Quicksilver - Soldi senza fatica

Jack Casey (Kevin Bacon) is a big shot stock broker. He makes a big move that doesn't work out and loses all his parents' savings. He gets gun shy and ends up as a bicycle messenger. Terri (Jami Gertz) is the new rider. Hector Rodriguez (Paul Rodriguez) is the entrepreneur who wants to buy a hot dog cart. Voodoo (Laurence Fishburne) is the big rider who is not particular about what he carries. Gypsy is a local drug dealer who uses messengers to deliver his product.

I have to admit that I don't remember how cheesy 80s this movie actually is and that Louie Anderson is in this as a bike messenger. The music is so 80s and the bike acrobatics is fun. The story is nothing special. It's got Kevin Bacon and a few really good actors. The bike riding is fun. It's not more than that.

Hey, I liked this movie. Bacon puts in a solid performance both as an actor and as a bike courier who is trying to turn his life around after loosing big time on the stock exchange.

Positives- The music score is great and if you are feeling the need for a little of the 80's, you could do a lot worse.

Negatives- okay, so the plot is a little light on. Some of the acting supports are a little rough too, but hey you got to love the red berret.

In 'Quicksilver,' Kevin Bacon is a stock market big shot who loses everything and ends up a bicycle messenger. From there, the film can't make up it's mind what on earth it's about. Drug dealers, rival bike riders...they're all here. This film just coasts around for awhile, but there's nothing interesting along the way. About the only thing this film has going for it is it's synthesizer score by Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks.

I liked quicksilver and still do today after 20 years of its release date. Instead of looking at Quicksilver as a bunch of losers who ran a bike, I appreciated the kevin Bacon part as a character who suffered from a severe setback, and found in cycling a way to overcome depression and become a loser. The initial scene where he goes on a taxi and paid the taxi driver to race a bike courier, show how fascinated he was by this "alternative life", representing more freedom, athletic performance, and no ties to an office or a company organization. For me this was the main interest of Quicksilver, besides its music, which is quite good.

As a negative point, I regret that none of the characters, followed a different path to its life, as a result of the quicksilver experience, and in fact they all dream of having a regular job, making more money, etc. In fact the script is light, trying to please a large audience, and I think the movie was reasonably successful at the time it was released. I recommend viewing it or buying the DVD.

To be honest, it's some years since I saw this movie, so have forgotten most of the story details. However, the film now seems rather obscure and apparently not very well regarded, so I wanted to put in my two cents worth of praise for a movie that, while it may not have been memorable, was certainly entertaining at the time.

The story revolves around a hot shot stock market whiz kid named Jack Casey, who loses not only his own money, but also all his parents' life savings in a failed market deal / stock crash. Devastated by his failure, especially the effect it has on his father, he withdraws completely from the financial world, embarking upon a new career as a bicycle messenger. I enjoyed the unusual theme here, the disillusioned stock broker reverting to a simpler and (supposedly) more carefree lifestyle. Jack befriends his fellow messengers, including a guy, Voodoo, who's involved with delivering the goods for a sleazy drug dealer, and also a girl named Terri, who of course becomes the love interest. Jack and Voodoo plan a bike race, but there's trouble brewing from the drug dealer...

Other plot details? I don't recall them, but Kevin Bacon is adept in the role of Jack, the story catchy enough, and the theme regarding the fleeting nature of wealth always relevant, particularly as related to the stock market. Also, although I'm not personally a cyclist, I quite enjoyed the dashing bicycle sequences, up and down and across the sometimes hilly streets, of (I believe) San Francisco. Don't listen to the naysayers, it's a perfectly entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, and not just for the 1980's nostalgia.