Truman, a Chicago cop, sets out to find the killer of his brother. Meanwhile, another of his brothers, Briar (a hillbilly) decides to find the killer himself.Truman, a Chicago cop, sets out to find the killer of his brother. Meanwhile, another of his brothers, Briar (a hillbilly) decides to find the killer himself.Truman, a Chicago cop, sets out to find the killer of his brother. Meanwhile, another of his brothers, Briar (a hillbilly) decides to find the killer himself.
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Truman Gates' (Patrick Swayze) brother has a brand-new truck and is selling wholesale cigarettes. He should be shot for that. Oh, he was. Evidently, against the advice of his partner, the brother decided to protect the cigarettes from hijackers with his life. On the other hand, little Joey Rosselini (Adam Baldwin) is showing off and cannot back down from the challenge.
Now Truman must identify the person whom his brother insulted and incarcerate him. You guessed it; the rest of the kin which includes Blair (Liam Neeson) thought you were supposed to "incinerate" him. So, the fun begins. Bang! Bang! Shoot-um up.
Swayze is a citified hillbilly. We know they've civilized him because he pulls his mullet back into a fashionable ponytail. Neeson is not civilized. We know this because he wears a dirty baseball cap at all times, even when he has on a suit. Helen Hunt is Swayze's city wife. She plays the violin, which Swayze's hillbilly kin refer to as the fiddle. Rest assured, this movie never misses a chance to traffic in clichés.
The action is so-so and the performances are about what you would expect. Swayze takes his part very seriously. Adam Baldwin seems to know the score and hams it up appropriately as the villain. There are many quotable lines, which is the mark of a good cheesy action movie. It's not at the top of my list of great '80s actioners but it's worth checking out anyway.
Patrick Swayze is one of three brothers of whom the youngest, Bill Paxton, is killed after organized crime takes over a trucking firm he was a driver for. They killed the wrong guy because in addition to being Paxton's brother, Swayze is also a Chicago police detective.
Of course Swayze has to operate within the parameters of the law. That's not the case for the oldest brother Lian Neeson. He comes to Chicago just looking for them that did the deed.
Andreas Katsulas is the Mafia crime family head and he's got an idiot son played by Ben Stiller whom he turns over to enforcer Adam Baldwin to learn the business. Stiller goes right to the top of the criminal food chain with Baldwin when he and Baldwin kill Paxton. But Baldwin is a survivor and he'll do whatever it takes to survive.
The showdown between hillbillies and Mafioso takes place with a cemetery at night serving as the OK Corral. It's quite a battle and justice is served if not the law.
Next Of Kin is your routine action film, but it does have one thing going for it that I have to praise. The hillbillies are real people here, they're not the Clampetts of Beverly Hills nor the mouth breathers from Deliverance. I'm glad that the producers avoided stereotyping them which would have been easy. Swayze is a good action hero and his leading lady is Helen Hunt who as Mrs. Swayze in the film is not given all that much to do.
Fans of the late Patrick Swayze will be very happy with Next Of Kin.
The movie's upside, which most people already pointed out, is the cast. What were these people thinking when they agreed to be in this stinker? There's tons of big names in this film from when they were very young. Ben Stiller as a mobster, Liam Neeson as a 'hillbilly', Helen Hunt as the girlfriend...Adam Baldwin, Bill Paxton, and obviously Patrick Swayze. Speaking of Swayze, it's movies like this that really stopped his career from going from 15 minutes of fame to possibly 15 or more YEARS of fame.
Bad accents, forced acting, out of place casting and everything else mentioned above made this movie a below average film even for its time. Unless you're a Swayze nut, stay away from this movie.
The cemetery where the final showdown occurred is Graceland on Clark Street, as everyone who has toured or visited this landmark would know. It was an agony to watch these historic monuments being blown to bits - I had to keep chanting "it's only a movie, it's only a movie".
But the readiness of the Kentucky family to jump into the fray was very real. That wonderful scene of the pickup truck on its northbound trek up Lake Shore Drive has its counterpart in everyday life, so I've been told.
Liam Neeson is a revelation. It's hard to believe that the same actor who plays to perfection this tight lipped, lean and mean mountain man, will later be nominated for an Oscar for his heart-rending portrayal of a sophisticated German industrialist.
Truman Gates may be my favorite Patrick Swayze character. There's plenty of blood-and-guts action, but it's easy to believe that a concert violinist would fall madly in love with this exciting, unusual cop. Helen Hunt, as his wife, and Michael J. Pollard as a benighted flophouse manager, are excellent in their roles.
See this movie for a good story, authentic characterizations, and non-stop interest.
Did you know
- TriviaThe phone number Briar, played by Liam Neeson, gives to Harold the hotel clerk, played by Michael J Pollard, is an active number in Kentucky.
- GoofsDuring the shootout in the mob's office, Briar fires a shotgun at the first mobster who enters, knocking the man back and killing him. Yet there are no pellet holes in his clothing and no blood anywhere to indicate he was hit.
- Quotes
Truman Gates: They're coming for you, Willy. I know you'll take a couple of them with you for sure, but they'll take you just the same. Or we can take a ride to the station together, just a couple of boys from the hills. You got my word on that. I know you ain't scared to die, Willy. But this ain't no place to leave your ghost.
- SoundtracksBrothers
Written and Performed by Larry Gatlin & Patrick Swayze
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $15,942,628
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,805,516
- Oct 22, 1989
- Gross worldwide
- $15,942,628
- Runtime
- 1h 48m(108 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1