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Only 13 years before this movie was made, in 1973, the father of Emilio Estevez (Martin Sheen) starred in the brilliant classic "Badlands", which has a similar storyline. This 1986 movie "Wisdom" is nowhere near as impressive as that seventies classic though, but "Wisdom" is definitely still worth a watch. Especially the acting is great. So if you like(d) Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore in the past, this movie is definitely worth a watch. Back to the eighties!

The story is simple. Emilio Estevez and his girlfriend Demi Moore, steal from the rich (the corrupt banks) and give to the poor (the American farmers). Will they get away with this Robin Hood kind of crime?

The good: the acting is really good. It's a lighthearted story, with a few subtle jokes and a few puppy love romantic scenes, but it's most of all a thrilling and suspenseful bank robbers movie, with lots of hold ups and chases.

Any bad? It's a bit silly now and then, credibility wise. It has got that eighties sound, with the silly synthesizer music. But overall these faults are minor. This is one heck of a charming action movie. Definitely a forgotten movie, that is worth more attention. Still quite enjoyable after 30 years.

The critics love dubbing this "Wis-dumb", but I've never understood the harshness. Sure, this film isn't amazing, kind of in one ear out the other entertainment, but in my opinion undeserving of the worst of all time list. I can honestly say "Wisdom" spoke to me, especially in my late teens and early twenties and I think a lot of guys that age may feel the same. You always reach that point after high school of what to do now, or trying to find a job that you love. Estevez character faces those couple of things plus the fact that he has a felony attached to his name after a night of mistakes a few years earlier. Deciding that there isn't much for him out there in life, he's intrigued by a tv report documenting the financial problems farmers are having in the midwest. So he ends up (and this is where it gets tricky when trying to explain the film's plot to people) bombing and burning loan information kept in banks. The odd thing is that he begins this close to home in LA, but then heads east where the cause will have effect. Along for the ride is his loving girlfriend, played by Moore in one of her more sweeter performances. I just feel that Estevez really nailed her character by making her the sympathetic "I'll do anything for you" type. Not to mention that she's gorgeous and gives him plenty of physical love, even while on the lam. She really came off as a semi-dreamgirl. Meanwhile, as they head from town to town, there's a subplot about a determined FBI agent out to get Estevez, nicely played by Young. Some acuse the ending of being a copout, but I'm with others who enjoyed its originality. There's a good amount of drama as to what he will decide to do in that one moment. The film also includes some excellent Danny Elfman music, an actual song at the end along with a sensitive piano score. Overall, this flick is far from Oscar winning material, but it has some interesting ideas and should pass the time either way, as a bad or good two hours.

Wisdom (1986) was a film that was written, directed, produced and starred Emilio Estevez. This movie was produced during the height of Emilio's career. He was also one of the youngest actors tin Hollywood to ever take on such as task. The end results are that of a novice film makers. In the end he bitten off more than he could chew.

The film is about a young wash out who can't do anything right. So he decides to become a sort of a modern day Robin Hood with his girlfriend/co-conspirator Demi Moore by his side. The young lovers hit the road and decide to make history.

Overall, it's an uneven production. The actors seemed to be unmotivated and the written is pretty run-of-the-mill. A good concept that's executed by mediocre hands. Estevez should have started out small before taking on such a big project. One the other hand I have to give him a big hand for pulling this one off.

Recommended for Emilio Estevez fans.

Factoids: Part of the movie was filmed in my hometown of Sacramento. I remembered all of the hub bub it created ten years ago. Charlie Sheen has a cameo as his "former" supervisor.

I think alot of people knew from the get-go this movie wasnt going to be a award winning movie, but I don't think the movie was horrible. It certainly wasn't Emilio or Demi's finest work but for being the age Emilio was when he wrote and directed this movie, he didn't do that bad of a job. As far as the critics go with this movie: In my opinion they weren't going to be kind with this movie no matter how it good it was because of Demi and Emilio's "Brat pack" status.

"Wisdom" is actually nowhere near as bad as its rep would suggest if you take it for what it is: a trashy B-movie which you should watch when you feel like laughing instead of thinking. In its cool pretty boy chic fashions, the movie is just so totally 80s and the various scenes where Estevez beats the cops on his trail, such as the dummy scene, are downright side splitting. I actually liked the "cop out" ending because I thought it was original for a movie of this sort and did not see it coming. Furthermore, this movie, for its low ambitions, has some surprisingly good camera work . My main reason, though, for liking this movie is the beautiful catchy soundtrack by Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo. Now, the bad ? Well, let´s just say that "Wisdom" never quite rises above the level of a lesser "Sledge Hammer" episode.