Ricochet

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source: Ricochet

Ricochet

Nick Styles is a cool cop who whilst on the beat with his partner captures and embarrasses on live TV, ruthless crime maniac Earl Talbott Blake. Styles goes on to achieve fame and lands the job of Assistant District Attorney, whilst Blake is sent to prison from where he plots a mission from hell that will destroy Styles life wholesale. Whilst not amounting to more than your standard revenge thriller, Ricochet does have grizzly devilment within its plot to make this a recommend for those who enjoy the popcorn thriller. John Lithgow is always great as a loon bad guy, and here he is a cackling grinning maniacal maelstrom of hate, and some of the lines he gets to deliver are icy madness personified. Denzel Washington is routinely good as Styles, handsome and believable as the cop done good who gets his life flipped upside down by the revenge thirsty Blake. The film is tight on action (including a couple of gross scenes for those inclined), no little suspense, and a wonderful homage to White Heat into the bargain. It's no award winner, it's for those who like to be entertained with a bowl of no brain popcorn on their laps. See this if you enjoyed Lithgow in Cliffhanger, or purely if you like Washington period. 7/10

This is a racist movie which should never have been made. If the color of the heroes/villains had been reversed i am sure it would not have. The movie itself is a festering sore of clichés and overacting. An absolute turkey to avoid. It gets a one only because that is th lowest grade allowed. It is a movie which serves only to incite racial hatred. Though considering Washington's latest movies, this is not surprising. The idea of the movie is interesting. Everything else stinks. There is no one in the entire movie who can rise above the slime which is this movie. It is particularly sad to see a good actor such as john Lithow involved in such a sad bunch of tripe.

This movie gets worse with every passing minute. I was really excited to see John Lithgow playing a villain, and some guy named Denzel was in it too. The main problem with this film is that it tries too hard to establish Denzel as good and Lithgow as evil, and both end up as simply unlikeable characters. Lithgow is so evil that there's nothing to sympathize with. He kills without remorse, gets in with the Aryan brotherhood, and while diabolical, he isn't even that smart. His plots are simplistic, and only work because everyone else is pretty dense too. Washington is so good that there's nothing to sympathize with. His only flaw is a righteous cockiness, which he earns by having never done anything wrong in his life. Normally, when we see this sort of character in a movie, at some point he has to make a choice between the lesser of two evils and do something commonly perceived as "wrong." Not the case here. Any "wrong" he does is beyond his control. As for the ending, you've seen it a million times in different movies. So don't hold your breath.

Over-the-top vehicle for Denzel Washington, here playing policeman-turned-District Attorney who puts slimy killer John Lithgow away, but quickly becomes the psycho's main target after Lithgow escapes from prison (in what must be the most nondescript prison-breakout in movie history!). Ridiculous, sometimes enjoyable non-think entertainment doesn't take itself too seriously, and Washington is solid throughout. Lithgow appropriately hams it up, but Lindsay Wagner is wasted as a fellow D.A. Film tails off near the finish line for a formulaic climax, but otherwise isn't too bad. ** from ****

Remember when John Lithgow used to be menacing? Remember when he was a demented psycho in Blow Out? or the magnificent transvestite in The World According to Garp? What about when he was a demented paranoid in The Twilight Zone - The Movie? And that religious tormented Reverend in Footloose? Even De Palma's Raising Cain was good in Lithgow's gallery of freaks. Yes, John Lithgow used to be dangerous as an actor. And one of those great performances was given in this little seen thriller directed by Russell "Highlander" Mulcahy. Denzel Washington, in a full, maniacal "Die Hard" mode, is Nick Styles, a maverick cop who is framed fro murder after Blake (Lithgow, in electric psycho mode) escapes form prison seeking revenge on Styles, the man that put him on cold seven years ago. The pace is really fast, the situations are extreme and the movie even manages to include some over the top, twisted violence. Sure, it has the very same conventionalisms and clichés of every other action movie (Styles partner dies, et al), but still, Ricochet goes over the average thanks to bravura performances by the two leads and some damn fine action sequences and camerawork. But now, Russell Mulcahy has stepped into oblivion and John Lithgow has become somber family fodder in mind numbing sitcoms about aliens and rock.

This is a typical Denzel Washington film: well-acted, rough language, a racial theme and an involved story that holds your interest. A lot of his movies fit those categories. Washington plays a preacher's kid and its nice to see he has such respect for him.So many times, Hollywood portrays fathers and especially clergymen in a bad light. John Lithgow is the villain and is such a crazy over-the-top loon he's fun to watch. There are no lulls in this story, yet the action scenes weren't overdone. It gets predictable in the end but I like the analogy in the film to the classic movie, "White Heat." I was sorry to see a few things: once again, white people are all the bigots; Lindsay Wagner, television's nice lady of the past, now using very profane language here and looking hard. Overall, this sometimes looks like a "B" action film more than a classy one but it's still an interesting crime film that sports a few different angles. It may not be one of Washington's better-known efforts, \but it is still entertaining.

A great film thanks to 3 very talented actors. In my opinion what makes this film exceptional to other revenge thrillers is that the antagonist doesn't focus on killing the protagonist, he focuses on destroying everything that means something to the protagonist through sex with prostitutes, stealing, cheating, and murder. I wonder why it didn't get a higher rating because Ricochet is an excellent film that shouldn't be missed.