Bad Guys

Bad Guys is an awesomely fun movie about two cops who moonlight as wrestlers. Honestly they really make it look fun. These two dudes are very likeable and relatable, one being the versatile Baldwin, who donned straight curly white hair, here, which does not agree with him at all. You first have to look at his face on the movie cover to realize it's him. Jolly the more handsome serious flat mate and cop partner. Breaking up and partaking in a pub brawl, their suspended. Like Baldwin's hair, their laboring job doesn't agree with em', Next is stripping which is great, except for only being mobbed by 40+ and 50+ aged women, whose looks, beateux and not, are less less flattering. After being dumped up on Mulholland Drive, by the steamed up, old ducks, they're at a loss. What I like about Baldwin's character, is he's so optimistic Thank god, that cutie assistant manager Nicastaro (Body Rock),who saw their wrestling showcase, weeks earlier, planted a card in their hand. The movie is entertaining, and goes into the wrestling scene from the get go. It's trashy fun, a 80's movie with trashy appeal, cause it's 80's. Most of the laughs, happening in the ring. The evil and good wrestling stars you'll never forget, just like the money greedy, and dirty playing Lord Percy by the great James Booth. Norman Burton is typecast as Baldwin and Jolly's captain, he and Booth also doing Pray for Death at the same time, and guess who Burton was in that. Ruth Buzzi (The Gong Show) adds excitement, sometimes, over excitement, and spark as one of the two cops/stud's trainers. But Bad Guys in an exciting movie, another one, I should bang my head against a door, for not watching it 34 years back. It's got heart, great characters, fresh laughs and like Running Scared, is a great buddy cop movie, more or less, as policing is not all they do.

My review was written in March 1986 after a Times Square screening.

"Bad Guys" is a poorly-scripted, would-be comedy attempting to cash in on the current popularity of wrestling. Theatrical prospects are weak for this inauspiicious debut film from distrib InterPictures Releasing and production company Tomorrow Entertainment.

Merest pretext of a story has young cops Adam Baldwin and Mike Jolly suspended from the L. A. police after a brawl with bikers in a bar owned by Dutch Mann (who pointlessly keeps popping up in the film as their nemesis). After tasteless footage detailing their odd jobs (including a leering stint as male strippers), they turn their wrestling avocation into a fulltime job under the tutelage of pretty reporter-tuned manager Michelle Nicastro.

Quickly discovering that the dirty practitioners are the stars in wrestling's firmament, the heroes don masks and become the Boston Bad Guys, tutored in illegal moves by Gene LeBell and his wife, played by Ruth Buzzi. Pic's anti-climax is their big match against the Kremlin Krushers (played by pro wrestlers Alexia Smirnoff and Jay York). Though still called the Bad Guys, heroes have changed costumes and unconvincingly become flagwavers in the interim.

Burdened with hoary, unfunny dialog, director Joel Silberg directs in frantic, comic strip fashion, having the lines exclaimed as if they were displayed in balloons above the actors' heads. The gags aren't funny and there's very little wrestling action amidst extraneous car chases and horseplay. Patrioti U. S. vs. Russia finale has already been done to death in "Rocky IV" and on tv broadcasts of all the competing wrestling leagues. As in the other disappointing current release, New World's "Grunt! The Wrestling Movie", only a handful of extras appear in the audience during big matchs that attract many thousands in real life.

Topliner Baldwin (title roler from "My Bodyguard") is unrecognizable here with blond-dyed hair. He doesn't have the body weight to be convincing as a wrestler, with his ring action adequately doubled by pro Jeff Dashnaw. Costar Jolly (stunt-doubled by champ Curt Henning) is bland while Nicastro looks out of place in a role better suited to a comedienne in the Cyndi Lauper style. As in "Breakin'", Silberg builds up the promise of romance among the three young leads and then pretends that ex doesn't exist in their world.

Pic was made with the assist of Verne Gagne and his American Wrestling Association, but fans will be disappointed in AWA's Sgt. Slaughter only showing up for a brief cameo in the final reel. Young kids might believe that the fights and feuds presented are real, but pic's in-joke of a ringside commentator named Vince (a jab at Vince McMahon, who runs the rival World Wrestling Federation, where Slaughter used to work) indicates a more interesting, truthful scenario could be built around the wars between leagues.

Film is overlaid with a relentless rock music score but fails to integrate the music with the wrestling the way Michael Hayes, Junkyard Dog and other popular wrestlers do in their live and tv performances.

I started laughing the second I saw the Box and continued to laugh for nearly the entire 87 minutes of the movie.

'Bad Guy' follows along as two cousins and suspended 'good guy' cops Dave Adkins (Jolly) and Skip Jackson (Baldwin) attempt to first get real jobs and then become big time wrestlers.

Along the way Skip, the wild one, manages to continually get them into trouble starting with their suspension from the force. When sports reporter Janice Edwards (Michelle Nicastro) arranges for shady but serious big time manager Lord Percy Babington (James Booth) to view their match with The Kremlin Krushers (Alexi Smirnoff & Jay S. York) and Percy decides to go with the Krushers all bets are off and it's time for these 'good guy' to become 'Bad guys'.

Enter Terrible Turk McGurk (Gene Le Bell) and his Lady wife Petal McGurk (Ruth Buzzi), Bad Guy markers extrodinar. Using all their talents these two attempt to turn Skip and Dave into the best bad guys in Wrestling history in time for the Tag-team world championship match with the Krushers. Of course, everything goes anything but smooth.

The plot is corny, the acting over the top, and the music is decidedly 80's. That said, this movie is just pure unadulterated FUN, FUN, FUN!

The wrestling scenes and training montages are a entertaining riot. The Striping scene in worth the price of 'admission'. The scene in the costume shop needed to be longer and a Blonde Adam is absolutely priceless!

And did I mention Sgt. Slaughter & Professor Toru Tanaka?

With great lines like:

"OH MY GOD THERE GOES THE REF!"

"Merciful father in Heaven"

"Take my pants off again and I'll kill you."

"Thanks Skip, first you get me suspended, then you get me to do a strip tease and then you rip off my pants and now I'm up here stuck in the middle of nowhere!"

"Huh, never knew dancing could be so dangerous"

"Yeah, no more fat old women in convertibles"

and

"We gotta save him. To the ropes!"

The cheese factor is 10 and you will want to watch it again!

Any who haven't seen this one yet...it is a MUST see!

This came out when the Wrestlemania craze was taking hold. It's a low budget comedy about two dopey cops (Baldwin and Jolly) who get suspended from the job and decide to take jobs as wrestlers to pay the bills. Adam Baldwin is a good actor and though the film is beneath him, it's nice to see him in a lead role. The wrestling scenes aren't that impressive but the film moves along quickly and contains some decent laughs. Michelle Nicastaro is appealing eye candy as the love interest whom both the guys take a shine to. The film is also an amusing time capsule for those who grew up in the 80s. If you're willing to put your brain on hold, check it out!