Above the Law (1988) Warner Bros./Action RT: 99 minutes Rated R (language, strong violence, brief sexual content, drugs) Director: Andrew Davis Screenplay: Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett and Andrew Davis Music: David Michael Frank Cinematography: Robert Steadman Release date: April 8, 1988 (US) Cast: Steven Seagal, Pam Grier, Sharon Stone, Henry Silva, Ron Dean, Daniel Faraldo, Miguel Nino, Nicholas Kusenko, Joe V. Greco, Chelcie Ross, Gregory Alan-Williams, Jack Wallace, Metta Davis, Joseph Kosala, Ronnie Barron, Joe D. Lauck, Henry Godinez, Danny Goldring, Ralph Foody, Thalmus Rasulala, Michael Rooker. Box Office: $18.8M (US)
Rating: *** ½
Steven Seagal’s rise to fame story is one of the strangest in Hollywood. Prior to the martial arts master becoming an actor, he taught aikido at his Tinsel Town dojo. One of his students was then-Disney CEO Michael Ovitz, one of the most powerful people in the industry. He claimed he could make a movie star out of anybody. He chose Seagal. After scaring the hell out of studio execs with his martial arts skills in a staged audition, he was allowed to choose from a pile of scripts originally intended for Clint Eastwood. He chose Above the Law which was then rewritten to include Seagal’s own background. It was relocated to Chicago after Andrew Davis (Code of Silence) signed on as director. And thus, a new action star was born.
Believe it or not, the plot of Above the Law is actually fairly intelligent in a convoluted sort of way. It opens with a brief synopsis of the life of Chicago cop Nico Toscani (Seagal). The son of Italian immigrants, he was raised to be patriotic. At 17, he traveled to the East to study martial arts under the greatest masters. At 22, he was recruited into the CIA. He did a tour of duty in Vietnam where he witnessed shady goings-on; namely, CIA spook Zagon (Silva, Code of Silence) torturing Viet Cong soldiers with drugs. He returned to Chicago, joined the police force and started a family. His past is about to catch up with him in a big way.
What appears to be a routine drug bust is anything but when Toscani discovers they were actually smuggling a large quantity of C-4 explosives. It attracts the attention of feds who tell Toscani and his team to back off. Then his family’s church is bombed, killing the priest and a political aide who was there on non-spiritual matters. Despite orders, Toscani continues to pursue the case with his partner Jackson (Grier, Foxy Brown). There’s more to it than either of them could have imagined. You know it’s big when Toscani’s former CIA colleague (Ross, The Last Boy Scout) calls him in the middle of the night to warn him he’s in grave danger. The events that follow are somewhat confusing, but I promise you it mostly makes sense by movie’s end.
It’s unusual for an actor to make his debut in a starring role, but it goes to show the level of power Ovitz wielded at the time. What he wanted, he got. In the case of Above the Law, he got it right. It’s a solid debut for a guy whose fighting skills far outweigh his acting ability. We all know that Seagal isn’t one of the finest thespians in the world. He has the personality of a slab of marble and the emotional range of drywall. He’s so wooden he should standing in front of a cigar store in Native American gear. Thankfully, Davis’ solid direction and an unusually well-written screenplay work in tandem to mask his decidedly limited acting abilities. Besides, who needs to know how to act when you can demolish bad guys as skillfully as Seagal? Nobody breaks arms like he can.
There is no shortage of great action sequences in Above the Law, all of which display its lead’s extraordinary physical skills. He takes on multiple opponents sporting a variety of weapons (e.g. automatic guns, knives, bats, swords) on multiple occasions. He leaves a trail of bodies in his wake on his quest for justice. It’s great seeing Grier in action; I just wish the screenplay gave her more to do. She’s a serious bad ass. As Toscani’s wife, Sharon Stone (Action Jackson) does little more than worry about her husband’s safety and assert his innocence when he’s accused of wrongdoing. Silva, in his limited screen time, is great as the sadistic villain. He has a real gift for playing scary guys.
I saw Above the Law on opening night in a filled-to-capacity theater. Despite not knowing who Seagal was, the audience ate it right up. My friend Mike and I enjoyed it immensely. I still do. Davis is one of the best action directors I’ve ever seen. He knows how to stage an action scene just right. He also knows his way around the Windy City which allows him to make excellent use of the locations- e.g. the elevated line, the convention center. The plotline, although convoluted, earns points for not being the usual cops-and-drug dealers tale. At the center of it all is Seagal who caught the luckiest break I’ve ever heard of. He went on to become a reigning action star of the 90s and without ever (seemingly) taking a single acting lesson. When you can do what he can do, aspiring to be the next Olivier seems rather unnecessary.
