escapes custody and flees into the Montana wilderness with the two bumbling detectives in hot pursuit.
After a setback or two, somebody figures out Frank planned for them to rob the bank. They decide to do the job themselves that same night meaning they have only a few hours to plan and execute the crime. This is where Disorganized Crime falters. The key element of any good heist flick is the planning of the heist. Kouf makes us wait a while for it, putting it off for a silly side plot about the guys needing to raise bail for one of their own after he’s arrested. I get why it’s in the movie. Heists always come with multiple complications so why not one of them getting busted for something stupid? While it works, in and of itself, it delays the movie’s main plot.
Another area in which Disorganized Crime struggles is the comedy part of action-comedy. It’s amusing but not as funny as it should be given the talent involved. Kouf wrote the screenplay for Stakeout, one of the best titles from 80s-era Touchstone. The four principals- Gwynne’s old school thief, dapper Blades, young wise-cracker Phillips and dim, jittery Russ- have decent chemistry. Most heist comedies would paint them as inept and stupid. That’s not the case with Disorganized Crime. They’re not dumb; they’re just clueless in their leader’s absence. Russ’ character is certainly dim in some respects but not when it comes to his specialty. In any event, the foursome is definitely smarter than the two cops trying to apprehend Frank. They never realize they have four additional thieves in their midst. O’Neill and Roebuck have some good moments as does Bernsen whose character is definitely out of his element in the wilds of Montana (which looks great, btw).
For me, Disorganized Crime works a little better as a crime flick. It has a decent car chase about midway through. The heist itself comes together nicely. Sure, the plan to neutralize the local police force is far-fetched but so what? Here’s the deal. Disorganized Crime has a good cast, an engaging enough storyline and a handful of chuckles. It’s an enjoyable little movie. It amuses and it entertains. It hits more than it misses. What more can you ask of it?
