Backflash

The camera loves Jennifer Esposito in this dark comedy. Great acting and directing, this film takes you on a ride through crime and sick humor. Melissa Joan Hart is hilarious in this film. If you like Quentin Tarantino films, you'll love this one.

Gritty business. Very entertaining.

Low Budget. No flashy stuff. Sexy leading lady, good character actors. Parched-out desert locales. Cryptic but effective script with plenty of good twists.

This is the kind of movie John Payne made when he switched from playing handsome singing A-leads to laconic tough guys back in the 1950s. Kansas City Confidential, for example.

Later on Lance Hendricksen did a lot of good stuff like this. Maybe Robert Patrick is the new LH.

What more could you ask for?

Take a simple-minded story and leave out parts so as to mystify the audience and then plug them in later so we can relish in the revelation. Rent a handful of 2nd tier talent. Drag the shots out because you can't afford to be busy...busy costs money. Pump up the atmospherics because they're cheap. Avoid expensive action like blazing fire fights and blow up a cardboard cabin instead. And, voila! You have "Backflash", a cheap B-movie set in the BFAZ desert which tells of a video store owner, a babe, and a bunch of mob heavies all trying to get their mits on some ill-gotten dinero. This no brainer explains everything with flashbacks so it would make an ideal soporific for the weary couch potato. (D+)

Although "Backflash" does remind me a little of a superior film, "Red Rock West", with fine desert locations and plenty of guitar strums, the constant flash backs or should I say "backflashes" are both confusing and annoying. This is the type of twisty story that begs for a re-watch simply to determine if the outcome makes any sense, or is indeed playing games with the audience. The presence of actors Mike Starr and Michael J. Pollard is a nice touch, but the leads, Jennifer Esposito and Robert Patrick are difficult to embrace because of their generic characters. Special mention must be made of the soundtrack, which seems to have a strong Native American influence, and is quite good. - MERK

A massive missed opportunity by the makers of this movie. What should have been a sizzling tale of betrayal and intrigue is turned into a by the numbers 3a.m TV slot filler. Robert Patrick coasts his way through the movie, putting in a bare minimum effort to draw his paycheck. Jennifer Esposito is shockingly under-used by the director, when she should have been setting the screen alight as the sultry temptress. Colm Meaney is reduced to comic relief when he could have been much more sinister.

At the end of the day, with a spring clean of the script to tighten up the dialogue and a decent director, you could remake this movie with exactly the same cast and turn a rating of '3' into a '9'. Sorry Mr Philip J Jones (Producer/ Writer/ Director), trying to do it all yourself was a wrong move.