Um Tira por Acaso

I was at Albertson's in the video section and wanted to pick up a "good" movie; well I always want to rent a good movie..but sometimes you're just really *not* in the mood for any bs, and well...you know how that goes..

The problem is..what movie *haven't* I seen that I could trust? I actually had seen Kuffs already, but not since it came out way back when. Well Christian Slater was still in his prime in this film and he's always cool to watch,(besides..I had totally forgotten what the movie was about!) so I rented it.

Sure it's a bit low-key (Slater narrates to the camera, and throughout there are series of techniques used: sound effects over swear words, subtitles used during Christian's gagged mouth scene, etc.) but that's what makes it stand out. There are several twists and turns in the story, and though the direction is simple and easy on the eyes, it is never predictable.. and funny-even hilarious- scenes and lines seem to come out of nowhere. Of course the fact that Christian Slater stars in it adds depth, sincerity, intelligence, and attitude to the picture.

What also makes <Kuffs> stand out is a certain fish-out-of-water feeling you get when watching ..meaning... Here you've got a total Hollywood moviestar, a gorgeous Milla Jovovich-who seemed to have immediately come from the set and popularity from <Return to the Blue Lagoon> in a pretty trashy neighborhood, under extremely bad circumstances. It seems pretty unbelievable that a 'perfect' young lady w/perfect parents would be ok with their daughter pining after the guy who got her 'in trouble' and then ditched her for it, whose apartment is covered in bulletholes!

But this is Christian Slater ! With his uncanny ability to make everyone around him feel stupid and uncool, (at least in films), he also has the power to move you, to let you trust him... Sure the part was probably written for him, but that's why I rented it in the first place!

This is a perfectly enjoyable light romp. Slater is very charming as the over his head young man that inherits his brothers security business. This is nothing more then enjoyable fluff. Slater fans may have overlooked this cute little movie.

If the rather quirky and unique screen personality of Christian Slater is not your cup of tea, than I'd stay away from Kuffs. Reading the film credits before writing this review I learned that Kuffs was written specifically for Slater. I can't see anyone else this role of George Kuffs, amiable high school dropout who can't get his life together and is sponging off his big brother Bruce Boxleitner.

Boxleitner is a patrol specialist, an institution dating from the days of the Forty Niners and unique unto San Francisco. There were not enough police to enforce any semblance of law and order in a town that just mushroomed over night. The city fathers assigned specific areas to people to enforce law and order and Boxleitner has one of those districts.

But in his area, the merchants are being harassed and extorted and he's being offered a huge bribe to sell his district to some really nasty people. When he doesn't Boxleitner is killed and Christian Slater inherits his job.

Despite some really gaping holes in the plot, the film is really carried along quite nicely by Christian Slater. Others in the cast of note are Milla Jovavich as his pregnant girlfriend, Leon Rippy as the hood who murdered Boxleitner and Tony Goldwyn as the SFPD officer assigned to Slater to keep him from getting killed.

Still Kuffs is strictly a Christian Slater show and his fans will absolutely love it.

"Kuffs" is a fun, slick action-comedy that you just appreciate for what it is. It doesn't even make an attempt to be a landmark cop movie like "48 Hours" or "Lethal Weapon," and that's what it makes it work. It's tongue-in-cheek and completely unpretentious. And Christian Slater is the glue that holds this film together. He's one of my favorite actors (who's quite underrated) and it's his credible, charming, charismatic performance that really makes this film tick. Though this is not one of his serious character roles, he seems to be having a lot of fun and really entertains us with his effervescent presence.

The moment you see Slater talking to the camera in the opening scene, you know this is not a movie to be taken seriously. In fact, this can even be classified as a farce. The material doesn't always seem suited for the big screen (more for the small screen in a TV cop show), but big screen or not it's damn entertaining. My only criticisms are a few cartoonish scenes which are just plain silly, one being Tony Goldwyn drinking coffee spiked with narcotics and stomping around like a Looney Tunes character.

Milla Jovovich is beautiful to look at, the humor is often fresh and funny, Slater is very entertaining and there's some exciting action to boot. Sounds good? It does to me.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

This is one of the best action-comedy movies that I have ever seen. The movie is full of hilarious one-liners, and action too. The plot is very original, not like a scheme I have ever seen in a cop film before. Don't watch this movie expecting it to be like Lethal Weapon, this isn't a film to be taken seriously. It's about a young, renegade 20-year old who takes over a special police unit after his brother, who ran the unit, was killed. This is a good action-comedy that will keep you laughing through the whole film. And Milla Jovovich is in it to boot...yeah, I'm a guy, sue me.