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Just recently discovering this on dvd, I'm actually suprised I haven't heard much about it before. A modern film noir that's a very loose remake of "Out of the Past" with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas. The film instead focuses on gorgeous, sunny locations like Mexico and the finer locations of L.A. instead of the dark and grungy look that most film noir's follow. Jeff Bridges stars as a pro L.A. football player that gets cut because of a mild injury. Upset because he has some good years left in him, he attempts to sue the team to no avail. Broke and looking for a job, a shady past friend played by James Woods shows up with a job offer: find his girlfriend who split on him and headed to Mexico. This girlfriend also happens to be the daughter of the woman who owns the L.A. pro football team, a ruthless business woman who is primarily interested in real estate and inherited the team from her late husband. When he decides he needs a vacation and the money, he takes Woods up on his offer. After a couple days of useless searching, he finally finds her...and immediately falls in love. The femme fatale is played by Rachel Ward, a hot commodity back then, coming off of The Thornbirds. A spoiled rich princess-type, she eventually succumbs to him and the following scenes are some of the most beautiful sequences put on film. The only commercial movie that has filmed scenes in the gorgeous ancient ruins of Chichen Itza and Tulum, these sequences make the film. The sex scene is one of the best I've seen, really putting a passion on the screen without becoming too...late night cinemax. Unfortunately, from here, the film plummets into a convuluted mess trying to deal with issues that seem out of place with the film: The L.A. business elite, gambling, real estate, etc. I think the film is definitely worth a watch for the first two-thirds alone. Also, dvd fans are encouraged to listen to the cast commentary. One of the better commentaries I've heard, there is a lot of great anecdotes from a rare track by Jeff Bridges and James Woods. The two leads really seem to come off as real friends joking and ribbing each other, unlike some of the stuffy professional actor commentaries that are usually the case.

I expected a cringefest, but actually ended up liking this movie a lot. Befitting its era, it has a sleazy "Miami Vice" atmosphere, complete with Porsches, Ferraris, casual jackets, big hair and a great soundtrack including a live show by the one and only Kid Creole. But there's more. Nice location shoots in Mexico - Cozumel, Tulum and Chichen Itza. Jeff Bridges and James Woods, who play fairly complex characters well. A dark script that delivers some good moments, especially during the final 30 minutes.

Yes, it's a B-movie, and at times it feels like a protracted episode of Knight Rider, the A-Team or the aforementioned Miami Vice. But is that a bad thing?

If you're looking for a real 80s experience, find "Against All Odds" on VHS, pop it in your VCR and soak it in.

The single thing that stand out most for me in this film is the very last shot of Rachel Ward looking at the camera while Phil Collins, singing the title song, says "How can I just watch you walk away, when all I can do is watch you leave".

If you've ever been part of a couple where 2 people loved each other so very much, but it had to end because circumstances like jobs, school, parents, etc. made it impossible to continue, this movie is for you.

If you've lived through a time in your life when you and your friends/lovers were immortal-young lions-with the world at your feet, but one day you sense a change of seasons in the air... a change that for shadows the coming of the real world you always knew was there but that you had hoped against hope to avoid, you'll love this movie.

Great characters, solid performances, top notch script, beautiful natural scenery in Mexico, great soundtrack and a real "LA in the 80's" feel. For the most part the film holds up well today and the "look" is timeless. Very few holes in the plot, if any, and a fine supporting cast.

Loosely based on a 1947 film noir, "Out of the Past," Taylor Hackford's "Against All Odds" has strong performances in all but the most critical role. Jessie, a confused disoriented heiress, is the romantic obsession of two men and the crux of the film's action. However, Rachel Ward fails to convince that Jessie could obsess anyone with her flat delivery and phoned-in performance. Jessie runs off to Mexico to snorkel and shop, and her gangster boyfriend hires an injured football player to find her. Sending a handsome hunky athlete off to find your girlfriend at the beach is not an inspired idea, and both the expected and the unexpected ensue. The twisted convoluted tale occasionally meanders, and the pacing falters at times. However, when the sweaty romantic scenes are over, the plot manages to re-energize and re-capture attention towards the fade out.

Despite her physical beauty, Ward is the black hole at the film's center. However, her two co-stars are more captivating. James Woods can play slimy gangsters in his sleep, and his Jake Wise is appropriately chilling and creepy, which makes Jessie's attraction to him even less convincing. Evidently Jake had a brain fart when he decided to hire Terry Brogan to search for the girl who deserted him, because Jake and Terry are worlds apart in the looks and charm departments. Jeff Bridges's athletic Terry, who has history with Jake, is unwittingly drawn into a vortex of corruption during his search for Jessie. Although always watchable, Jeff Bridges has had better and more demanding roles than an injured jock playing private eye. Despite a decent script adapted by Eric Hughes from Daniel Mainwaring's original, the film's central mystery is why Jake and Terry would be hopelessly drawn to a shallow drifter like Jessie. Ward received top billing over Bridges and Woods, another mystery as baffling as any in the plot.

Experienced veterans provide solid supporting performances, led by a still-handsome Richard Widmark, who, at age 70, remained a commanding presence. In a nod to film buffs, Jane Greer, star of the 1947 version, appears as Ward's cold distant mother. Location work in the Mayan temples of Mexico's Yucatan is travel-log appealing, and the end credits feature an Oscar-nominated title song by Phil Collins. An exciting car race through Los Angeles traffic is thrilling, if pointlessly reckless. Although "Against All Odds" runs more than 20 minutes longer than the 1947 original, Bridges and especially Woods are compelling enough to hold attention even when the tricky plot wanders.

Ex football player Terry Brogran (Jeff Bridges) takes a job from sleazy friend Jake Wise (James Woods)--to find his ex girlfriend Jessie Wyler (Rachel Ward) who shot him and ran away with a large amount of his cash. Terry tracks Jessie to Mexico...and immediately they fall in love. That's the first hour--the second hour becomes very convoluted with murders and double crosses all over the place.

Interesting movie which is a semi-remake of "Out of the Past". In fact Jane Greer from the original plays the mother of her character here! The original was a strong, well-written film noir. This is not film noir--it's a combination romance/mystery/melodrama. Also Greer played a totally amoral woman in the original--here Ward isn't amoral, just misunderstood. Also Bridges is all pumped up and him and Ward work wonderfully together. Their frequent very R rated sex scenes really work. And it looks great--a portion of the film takes place in Mexico. Still there are definite problems here.

One character, Edie (Swoosie Kurtz) is introduced to provide some REAL clumsy exposition...and doesn't pop up again until a HOUR later. I had forgotten who she was! Alex Karras is incredibly bad in his role. The plot gets way too confused. And the movie isn't sure what it wants to be. It switches gears so much I thought I was gonna get whiplash! The best part of the movie--an incredible car race down Sunset Blvd. Has NOTHING to do with anything in the movie! The acting is pretty good. Bridges (in one of his few commercial films) and Ward LOOK fantastic, have great bodies and are both good in their roles. Woods is, surprisingly, pretty wooden. Greer isn't in much but she IS very good. And Richard Widmark hams it up in his small role.

Also the film has a surprisingly somewhat downbeat ending. And there's a wonderful title song by Phil Collins (nominated for an Academy Award).

A very interesting movie. I give it a 6. A sizable hit in its day--but that's because of the steamy sex scenes between Ward and Bridges.

Parts of "Against All Odds" are absolutely magnificent. The Mexican location photography is terrific. Rachel Ward looks great as does Jeff Bridges. The chemistry between them is mostly believable. I liked James Wood's smarmy, pompous, character. Alex Karras seemed miscast, as did Richard Widmark. The story piles on a thickening plot that occasionally wanders off course, and is probably more complex than necessary. No police are involved, and bodies too conveniently disappear. The ending seems especially forced, with an outcome that is less than satisfying.

The film is beautiful, however the characters are mostly unlikeable, including Rachel Ward's. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed this partially flawed movie. - MERK

"Against all Odds" is a 1974 moody remake of the noir classic "Out of the Past" and ultimately less successful. This time around, it's not Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer (though Greer appears in this films as the owner of a football team) but Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward. The film also stars James Woods, Alex Karras, Swoozie Kurtz and Richard Widmark. Ward plays Greer's daughter, who runs away from her boyfriend (Woods). When Bridges is cut from the football team, bookie Wood hires him to find his girlfriend. Trouble follows.

Somewhere post-Thornbirds, the beautiful Ward started playing bad girls. Here she's not so much bad, as Greer's character was in the original, but more of a brat and an ingrate. Totally unlikable. The cast is very good, but too much to type so that there were no surprises in the story. Ward usually plays a user, Woods someone snarky, Widmark bad guys, Greer cold as ice. So after meeting everyone, it wasn't hard to figure out that Bridges was asking for trouble. Oh, and did I mention that Saul Rubinek often plays slime and Pat Corley is usually a crooked politician? It was almost paint by numbers.

Despite some beautiful scenery, some good scenes and good acting, Against All Odds left me disappointed. The plot, as in Out of the Past, is a little convoluted, which would be okay if, at the end, you cared. I didn't.

Former football player Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges) is searching for Jessie Wyler (Rachel Ward) in Cozumel, Mexico for a shady acquaintance Jake Wise (James Woods). She's the daughter of the owner of Terry's former pro team. Jake claims that she came at him with a knife and stole $50k. Terry is broke and desperate to get back on the team. He contacts Jessie's mother (Jane Greer) but all she offers is more money than Jake to find Jessie. Jessie doesn't want to be found by either Jake or her mother but she falls for Terry.

The movie is bogged down by a lot of unnecessary plot. I don't understand why cutting him from the team is so complicated. It should be a lot simpler. There are real estate deals and politics. Some effort should be expended to simplify a lot of this. Everything is artificially elevated. Terry and Jake are racing their fast cars and I don't care. Nobody is going to die and there's no prize to win. That scene could have been cut down to achieve the same point. It takes 35 minutes to get to Rachel Ward and it takes even longer for them to develop the required chemistry. It's a lot fake overwrought romanticism in the breezy Caribean. At least the movie locations provides a terrific backdrop for the iconic Genesis song. Then the movie devolves into a convoluted mess.

Anyone who has ever read Daniel Mainwaring's 1947 novel 'Out of the Past' will quickly see the connection to Hollywood's newest remake called " Against All Odds." In the 47' version it was Robert Mitchum against Kirk Douglas, the new release star's Jeff Bridges and James Woods. In the original Mainwaring story, the hero plays a detective, the second transforms him into a football player. Both are essentially hired to travel South, searching for a run-away girlfriend with stolen cash. Both find the girl and then the story becomes more convoluted than a Bavarian pretzel. The movie is fraught with twists and turns and once inside the story-line, it becomes difficult to follow who is doing what to whom. Following closely, the audience is privy to the hot-off-the-griddle love triangle between the principals. At the same time, we try as hard as we can to Follow the Money. Those who have it want more and those who ignore it, willingly trade it for personal interest. In the end, this is a particular film which warns audience members, don't take your eyes and ears off the screen or else you'll lose your place. Interesting novel, but loses something when transfered to the screen. Alex Karras, Sal Rubinek and the late great Richard Widmark, add to the re-make. But, personally, I like the original movie as the re-make will steam up your glasses. ****

Against All Odds is an less than effective remake of Out of the Past that RKO noir classic that starred Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas and Rhonda Fleming. Not that the players in this film are bad, far from it. But the whole basic structure of the story was completely changed.

What made Out of the Past the classic it is, is the moody tension and overwhelming sadness surrounding the leading characters. Most of all Jane Greer who is an evil temptress beyond description bringing death and destruction to all around her.

Jane Greer is in this film, but as the mother of Rachel Ward who plays the part Greer had in the original. Ward in this one is just a spoiled young woman who runs off with bookie James Woods to upset mom and then runs off with him.

Greer is the owner of a professional football team in Los Angeles which she runs with her high priced fixer of a lawyer Richard Widmark. I think they're characters are modeled on Joan Payson who was the original owner of the New York Mets and M. Donald Grant who was reputed to be the hard character Widmark portrays.

Anyway Jeff Bridges gets into the act when he's cut from Greer's team and goes to work for Woods trying to locate Ward. The rest of the film is pretty much following the plot of Out of the Past until the ending which is completely different. Remember how everyone ended up in the RKO film and the same doesn't happen to most of them.

Still it's not a bad film, but Against All Odds just won't be a classic.

I thought the plot was far superior to most cardboard cut out Hollywood love triangles. That may be due to the fact that Against all Odds "borrows" a lot of stuff from the movie "Out of the Past" starring Kirk Douglas in 1947. I really enjoyed it, but probably for different reasons. As a kid I loved football. When I first saw this film I had to be 12. The movie combines football with beautiful scenery from Cozumel Mexico, (and of course the beautiful Rachel Ward) just enough to grab my interest and take me away from my miserable existence that is the Midwest. As I watch it now 20 years later I am still filled with joy. Amazing how selective the mind can be. I recommend it. It will take you to another time for a while. A place devoid of terrorists, war, anger, and hate. you know the things our media (local news)crams down our collective throats everyday. Not that the film's subject matter is very glamorous. Just what reality was 20 years ago, which although violent doesn't even come close to what we deal with today. When I lived through the cold war and the fear of nuclear Armageddon, I never thought the situation could get any worse. Boy was I wrong. Show how much we know as children. Check out the movie. Its great to open those time capsules every once in a while and slip out of this unreality. To maybe even draw insight into how we got to this point?

The film is a part remake of 'Out of the Past.' Jeff Bridges is a washed up football player Terry Brogan who to makes ends meet takes a job from a shady pal Jake Wise played by James Woods who seems to be involved in some kind of illegal bet fixing. His girlfriend Jessie Wyler played by a sultry Rachel Ward shot him and ran away with some money to Mexico and wants Terry to track him down which he does hand ends up with a steamy relationship with her instead.

Now I am aware that 'Out of the Past' also had a convoluted plot in the film noir tradition. Here the the film comes across as confusing, silly and dull. It seems all of Brogan's former football coaches are involved in some dark deeds, one of them is even sent to wipe out Brogan. The side plot of his football team owners, associates and Brogan's own lawyer being involved in backstabbing him as well as some land development deal comes across as half baked.

Still the film is well shot, Bridges and Ward make a sexy couple, Woods at the time was making himself a reputation as a bad guy and the end title song is very good but the film never lifts off.

Having already sustained a shoulder injury previously, an aging professional football player by the name of "Terry Brogan" (Jeff Bridges) is not exactly a hot commodity for a team looking to add fresh new talent. Adding to that, his arrogant attitude isn't helpful either and as a result he is subsequently cut from the team by an underhanded owner named "Ben Caxton" (Richard Widmark) who only cares about the bottom line. To that extent, when a local gambler named "Jake Wise" (James Woods) offers him $10,000 to track down a former girlfriend by the name of "Jessie Wyler" (Rachel Ward) who has stolen money from him and fled to Mexico, he reluctantly accepts the job. What he doesn't know is that Jake hasn't been totally honest with him and that Rachel means a lot more to him that he lets on. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a good film by and large but there wasn't a great deal of chemistry between the characters with all of them being rather unlikeable as well. In short, although this remake of "Out of the Past" certainly wasn't bad by any means, it didn't quite have the same appeal as the original film and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

The only good thing I can say about this movie is that it's theme song is one of Phil Collin's best. Too bad it was wasted on a movie that had an extraordinarily thin plot with a less than satisfactory anti-climatic ending. After investing your time trying to figure everything out and what's going on, the ending will hugely disappoint you. The chemistry between the actors is blah at best and the script's dialog is as elementary as the plot. It's not worth the time or effort to watch. You're better off listening to the Phil Collins song over and over again. Yet another 80's movie where the theme song is the only good thing about it (see also Caddyshack 2, Over the Top, Chariots of Fire, and many more that I can't think of right now) 2 out of 10 b/c the song makes it only slight better than Mo' Money)

Missed this movie over the years, however, I did like the popular song from this film and so I decided to watch this film after all these years. Richard Widmark,(Ben Caxton), "Coma" plays the role of a business man who has many dark secrets that no one knows and pulls the strings on crime and corruption. Rachel Ward, (Jessie Wyler),"The Ascent" gives an outstanding performance along with some torrid sex scenes. Jeff Bridges, (Terry Brogan),"The Moguls", is an athlete who was injured and still desires to build himself back up again, however he is down on his luck. Terry meets up with James Woods,(Jake Wise) "Be Cool", who runs a Nite Club and has connections and offers Terry an opportunity to repay a debt which is rather risky. There are encounters with some very rough characters and even dogs who are both out for blood. Like I said before, the music was great.

I gave this a 7 instead of lower because Jeff Bridges at age 34 is such eye candy !!! And having been to Chichen Itza, I really enjoyed the views of that magical place. I have not been to Tulum, but that was also fun to see. It is a minor Mayan architecture, but overlooking the Caribbean Sea made it impressive and beautiful. The story was confusing and a little tiresome. I understand it was based on a previous movie. Still I did watch the whole movie. James Woods can always be counted on to play a villain. I felt Rachel Ward was miscast. She was not beautiful enough to be the demise of men. That hairdo didn't do her any favors. Also her acting was not that good. I loved Phil Collins' song at the end.

"Out of the Past" was one of Robert Mitchum's better films. It was a lovely piece of film noir with an unusual romance with Jane Greer. "Against All Odds" is a 1984 remake which turns out to be a lot more confusing and 'sexified' (with some very rough language to boot).

Jeff Bridges is Terry Brogan, a pro football player at the end of his career. Now you'd think he'd have some sort of plan for his future, but he doesn't...nor does he seem especially bright. The rest of the film seems to confirm this...as well as that he's not an especially likable guy either.

After Terry is dropped from his team, a severely mentally unstable rich friend (James Woods) hires him to go to Mexico in search of the team owner's daughter...a woman who is also highly mentally unstable. Once in Mexico he finds her (Rachel Ward) and instead of telling his unstable friend, he begins a hot sexilicious romance with her. Then, things get really weird, dangerous and confusing.

I think the film, while interesting, has two problems. First, there are so many plot twists that I think the film might have been better with a simpler script. A good example of this is late in the film when Richard Widmark's character actually has to explain to the unstable woman what is happening and why! Second, and this is much more important, none of the characters in the story are the least bit likable...including Terry. They're all scum....and this makes it hard to care about any of them. Unless you have a film like "Downfall" or "The Bunker", it's important that you have someone to root for in a film...and here I just wanted bad things to happen to all of them.

On the plus side, the film has some lovely location shooting in Tulum, Mexico. It also has some nice music. In other words, it's a pretty slick looking movie. Slick...but hard to connect to as you watch.

My advice? Watch "Out of the Past" instead.