No Way Back

I find it hard to believe that I could dislike any film starring Russell Crowe, but this one is a complete waste of his talent -- and my time. I'd like to say that his acting job was a "rose among the thorns" but I don't think that even he was convincing. He was a foul-tongued protagonist [with an ugly hair-style that even his character couldn't have thought was becoming] who over-reacted to everything in this tortured and unbelievable plot. In retrospect, I wonder why I even gave it a "3".

After watching this film I could see the great actor that Russell Crowe has become. The film although lacking a little in the story department, just needed a few added scenes, the actors were great. The comic relief was great. This film received an okay star rating from me and has good reason. You should take a look especially if you are a fan of the man now.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It's a well-produced, good-looking action/thriller flick with sharp, witty dialogue and great performances from the lead actors. Russell Crowe is charismatic and very watchable. I especially liked the morally ambiguous tone - Crowe's character isn't a clean-cut good guy. Well worth a look.

Judging by previous comments, my expectations for this film were zero. However, I was quite entertained by it. Yes, it has it's rough spots, and 'Oh, come ON' spots, but lots of the dialogue was funny, and the violence was minimal once you got past the set-up. Pretty standard plot, but Russell Crowe is always good, and Helen Slater as the air-line attendant was great. Made me laugh, made my son laugh. Not worth a $9 movie ticket, but well worth a video rental and a bowl of popcorn.

FBI agent Zack Grant sends a female officer (Seiko) in to the apartment of a mafia boss's son posing as a whore in order to drop a bugging device. However when the agent kills the group and then kills herself Grant finds evidence to suggest that she was working for Yakuza lord Yuji. Grant travels to arrest him but on returning to America finds that the mob have kidnapped his son in exchange for Yuji. However with Yuji claiming innocence and the FBI, police, Yakuza and the mob all after him, can Grant make it to the trade?

I watched this film on the strength of Crowe being in the lead – even though I knew that it was made before he `made it' so the quality may not be that great. The plot is a mix of bad guys and good guys all trying to get Grant and Yuji, with Grant just trying to save his son. It isn't a very innovative idea but it is good enough for a video thriller such as this. The set pieces are all reasonably exciting and most are directed with style and energy that belies the standard of the plotting.

While it may not be brilliant it is certainly a lot better than most of the video thrillers you'll find on a lonely Saturday night. A big part of this is due to Crowe being in the lead. Years before Gladiator he'd already had some powerful Australian roles and was a commanding lead actor. Here he rises above the material and makes it better – during the action scenes etc he is faultless, it is only his interactions with women and children where he comes across as wanting. Tokokawa's Yuji is a good character – never morally clear until the end and charming and deadly with it. Slater is a bum note but happily she doesn't spoil things too much. Her bubbly comedy sidekick is irritating and the film could have easily done without this part of the video thriller formula.

Overall I enjoyed this film much more than I suspected I would. Without Crowe this film still has higher values that I thought it would and is polished and entertaining despite a formulaic plot. With Crowe in the lead the film is raised a notch and he is commanding in an ordinary role that many would have failed to liven up.