Fifty/Fifty

My review was written in February 1993 after a Times Square screening.

"Fifty/Fifty", a thoroughly mediocre actioner, fails to hit the required tongue-in-cheek tone. Obviously video-driven pic is an inauspicious return of Cannon Pictures to the theatrical marketplace after an eight-month hiatus.

Peter Weller and Robert Hays topline as soldiers of fortune in the Far East who are commandeered by the CIA for a mission to depose evil General Bosavi (Dom Magwili) of Tenggara. They cornily train the green troops of rebel leader Akhantar (Kay Tong Lim) while vying for the affections of his niece (Ramona Rahman). Of course the CIA double-crosses them and naturally the duo single handedly save the day.

Structured as an old-fashioned buddy romp, pic shamelessly imitates "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" to ill effect. Charles Martin Smith gives a very wishy-washy reading of the nominal CIA bureaucrat bad guy and directs the film in similarly "who cares?" fashion.

Weller is bland (he was far more expressive in the recent direct-to-video release "Sunset Grill"), while Hays, with perennial chin stubble, is comic relief. Stunts and other tech credits for this Malaysian-lensed opus are adequate.

So, you are with a group of mates(pals, friends, buddies) and you are renting a video. If your group is mostly men then I recommend fifty/fifty. It has all the elements that you would expect from an action/adventure/ comedy. One liners, 'n' all that. But this film is most definitely unique.

If you know films well and you also know a few flashy words and concepts to go with them then you will recognise it as a film that breaks a few of the genres' conventions. If not, well you can use that as an excuse to your girlfriend who says that you watch films with no taste. A right royal Buddy humour filled picture. In other words you will laugh your lungs dry!

Plot: Two bickering mercenaries are hired by the CIA to overthrow a South East Asian dictator.

This film was very surprising to me, I'm not the biggest fan of either actors, but they both have great chemistry with each other. The supporting cast also does a good job playing their roles well. I was very surprised by the action that was in the film considering it was low budget for that time.

This is what buddy films should be like, have a good sense of humor with your characters, make us like them, have a plot that's interesting in order to engage your audience. Give this a chance if you can find it, you won't regret it.

Charles Martin Smith who is not the most critically acclaimed director has made some pretty good movies in his time although not many people seem to know about them. However, this did not stop me from finding the movie Fifty/Fifty. I stumbled onto this little token because I was searching for films Peter Weller had starred in. Boy was I glad this film caught my attention with its excellent trailer. I usually do not laugh during trailers but this one was a rare gem.

Fifty/Fifty was released by Cannon Films who seemed to me like a well- known cinema company; I guess not. This film wasn't even theatrically released. But that makes it all the better. Peter Weller and Robert Hays star as two CIA operatives who are given an assignment to overthrow a ruthless dictator. Although both are from two different genres, both of them work really well together. I say this because their wisecracks seemed so natural like they didn't read the script. I'll admit that I did not have one favorite scene in this movie, because almost every scene was too good to pick a favorite. Even director Charles Martin Smith has a role in this story and he does his part well too.

The action is good in this movie too. There are plenty of shootings, explosions and there is some blood but not a lot of gore. The MPAA rating for this movie is rated R mostly for the language. I enjoyed Smith's direction on how he had Weller and Hays act during trouble. Even near death scenes, they never let go of their wit and funny comments.

Making this movie even more rare of a find is the score composed by Peter Bernstein, son of famous composer Elmer Bernstein. It's a little distressing to me because I enjoy many soundtracks to movies and I love collecting them and Bernstein's score is unobtainable. The score is fun to listen to because of its cheery mood and the way it gets fed into whatever scene is currently happening. I enjoyed this film a lot and wished that it was released theatrically. Director Charles Martin Smith outdid himself with this movie and its unfortunate not many people know of this funny action movie.

For some, it would seem like Robert Hays and Peter Weller are not the best duo in action comedy when in fact they deliver goods extremely well. With funny lines, a good soundtrack, and loud action, Fifty/Fifty will please any hardcore action comedy fan.

This is one of those movies that grows on you. I watched it when it first came to video and thought Ho-Hum. Then a few years later it was not too bad...till now I enjoy renting it about every 6 months just as a beer and pretzels, watch with my buddies kinda movie.

The action is very good. Not a whole lot of the explosions throwing undamaged bodies into 10 ft somersaults. Unlike other action flicks of this time, the heroes were pretty shot up by movies end.

The whole rebellion idea was fairly well planned out, both times. People you expect to make it (the girl) don't. Even the CIA guys is actually pretty cool at the end.

Watch it for entertainment, not for philosophy.