Raw Justice

After dropping a date off at her house, "Mitch McCullum" (Robert Hays) goes back to his apartment, eats a bowl of Fruitloops and then goes to bed. Not long afterward the police bust into his house and arrest him for the murder of that same young woman who went by the name of "Donna Styles" (April Bogenschutz). As it turns out April was the daughter of a man named "David Styles" (Charles Napier) who just happens to be the mayor of New Orleans. So when an anonymous person posts bail for Mitch the mayor asks a bounty hunter named "Mace" (David Keith) to keep an eye on Mitch to make sure he doesn't try to flee the area. What neither the mayor, Mace nor Mitch realize is that April was deliberately targeted and the person responsible for her death has an agenda that threatens all three of them. Additionally, when a prostitute by the name of "Sarah" (Pamela Anderson) becomes accidentally associated with both Mitch and Mace she is also targeted as well. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that I found this movie to be unoriginal, uninspired and quite clichéd. No doubt those who enjoy chase scenes and pyrotechnics will love it but I thought it would have been nice if the director (David A. Pryor) had mixed in a semi-decent plot or a better script to go with all of the action. Unfortunately, this was not the case and the film suffered as a result. Accordingly, I rate this movie as below average.

if you want to see great acting. This is the sort of movie which has an obvious appeal to some. It's not the quality of acting. But if you watched this movie to see fine Shakespearean actors giving their all, then I have no pity for you. The movie is fun on a few levels, but should in no way be taken seriously.

Before going any further, I may as well make this short and sweet. Raw Justice is awful. In every angle it's cheap and trashy. It is however, hilariously awful and I'd like to recommend it for that very reason.

In the opening scene Mace (David Keith) is out to bust some guy who's just jumped bail. He could have easily have kicked the door open and shown him the gun and the cuffs. But no, this guy doesn't like conventional methods so he decides to "borrow" some clothes from a hooker so he can enter the room as a hooker for reasons unknown. Somehow this genius plan doesn't go smoothly and the bail jumper manages to make a run for it, and what follows is a foot chase with David Keith dressed in drag. Ho ho ho! Funny, right?

Meanwhile, Mitch McCullum (Robert Hays) has just had a one-night stand with the Mayor's daughter. After dropping her off at her home, Deputy Mayor Bob Jenkins (Stacy Keach) orders some hit-man to kill her, not before showing us her rubbing herself repeatedly as she showers nude. After performing the hit and stealing some computer floppy disks, Jenkins decides not to pay him, but rather to kill him instead. Turns out Jenkins is fed up being Deputy, and wants promotion. So in order to live his dream, he decides that killing Mayor David Stiles' (Charles Napier) daughter who was currently writing a book, adding a chapter about incest to her book then threatening Stiles that if he doesn't resign his position as Mayor in his next speech, he'll release the book to the public. Wow! Why did nobody else ever think of a great plan like that before?! The way this movie handles it is even worse. It just doesn't know where to go.

Mayor Stiles hires Mace to investigate, as apparently a loose cannon is exactly what he needs. He meets up with Mitch, the guy who had the one night stand and was initially accused of the murder and the two reluctantly team up and get involved in a couple of shootouts, a crappy car chase, a barfight and a swamp boat chase with hit men and corrupt cops all appearing out of nowhere. As for Pamela Anderson, her character is completely detached from the main plot and the reason for shoehorning her into it is the lamest thing. She plays the hooker whose clothes Mace takes at the start. During the middle of the movie, Mace bumps into her by coincidence and she's angry because he left her outside in her underwear and never returned her clothes. During her whining, bad guys pop up and shoot at our heroes. Now she's been seen with them, she's now part of it and can't be let go.

Yeah, I know...

Just prior to the Mayor's speech, our heroes have just won a barfight. Mace presses corrupt cop Atkins (Leo Rossi) for information as to who he's working for, he gives in and says he's working for Deputy Mayor Bob Jenkins. Mace doesn't even interrogate him for any more information, all he gets is a name before Atkins goes for his gun and is killed, so the only evidence they have against Jenkins is the word of a now deceased cop who our heroes have killed.

So the Mayor's speech has now begun, and if he doesn't resign his position, Jenkins will release the edited book to the public. Instead, he announces that Jenkins is responsible for the murder of his daughter. Jenkins responds by claiming that Stiles had her killed when suddenly our heroes enter the room in and Mace says "I don't think so. Atkins talked". Jenkins then goes insane and takes Stiles hostage. Now, the only evidence they have against Jenkins is one name from a deceased cop who the heroes have killed. What evidence is there that they're even the good guys? Despite his original plan being idiotic, the evidence against Jenkins was minimal so I see no reason at all for him to have taken hostages. He's so unbelievably stupid it's a wonder how he obtained his position as deputy mayor in the first place.

But it gets worse. Jenkins escapes to the roof with his hostage and demands a helicopter. A helicopter appears and after taking off the pilot turns round and it's revealed to be Mace. Yeah, like they're going to give a chopper to some burnt out ex cop. He jumps out into the river and leaves the helicopter with Jenkins to crash into a skyscraper which would not only cause a huge amount of property damage but would seriously endanger innocent civilians both on the ground and in the building. In reality this guy would have been arrested and thrown in jail to rot, here not only does he get off without so much as a slap on the wrist, the mayor has "straightened things out" with him because of this wonderful act of courage!

David Keith is just woeful. Not only does he look awful, but manages to make his character as repulsive and unlikeable as possible. He basically rapes Pamela Anderson's character just after a shootout. Robert Hays is not as bad as Keith but that's not saying much. Reliable B-movie veterans Charles Napier, Stacy Keach and Leo Rossi are wasted. Pamela Anderson has absolutely no reason for being there other than to have two long and boring sex scenes. Her acting is atrocious and her line delivery is at times hilarious, especially in the scene where she tries to comfort Mitch who's feeling sorry for himself by telling him "I think you're being a bit hard on yourself".

Overall, this is awful but I highly recommend anyone who loves bad movies to check it out. I could go on, but I have a minimum of 1000 words! User "bob the moo" took it way too seriously!

I have to agree with a lot of the comments on this film. To have good character actors such as Robert Hays (Airplane movies), Charles Napier (Rambo II), David Keith (Officer & Gentleman, U-571), and Stacy Keach (too many to list); you would expect better acting. But maybe they were actually making fun on this genre of a movie. The music for some of the scenes was actually comical. The plot of the movie is basic and definitely predictable. The sound effects doesn't always match the scene. Several times you hear the cocking of the hammer of a revolver but you see the gun is not even cocked. And speaking of the revolvers, where did they get those antiques? The main bad guy is the only one who is even using a semi-auto pistol and he can't even hit the side of a barn except in one scene; two shots, two dead. But despite all of the errors and predictability, I actually somewhat enjoyed watching this flick. And of course you had Pamela Anderson for eye candy. This film is from 1995 so she actually looks great (ala Baywatch) and not as she looks today.

A action-adventure,crime drama,pseudo-comedy,buddy picture that fails practically at all levels. Robert Hays,whose career had a handful of early successes--the short-lived success of TV's "Angie" and the two wildly funny "Airplane" movies--followed by a long string of films that would elicit blank stares of confusion if mentioned to the average film viewer--"Touched",anyone?--and numerous TV projects that would not last past a year(my fave was the TV treatment of "Starman"),ends up in this flick which really has little going for it except the film debut(?) of Playboy mega-babe and "Baywatch" fixture Pamela Anderson. Her nude/sex scenes along with a very lovingly filmed shower scene with starlet model April Bogenschutz really seem to be all that makes this flick seem watchable. David Keith(here a LONG ways from "An Officer and a Gentleman" and even "Firestarter") as the gruff,angry,hard-bitten cop seems to barely register here. Stacy Keach's usual oiliness is underused here, and the film is set squarely on the shoulders of Keith,Hays and Anderson. It seems as if the writer(s) of the movie,in desperate need of a catch-phrase for Keith' s character,is best able to come up with the "Don't EVER insult my mama!"when a thug or goon he runs into calls him an S.O.B. Not very inspired,need I say.

Strictly late-night cable viewing. A cheap rental if you really must see this.