Cypher

Stars Stephen Rea, oscar nominated for Crying Game. Does a lot of vampire, underworld stuff. Heather Locklear, model and star of Dynasty, TJ Hooker. Locklear is agent Hanson, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When her meeting with some shady characters is interrupted, she is hauled in to figure out what's going on. Rea is Cypher, assassin for hire. But when she finally tracks him down, things are MUCH more complicated than they seem. Who are the good guys anyway? It's barely okay. Like a dog chasing its own tail. Gets weird towards the end. It deserved better. Directed by Greg Yaitanes, who does a LOT of television series work.

It doesn't sound like much. A direct-to-video flick with a generic title, starring Heather Locklear. However, Stephen Rea -not the type of actor you would expect in this kind of movie- gives a full-fledged characterization of a hit-man with a conscience and idiosyncratic habits (and I don't mean the double tap to the head of each of his victims; his other skills include gardening...). His relationship with the FBI agent played by Heather Locklear rings true. Add to this a flamboyant directorial style and a good soundtrack, and you get one of the better B movies of the year. Rating: 7.

DOUBLE TAP features Heather Locklear in a much grittier than usual role. As FBI agent, Katherine Hanson, she finds herself up against a mysterious hitman whose signature is that of the title.

Hanson and her team must track this person, before every other criminal in town winds up dead! This gets complicated when Hanson gets a bit too close to her quarry.

This is a surprisingly effective thriller, and Ms. Locklear is far better than one might, at first, expect.

Actually, the only complaint is due to the lighting. The late 1990's ushered in the whole every-scene-must-be-dark phenomenon. This film is no exception. So, unless the characters are outside, in full sunlight, they're always cloaked in smoky, shadowy dimness! Even in the daytime! Ugh!

In spite of this, the movie is recommended...

This is an unbelievably stupid movie. How does an idiotic farrago of a script like this ever get made into a film? Nothing any of the characters says or does is for a moment credible... and yet the piece is apparently aiming to be a "gritty, realistic crime drama". The director sort of has a stab at some meaningful creative input, and I'd guess would probably be quite likely to produce something watchable with a real script... but nothing could save this nonsense. More believable characterisations and narrative would have been produced if the actors had been restricted to mouthing "Gaga. Googoo." for the entire length of the film. I'm really sick of being expected to accept this sort of rubbish as if it were a credible effort at film-making. Not recommended to anyone... if you have low enough standards to watch this, then you should be quite happy watching any flickering image without bothering to pay admission or rental. Well ok, the score is interesting, and Heather Locklear shows signs of a performance better than might have been expected from her record... but really *nothing* could defeat such an abysmal script.

Double Tap was a film relegated to HBO's cheesy Friday night premieres and that's a shame because it deserved so much more. It stars Heather Locklear (!), no I did not stutter, as a FBI agent involved in a sting operation who gets caught in the middle of a hitman's grocery list, seemingly he's taking down all the drug dealers in town. Along for the ride is Kevin Gage and Mykelti Williamson from Heat and the great Peter Greene. What distinguishes this effort is its terse dialogue, vivid characterizations, and stylish camera moves (loved the score by Moby). Double Tap should be held as a model for what a B movie low on cash but high on content can do. And Premiere magazine liked Montana, ha! This is the real deal folks.