Liberty & Bash

My review was written in December 1990 after watching the film on Fries video cassette.

Action meets a social conscience in the unintentionally campy "Liberty & Bash", a knockoff in name only on "Tango & Cash".

Direct-to-video release toyed with less catchy monikers like "So Cool" and "Crime Task Force" before settling on the misleading buddy title. There's little action here and zero bonding.

Miles O'Keeffe as Liberty adopts a good ole boy vocal delivery for no reason as a social worker who runs the East Hollywood Community Center and is bent on rehabilitating wayward youngsters. The police (and audience) know these kids are the criminals of tomorrow so most of O'Keeffe's efforts come off as naive.

Lou Ferrigno as Bash has a small role (but big billing) as a tough gjy who runs a halfway house program for punks and gets referrals from Miles. The two of them don't team up until the final reel when the film goes off track completely.

Climax is a hoot, played straight but resembling a satirical Sid Caesar tv sketch. The villain, corrupt commissioner Gary Conway, has the heroine at gunpoint as his hostage while her boyfriend, O'Keeffe, keeps pleading for her not to have an abortion. Conway's consternation at being totally ignored at such a moment represents poor writing at its nadir.

Helmer Myrl A. Schreibman did a better job with he comic strip camp approach of "Angel of H. E. A. T." starring porn thesps Marilyn Chambers and Randy West. Here he doesn't have a clue as to making a viewer suspend disbelief.

Cast tries in vain to overcome the soap operatics, with Cheryl Paris coming off as almost human as the sister of a wayward army buddy of O'Keeffe's. Leading lady Mimi Kapture, whose films to date have managed to miss theatrical release, has her hands full with the unplayable unwed mother/career woman role.

This one showcases the combined talents of two muscled men: Lou Ferrigno and Miles O'Keeffe. Surprisingly O'Keeffe almost pulls it off while Ferrigno hams it up rather dreadfully.

All in all the script does not give anyone a chance to shine in telling the "classic" story of old friends ending up on different sides of the law.

Best forgotten.

A TANGO & CASH rip-off that will impress nobody watching, this is a chore to sit through even for those of us who usually like the B-movies of Miles O'Keeffe and Lou Ferrigno. It's an action thriller with no action, just street thugs fighting for revenge, and the only amusement comes from the cast of fortysomethings playing "kids". Ferrigno only gets five minutes screen time too (maybe a good thing). Next!