Smoke n Lightnin

Smoke N Lightning is a great example of how far an A list actor can go down to the Cs and Ds of motion pictures. In the early 80s Christopher Atkins post the Blue Lagoon was as A list a player you could get. Now in the 90s Atkins is doing a part that's a combination of the Dukes Of Hazard and Beavis & Butthead.

Atkins and Kristoffer Ryan Winters play a pair of Florida based garage mechanics who get a rush job on a diplomat's car. It's one classy automobile, the kind these two could only dream about. With some really classy suits in their these guys dress to kill. And Winters genius that he is attachs a diplomatic metal briefcase to him to impress some women.

More than women are impressed. Some nasty spies are after the contents of said briefcase and they're on the run from the spies and the government. It's a merry chase the rest of the film through the fine state of Florida.

This film is about as lame as it gets. The only question to ask is whether Atkins or Winters was playing Beavis or Butthead?

This was quite fun but not really that well thought out. There were some scenes that seemed to jump about with no explanation why a character would act that way. Leads were fun but not the greatest actors - however the roles were not that demanding and a lot of the action was behind the wheel. This lead to the characters not really filling out and the viewer finding them interesting or buying into the central concept. Worth watching if bored and it was funny at bits. However the story-line was not strong enough and quiet weak. The ending felt rushed and it did seem to leave things hanging as to who was really chasing them.

As I expected, this is not the best movie ever made. The plot, two mechanics that become mixed up in mob-business by "loaning" a car that they ought to be repairing, should tell you as much. However considering in the spirit which I hope it was made in it is not bad. Some funny twists, some high- and low-speed car chases makes it rather entertaining even if the stretch a few scenes so far that they become a little dull and you just wait for the movie to catch up again.

Do not expect an Oscar-winning movie and you will enjoy this one too... 4/10