{"id":2678,"date":"2024-08-22T15:37:21","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T15:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2678"},"modified":"2024-10-14T00:23:37","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T04:23:37","slug":"dead-bang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/22\/dead-bang\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead Bang"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Dead Bang <\/strong>(1989)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Action-Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 102 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (strong graphic violence, language, some sexual content, alcohol abuse)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: John Frankenheimer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Robert Foster\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Gary Chang\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Gerry Fisher\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: March 24, 1989 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Don Johnson, Penelope Ann Miller, William Forsythe, Bob Balaban, Tim Reid, Frank Military, Tate Donovan, Antoni Stutz, Mickey Jones, Ron Campbell, William Traylor, Hy Anzell, Michael Jeter, James B. Douglas, Brad Sullivan, Phyllis Guerrini, Michael Higgins, Tiger Haynes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $8.1M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Don Johnson actioner Dead Bang<\/strong> is a mixed bag. From a technical standpoint, it\u2019s well made with the director\u2019s simple yet hard-edged approach to the material. Unfortunately, it falls short when it comes to narrative. While the main storyline is fairly straightforward, Dead Bang<\/strong> too often gets distracted by unnecessary subplots and characters. It\u2019s a disappointing effort from John Frankenheimer, a gifted filmmaker whose output includes The Manchurian Candidate, Black Sunday, 52 Pick-Up and Ronin (we won\u2019t talk about The Island of Dr. Moreau). Any film buff worth their weight in popcorn knows he can do better.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Johnson, at the tail end of the five-season run of the popular cop show Miami Vice, plays yet another cop in a sunny environment, L.A. to be exact. Jerry Beck (based on a real-life character) is the antithesis of Sonny Crockett. He\u2019s disheveled, ill-tempered, alcoholic and prone to threats of violence. He has what some refer to as an \u201cattitude problem\u201d. He rubs so many people the wrong way it\u2019s a wonder he\u2019s still on the force. At the moment, he\u2019s going through a contentious divorce with an ex-wife who\u2019s just slapped him with a restraining order preventing him from visiting his kids. He lives in a shabby motel where he drinks and stews over his less-than-idyllic circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Beck is assigned the case of a cop shot dead by an armed robber on Christmas Eve. Based on a description by the injured shop owner, he sets his sights on Bobby Burns (Military, Last Exit to Brooklyn), a recent parolee who did time for armed robbery. The dogged cop forces Burns\u2019 PO (Balaban, 2010) to accompany him to the suspect\u2019s home (on Christmas morning) so he can arrest him without a warrant. He\u2019s too late, Burns is already gone. He left with a few other men. In his pursuit of Burns, Beck learns he\u2019s involved with a murderous white supremacist group. His investigation, in which he\u2019s joined by fussy FBI agent Kressler (Forsythe, Extreme Prejudice), uncovers a larger conspiracy headed by Aryan minister Gebhardt (Higgins, Angel Heart). Of course, his superiors don\u2019t believe him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I admire what Frankenheimer tries to do with Dead Bang<\/strong>. He tries to recapture the spirit of 70s character-driven movies and combine it with explosive action scenes popular with 80s audiences. It\u2019s an uneasy mix that doesn\u2019t always work. When it does work, it\u2019s pretty good. The best and most telling scene is a foot chase that ends with a hung over Beck throwing up on a suspect. That\u2019s something you don\u2019t see every day. Here\u2019s something else you don\u2019t see every day. Beck is forced to undergo a psychiatric evaluation with a doctor (Jeter, Tango & Cash) who becomes upset when Beck laughs in his face and tells him he looks like Woody Allen. To be fair, he does. After their session, Jerry threatens him with violence if he fails him. Of course, he\u2019s given the okay to return to duty.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Unfortunately, Dead Bang<\/strong> is beset with problems. Besides being uneven, it also introduces unnecessary plot threads and characters that come and go too quickly. Early on, Jerry sleeps with a woman (Miller, Kindergarten Cop) he meets at a Christmas party. She hurriedly leaves the next morning. Moments later, we find out she\u2019s the widow of the murdered police officer. She explains to Beck that she just wants justice for her husband. Okay, let\u2019s take a closer look at this situation. Less than 24 hours after her husband is killed in cold blood, the woman screws the investigating detective to ensure he catches the killer. Talk about ignoble motives. That\u2019s the last we see of her. She\u2019s never even mentioned again. What\u2019s even the point of her character?<\/p>\n

\u00a0In the lead, Johnson does a decent job. I\u2019m just not sure he\u2019s the right actor for the part. As I watched, I kept envisioning Nick Nolte in the role. He\u2019d be a much better fit than an actor better known for his looks than acting ability. It\u2019s not a terrible performance by any means. He tries hard and succeeds more than he fails. Still, I think a gruff actor like Nolte would fit better with the hard material and gritty tone. Forsythe is pretty good even if his character is something of an a**hole. He\u2019s the proverbial thorn in Beck\u2019s side. In one scene, he chastises a bemused Beck about his excessive use of profanity. Dude, this isn\u2019t Mr. Rogers. Balaban goes seriously underused as the PO understandably pissed about being taken from his family on Christmas morning to help Beck take care of business.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There are some good action scenes in Dead Bang<\/strong>; there are just too few of them. The movie hits its stride late in the game when Tim Reid (WKRP in Cincinnati) shows up as a Colorado sheriff who provides Beck with helpful and reliable assistance in a raid on an Aryan training camp. It\u2019s a good sequence capped by a plot twist that isn\u2019t all that surprising if you understand how movies like Dead Bang<\/strong> work.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It may not be an action classic, but it\u2019s not a complete failure either. It\u2019s not exactly a career high for Frankenheimer, but it\u2019s far from his worst film. That would be The Island of Dr. Moreau which we agreed we wouldn\u2019t talk about. Dead Bang<\/strong> works best if you set your expectations on low and keep them there.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dead Bang (1989)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Action-Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 102 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (strong graphic violence, language, some sexual content, alcohol abuse)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: John Frankenheimer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Robert Foster\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Gary Chang\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Gerry Fisher\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: March 24, 1989 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Don Johnson, Penelope Ann Miller, William Forsythe, Bob Balaban, Tim Reid, Frank Military, Tate Donovan, Antoni Stutz, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action-adventure"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dead-Bang-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2678"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3605,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678\/revisions\/3605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}