L'extrême limite

My review was written in April 1993 after a screening in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.

Promoted as a hard-action film for Wesley Snipes fans, "Boiling Point" turns out to be an old-fashioned police procedural. Low-key and bland in the extreme, it's strictly for film buffs, though Snipes should ensure a strong first-week sampling among action enthusiasts.

Disappointingly, writer-director James B. Harris ("Cop"), in his zeal to re-create the mood and character acting of 1940s film noir, seems to have forgotten about excitement and visual flair.

Snipes toplines as a U. S. Treasury agent partnered with Dan Hedaya. The third T-man on their stakeout is killed by ruthless thug Viggo Mortensen, who gets away with his partner Dennis Hopper before the feds can close in.

Because of the fatal snafu, Snipes is reassigned from Los Angeles to Newark. He holds out for one week's time to catch the killers; coincidentally Hopper is given a week to find the $50,000 he owes gangster Tony LoBianco.

Loaded with false irony, Harris' mechanical script emphasizes the parallel lives of the two main characters to an almost laughable extent. Throughout the picture, Snipes keeps running into Hopper, neither knowing one is methodically hunting for the other.

Because of terrific acting down to the smallest role, one's interest is maintained despite the minimalist direction and lack of story twists. Particularly through Mortensen's careful underplaying, the film builds suspense and a sense of dread, but it never pays off.

Hopper's Red Diamond is a memorable small-time rogue who's a romantic at heart. Snipes is stuck in a one-dimensional role. Valerie Perrine is touching as the woman Hopper once put out on the street to pay his debts. Lolita Davidovich, as Snipes' ex-flame turned hooker, has little to work with in a patently unbelievable part. Seymour Cassel and Jonathan Banks are on the money as criminal types.

Pic looks nondescript. The soundtrack makes repeated use of Johnny Mercer's lovely standard "Dream".

This movie was OK way better then i thought it would be but the movie still has some flaws and the movies about 2 men who just got released from jail and kill an undercover cop and his partner has a week to find them before he is transferred.The film has an all star cast full of actors and actress like The great Dennis Hopper from the great movie Rivers Edge,Wesley Snipes from the movie Blade,Lolita Davidovich,Viggo Mortensen,Seymour Cassel and Christine Elise.This film is worth the rental prise but save your money and do not buy this film unless u are a fan of Dennis Hopper or Wesley Snipes and over all this film was entertaining with some boring scenes and my rating is 5 out of ten.

I'm slightly puzzled as to some of the harsher comments featuring BOILING POINT . I will confess that it's not a thriller classic but I will defend it against the accusation that it's a terrible movie Red ( Dennis Hopper ) is released from prison and owes some mafia types money and so is given a seven day ultimatum . Jimmy ( Wesley Snipes - And no early 90s urban thriller is complete without Wesley Snipes )loses a friend in the course of duty and the audience instantly know that these two unconnected characters will tie in with the plot somehow - And they do in a script that while not being the most tightly plotted screenplay you will ever see since there's a few too many characters involved is at least undemanding and easy to follow .

On the style front it's not exactly in the same league as HEAT but probably contains more substance than an episode of MAIMI VICE while we also get to see an early supporting role from Viggo Mortenson . I rate BOILING POINT six out of ten

Wesley snipes as a detective out to find his partners murderer and Dennis hopper as a man on the run from the mob.. the two stories interweaving until they both cross paths and one meets a violent end.. an ok suspense action flick with good acting by snipes and hopper in an understated role Davidovich plays her part well as an ill fated lover but there is just not enough for all the talent to work with ...overall a disappointment.. on a scale of one to ten ..a 4

Everything about the movie screams "average". i believe that the only reason the film manages to stay average and doesn't dip into "sub-par" is because of the cast.

Snipes isn't intense enough, and you never really feel his emotions that he REALLY wants to get "the bad guys". Hopper doesn't seem evil enough to be a bad guy. Hopper's sidekick in the film is the most "evil", and even he isn't really THAT much of a bad guy, but is more or less duped into doing Hopper's work for him.

The film is a typical revenger flick. Snipe's partner in the force is killed and Snipes of course trys to bring whoever did it down. There's no intensity though, as the film moves slowly and there really isn't much action.

The plot twists aren't here...as there aren't any. this is a typical bare bones cop movie, but without any gun play or raw emotions to make it any more exciting than the usual fair. The big name cast saves this flick...saves it from being horrible, and makes it only average and watchable, but nothing more.

RATING: 4.5/10