The Park Is Mine

You might say this is a passionate action movie. Probably did not cost much to make, but is somewhat interesting. Tommy Lee Jones plays a veteran from the Vietnamese conflict and he wants to raise awareness to how veterans, the elderly and underprivileged are overlooked. He decides to take Central Park hostage. Then he is forced to defend his position with gunfire. Who said all is fair in love and war?

Also in the cast are Helen Shaver and Yaphet Kotto. Not too far fetched; and this movie does grab your attention.

I saw this on HBO in the mid '80s and I loved it. Tommy Lee Jones was so cool and I had no problem buying the premise. It was kind of like Assault on Precinct 13 or The Warriors in its cartoonish depiction of violence. I remember especially the part where he's in full military garb and grease paint on his face with an arsenal of weapons around his body and he tells a woman to leave the park because its filled with "thugs and perverts and weirdos." Check it out if you can, it won't change your life, but it's good.

Like many of the Reagan era action movies, it is rampantly xenophobic, incrediably incoherent, and in no way grounded in reality. Tommy Lee (not the hair band drummer)plays a Vet who takes over central park to generate sympathy for the forgotten soldiers of that war. A noble sentiment, but a man would have to be completely out of his gourd to attempt that...its not like the park has a series of fortified bunkers and a moat around it!!! The most insane plot twist (no one is in suspense about this piece anyway) is that the "authorities" hire two Asian assasins to take out the hero. What the $%^#$^! is that all about? It is just one of the many warped plot contrivances that earn this work a lofty six on the Tango and Cash scale of implausability. Forgive the spelling.

Tommy Lee Jones, in an updated version of Taxi Driver, plays a disillusioned, disenchanted Vietnam Vet who only truly feels at home while on patrol. He takes over Central Park in downtown New York City in a believable scenario; seeking control, and seeking recognition, he dominates the city by shutting down the Park.

Jones becomes the indigenous guerrilla, the one who controls the fight by setting the scene and drawing the inept Police into his traps. An excellent movie, ahead of its time, imagine a very human Rambo in downtown New York. The movie does not have a neat ending, like Taxi Driver or even Dog Day afternoon. Instead, it ends as you might like it too.

The premise of this movie - a lone ex-soldier unraveling a plan to take over New York's Central Park singlehanded and managing to keep the police at bay over several days - does seem kind of hard to swallow. However, with the way the movie is executed, you'll almost believe it could happen. The movie does have a good amount of merit to it. While it's a mid-'80s Canadian movie, the production values are surprisingly good; this movie obviously had a budget. Tommy Lee Jones gives a fairly commanding performance at the Vietnam vet with a plan, and there are other good performances by Helen Shaver as the curious news reporter, and Yaphet Kotto as a chief police officer (though he's given little to do until near the ending.) Director Steven Hilliard Stern creates some good action sequences and keeps things moving at a rapid rate. Though maybe the movie is a little bit too swift; we hardly learn anything about Jones' character at the beginning, and before the twenty minute mark he's already taken over the park. Some people may be offended that Jones' Vietnam vet character is yet another cinematic Vietnam vet who is a "loser" (unemployed, estranged from his wife, etc.), despite surveys that show that most Vietnam vets in real life are adjusted and happy. But if you can look over this "loser" portrayal, chances are you'll find some enjoyment with this movie.