Le Beau, la Brute et le Malin

Apparently when David Hasselhoff read the script and saw his on screen partners would be a Hispanic character and a token afro American he thought "my god i can feel the on-screen chemistry already!" - HE WAS WRONG! DEAD WRONG! When you see this film you really just want to say "gee Dave music really is the best career for you!" this film is unbelievably confusing, for starters its never explained why Hasselhoffs character is called Whitebread! AWESOME!!! The film is described as an action comedy which it is in a way, Hasselhoff wandering around trying to save some bint from drug lords whilst waving a pistol around like its a sock is some of the best unintentional comedy ever! The only explanation for Linda Blair agreeing to do this movie is that the priest didn't do a good enough job! as she must have been temporarily possessed by the demons of straight to the 99p bin in asda, ironically i bought this movie for 2p less in tesco, i could have spent it on something far more entertaining like a bath mat! all in all you should see this film if only to see Hasselhoffs awesome guns!

My review was written in February 1990 after watching the film on Vestron video cassette.

Better known by its awkward original title, "W. B., Blue and the Bean", "Bail Out" is an okay action picture released direct to video.

Three title characters are nicknames for David Hasselhoff (as "White Bread"), Tony Brubaker and Tom Rosales, who play skip tracers hired by Charles Brill to protect heiress Linda Blair. She's out on $1,000,000 bail after being apprehended with a boyfriend who's holding drugs. Warring Colombian and Iranian drug lords lead everyone on a merry chase south of the border until Blair finally realizes Hasselhoff is a good guy and starts to cooperate with him.

Helmer Max Kleven, whose second unit directing credits include topnotch films like "Runaway Train", delivers solid action footage here and maintains a light touch. It's the type of picture that used to be drive-in fodder and is of only minor interest to Blair fans, since she is more damsel in distress than action heroine this time out.

When I originally saw this flick, I didn't think it was that good of a film. I thought it was pretty cool/cheesy though. Cut to a few days ago when I watched it again and I was blown away. This movie was far better than I remembered it to be. The action scenes are some of the best in direct-to-video cinematic history. It's hard to believe that this went direct-to-video since it is way better than any theatrically released action film that came out at the time. No review of this movie would be complete without saying that John Vernon is the man. Ever since ANIMAL HOUSE, Vernon has appeared in a number of truly excellent underrated movies such as this one. 6/10

Roger "White Bread" Donaldson (David Hasselhoff) is a bounty hunter whose sleazy boss (Charlie Brill) assigns him a rich girl, Nettie Ridgeway (Linda Blair), who'd witnessed the murder of a boyfriend by your standard issue scummy drug runners. His job will ultimately be to make sure that she is in court to testify against the villains, even if he has to go into Mexico to do it. Fortunately, on his side he has his faithful friends Mason "Blue" Walcott (Tony Brubaker), a former football player, and Casper "Bean" Garcia (Thomas Rosales Jr.).

As written and directed by veteran stuntman Max Kleven (whose previous directorial efforts include "Ruckus" (also with Blair) and "The Night Stalker"), this is adequate action entertainment with respectable set pieces, a reasonable amount of energy and humour, a jaunty and hilarious Chuck Cirino music score, and a ready and willing cast. The Hoff brings all his charisma to the proceedings (he and Blair also did the horror film "Witchery" together), and he, Brubaker, and Rosales are a moderately amusing team. (If you don't see this for anything else, see it for the engaging Brubaker and Rosales, two more very experienced stuntmen and bit players who get rare substantial co-starring roles here.) Blair is cute and appealing as always.

Also among the supporting cast are John Vernon (he'd previously acted with Blair in "Chained Heat" and "Savage Streets" and plays her dad here), Gregory Scott Cummins ("Stone Cold" '91) as the suave villain Zalazar, Wayne Montanio as heavily stereotyped character Felix, Bob Minor as fighter King Clive, Roy Jenson as a guard, George 'Buck' Flower as ...what else?... a bum, and Danny Trejo as a character dubbed 'Mean'. Ravishing Debra Lamb has one memorable scene as a motel clerk.

As for the rest of the movie, it's all watchable enough but also instantly forgettable.

Five out of 10.

Bail Out is a silly action/adventure/comedy which isn't very funny, at least not intentionally. The original title "W.B., Blue and the Bean" (which appears after the end credits, while "Bail Out" is the title in the opening credits. Did they forget to change it?) should give some indication of the movie's intentions.

Roger "White Bread" Donaldson (or W.B. for short) (The Hoff) is a part-time tennis instructor and part-time bounty hunter. He has two associates - you guessed it - Mason "Blue" Walcott (Tony Brubaker) and, of course, The Bean (Tom Rosales). When heiress Nettie Ridgeway (Blair) is abducted by drug lords (led by Cummins of Action U.S.A. (1989) fame as Zaldizar) and spirited away to Mexico, it's up to our three heroes to save the day. They have to get her to court on time in order to collect a million dollars. The three buddies want to open their own bail bondsmanship so they can stop working for the haranguing Aram Haronian, their boss. Will they succeed? While it is funny to see the mighty Hasselhoff with his mullet and giant cell phone hamming it up for all the world to see, and an attempt is made at politically-incorrect humor ("these guys drive worse than the Orientals!", "Roasted Colombians, nothing' finer!", etc.) sadly it all seems a bit forced and unfunny. Once they get to Mexico, there is a stereotype Mexican character that is very, very annoying. The movie was already on pretty thin ice by then, and the addition of this character did not help at all.

There are some car chases, shootouts and horseback riding, and the cast is full of familiar faces such as Trejo, Flower, the Hoff, Blair, and a surprising appearance by Gregory Scott Cummins as the drug lord. We were so used to seeing him as the all-American good guy from Action U.S.A. He truly has a lot of versatility. John Vernon is also on hand as Linda Blair's father. What is he truly up to? Nothing really weird or truly noteworthy happens in Bail Out. It's all pretty standard fare, so stupid at times it almost insults the audience's intelligence. We know it's a direct to video movie starring The Hoff, but come on. Give us some credit here. But then again it was directed by Max Kleven, the "mastermind" behind Fugitive Champion (1997). At least Chip Mayer was nowhere in sight. So if you can survive all the groaners for jokes and some middling action, you MAY be entertained by Bail Out if you are in the right mood (i.e., a really goofy mood).

Bail Out was released on VHS in the U.S. on the great Vestron label. We couldn't find any commercially-released version of the film under the "W.B. Blue and the Bean" moniker. If you have a picture of that, please send it in.

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