Heiße Ware

My review was written in April 1990 after watching the movie on RCA/Columbia video cassette.

The personable team of Andrew Stevens and Teri Copley uplifts the carefree caper film "Down the Drain", an okay video rental title.

Slightly unusual structure for this genre has the big robbery take place in the second reel, after a minimum of preliminaries. Stevens is a slick lawyer who gets his criminal clients acquitted and then organizes them into a bank-robbery gang.

After the caper, there's the usual falling-out among thieves, competition with opposing forces and a quota of car chases, stunts and slapstick. It runs out of gas in the final segments.

Stevens is smooth in the lead role, though he doesn't get any scenes with his mom, Stella Stevens, who looks great in her cameo appearance. Copley is a treat as the uninhibited heroine, delivering unexpected nude scenes.

The late John Matuszak has a minor role as part of the gang.

In most respects this is a pretty dreadful film, with broad overacting (hello Andrew Stevens), appalling racial stereotyping (thanks, screenwriter Moshe Hadar), and a predictable outcome. At the same time there is something endearing about the film, a barely disguised T and A remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. At the very least the action is non-stop and indiscriminate viewers will be pulled along in the story's undertow. I can't really recommend it, but if you happen across it late one night on cable, you'll probably enjoy it.

Victor Scalia (Andrew Stevens) is a sleazy lawyer in L.A. His girlfriend Kathy Miller (Teri Copley) wants a commitment. He gets cat burglar Jed Stewart off. Buckley and Carpatti helps safecracker Tom Dart escape from the Feds. Scalia leads the criminal group to rob a bank vault. A mystery client is paying $20 million for a secret something in one of the deposit boxes. Don Santiago set up the deal. Scalia brings everything but they're only after a microchip.

This is a bad B-movie. It's an attempt at comedy that fails completely. There is a pending reveal that is mildly compelling. The action is weakly made. This is bad but not exceptionally bad. It's a mess. Its biggest sin is the bad comedic writing and even worst comedic acting. When the jokes keep falling flat, it leaves a bad taste.

Why hasn't this movie blossomed? It's such a good movie! A true comedy and WONDERFUL action movie! Frankly if ANY movie deserves the status of, "cult classic", it's this one! Truly a hidden gem that's been over looked over the years!