Catchfire

Throughout this movie, I found myself shaking my head, awed that a movie could be so horribly bad. All Dennis Hopper did was create his fantasy, then film it. "Dull, unintelligent man gains complexity by sparing the life of a beautiful artist, forcing her to have sex with him and then winning her heart". I don't have a problem with that in itself, but he attempted to justify it by throwing in some "artistic expression" which was laughably misplaced. Jodie Foster's character had potential which was left largely untouched, many times she edged on being complex, but unfortunately most avenues went unexplored. Dennis Hopper's character was, well, flat. Never before have I winced while watching a film, but did repeatedly during this one. The kicker was when "The End" flashed up on the electronic message board. Ouch. What a mistake for all involved.

If that's what you want, you want this movie-- she bares it not once but twice. Or if Bob Dylan wielding a chainsaw is your bag... The script is clichéd and inept, the directing choppy, the excellent cast largely wasted. At least they look like they had fun making it. If it was better written/directed, the basic premise of the abductee falling for the abductor might be more believable. Jodie spends most of her time looking worried, until she suddenly mutates into passionate lover/co-conspirator. Joe Pesci managed to have his name completely scrubbed from the film and the packaging, although his part is not minor. Blink and you'll miss Catherine Keener, apparently in her first credited role. Somebody should put the soundtrack's sax player out of our misery.

For about a decade, I swear I saw a number of films with the same trait: trying to make a hardened cold-blooded hit man into a sympathetic softie at heart. Oh, filmmakers just love to make evil look good.

Who better to play a twisted wacko than Dennis Hopper? Here, Hopper has the hots for Jodie Foster. To quickly summarize, the film is pretty interesting but with a bad message, as just mentioned. What's really interesting is the cast. Check this out: Hopper, Foster, Joe Pecsi, Fred Ward, Dean Stockwell, Vincent Price, John Turturro and Charlie Sheen. Obviously, this cast is what primarily makes the film fun for a viewing or two. The more you see it, and analyze it, the dumber it gets so don't see this more than twice....maybe once is more than enough. The dialog is pretty dumb in spots.

This is also unique because they can't seem to figure out how long this film runs. When I first saw it on VHS, the box said it was 102 minutes but it was really between 112-115 minutes. When the DVD came out, it also said "102" but only ran 99 minutes. They must have edited out quite a bit of footage from the tape! It was probably a smart move as the second half of the movie dragged too much. However, I've heard of a case like this with tapes and DVDs.

This film mixes some features rarely found together: mob violence, guns, murder, chases and crashes, a woman in jeopardy... AND some understated humor, would-ya-believe romance and kindness to animals, and a happy ending of sorts.

Dennis Hopper took his name off the cut version, which apparently omits, among others, parts of scenes featuring Jodie Foster's nudity. This is the version I saw, and even thus cut I give the film a 7.

The plot is straightforward: a hitman (Dennis Hopper) hired to kill a woman (Jodie Foster) who witnessed a mob murder gives her the option of staying alive and being "his." Then, since he defaulted on his assignment, they must flee mob reprisal.

My relatively high rating is based on Hopper's direction and on the acting, principally of the two main stars. (Joe Pesci and Dean Stockwell contribute wryly amusing mafioso figures.)

This is certainly not a comedy or romance film, nor is it intended to be. Nor is it "warm human drama." It's not at all slapstick or maudlin.

What impressed me most were Hopper's characterization and the scenes of their developing relationship. Hopper's Milo is a professional killer, a man of little polish (contrasting the wheelchair-ridden Vincent Price as the mob boss).

But a man's a man, for all that. Especially good is a scene early in their relationship, in which the hitman expresses his awed smittenness for his then-captive. His plain-spoken awkwardness shows, low-key, the loneliness and vulnerability of a man who has not experienced much love in his life.

And if you think a woman in such a situation could never respond favorably (albeit gradually), you don't know much about women -- and I don't mean the Stockholm Syndrome(?), that phenomenon of hostages warming up to their captors. The dynamics of their relationship -- the gradual, subtle shifting of their feelings and reactions -- are masterfully but quietly, almost incidentally, portrayed by Foster and especially Hopper. This film is certainly in the European style.

Still, you action fans shouldn't stay away; though not much gore, there is a sufficiency of sinister dread, gratuitous violence, and crashings and burnings.

As I said, Hopper plus Foster = great chemistry. These two make a great movie out of a plot that is absolutelu unbelievable. What hit man falls in love with his hit sight unseen? What hit falls in love with her hit man after a one night stand? What hit man has a helicopter set aside for just the right escape? What mafia boss has ten or more hit men who can't hit a one man target? You see, this is a plot that no one could believe in. But, no one cares, because you are so involved in the evolution of the relationship between the Hopper & Foster characters that you overlook or forgive everything else. These two are so powerful that they make Fred Ward look like a character actor.

This is a violent movie where the violence never seems to override the comedy/relationship/slice of life issues that the film portrays. Plus, you get to see Jodie Foster naked!?! Who would have thunk it? By the way, she has a very nice body.

I don't know how this movie has not become a cult favorite, but give it time. It is a gem!

PS Don't overlook a dynamite performance by Joe Pesci, who is not listed in the cast. Go figure.