Fatal Beauty

With a title likes this, starring actress Whoopi Goldberg would you believe me if I told you this was a searing crime film of a L.A. undercover cop tracking down a drug dealer dealing a lethal tainted cocaine known as 'Fatal Beauty'. Probably not, but this is far from a comedy, despite some humorous exchanges and low-grade dialogues. Offsetting it is its drama and violence, which can be forcefully preachy and visually jarring. Still the script remains moronic and bloated, despite its good intentions and edginess. A fitting Goldberg portraying a female version of Dirty Harry but with wisecracks and flaunting a pink Cadillac to show her lighter side, goes about her job in almost a rogue manner, getting on the bad side of her bosses (played with vigour by John P Ryan) and waging a personal war against an Los Angeles drug ring. Brad Dourif plays the smarmy drug dealer and he brings a mean intensity, although I wished he had more screen time than he had. But he does get an explosive climatic cat and mouse shootout with Goldberg. Wonder if this performance convinced Holland to use him for his following feature "Childs Play." Yep that's right, Tom Holland (better known for his horror films; "Fright Night" & "Thinner") directs this straight-laced, violent formula with predictable results. Still he manages to keep it moving with fineness, using locations to good affect and resourceful in delivery the tough action in spades. Acting across from Goldberg is Sam Elliott, but his weakly pitched character (bodyguard) is little more than a distraction and there for Goldberg's character to open up to. Also in the cast are Ruben Blades and Harris Yulin with some of these performances almost being played with mock seriousness. An action-comedy that doesn't all come together.

Rita Rizzoli (Whoopi Goldberg) is going to put the drug king out of business who is producing a deadly drug that's killing people off at an alarming rate. The drug king's top security man, Mike Marshak (Sam Elliott), takes a shine to Rita, although we aren't sure why. I spent the entire film thinking he might be an undercover cop -not so. Had it been any other actor besides Elliott I think this flaw might have prevented the film from being believable. But Elliott, and his cool, understated style just swept me away with his obvious attraction to Rita. There are some very moving moments, some frighteningly real back alley scenes of drug dealings and shootout after shootout. I didn't know what to expect with this film, and was hoping Whoopi would sail with it. She did!

I do love what Whoopi Goldberg does with her character Rizzoli as an undercover narcotics cop. But the term Fatal Beauty is for a certain deadly designer drug that she is tracking down the source of. Nevertheless Whoopi proves to be quite fatal to any number of the characters in the film.

But this film suffers from a really muddled script and the distinct possibility that the several bad guys who want this shipment of this nasty Fatal Beauty stuff are imbibing a bit too much of it themselves. Whoopi's target is Harris Yulin a big New Orleans contractor who is deep in the narcotics trade unofficially. But Yulin himself has troubles in his own ranks.

Sam Elliott's character as Yulin's bodyguard and enforcer is also a mystery. I couldn't figure out what his function is as he keeps saving Goldberg.

Whoopi is fun to watch especially slugging it out with rich society woman Jennifer Warren. But the film is just too murky.

"Fatal Beauty" may indeed be a crime/comedy/action flick, but for those who have not seen it, there is a serious underlying message that comes over loud and clear about the potential consequences of taking illegal narcotics. There are no underlying messages in the aforementioned Eddie Murphy films. The most moving part of the film is when Whoopi (Rita Razzoli), gives Sam Elliott (Mike Marshak), her reasons for her dedication in fighting the good fight against the targeted crime boss. If you have not seen the film I will not spoil it here by telling you her reason. See the film for yourself.

Then we have Sam Elliott, who is an excellent if unwilling partner, to begin with. He is actually head of security for the crime boss (Harris Yulin), tasked with keeping Rita from coming to harm and siding with Rita in two well staged gunfights. I also have to mention Rubin Blades, who actually does a good job, playing the role of Rita's somewhat put upon cop partner. All in all, it's one of my favorite films in this field.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Fatal Beauty has the advantage of allowing Whoopie Goldberg to bounce her keen and cutting wit off Sam Elliott's straight and penetrating gaze. The action is bone-crunching gang-banging blended with South of the Border stylized gun battles, Corporate money, and big drugs.

I particularly like this one for Sam Elliott's prominence. He portrays hired muscle for a corporate big wig, who has no idea what his boss is up to. He also has a hint of a love interest with the star, and I found that delightful. His down to earth personality is perfectly cast, and wittingly executed.

This one always surprises me.

It rates a 7.8/10 on the Buddy Cop Scale from...

the Fiend :.