20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Too Hot to Handle, November 7, 2006
This review is from: Against All Odds (Special Edition) (DVD)
Expert opinion says that since the advent of color film, a good contemporary noir film is an L.A. noir film; that seems to be largely so, except then you've got "Body Heat," set in Florida. Be that as it may, "Against All Odds" is an LA noir film: it profits from the unique atmosphere of Los Angeles, the sinister corruption behind the sunny smile; the reality of arid desert behind the wastefully-watered green lawn. And most particularly, the parched, penned-up ill-respected Los Angeles River that features in Roman Polansky's mythic "Chinatown, and "in "The Narrows," one of Michael Connelly's recent books. The river also, of course, features in that well-known teenage film noir,"Grease," in which John Travolta and his all-singing, all-dancing fool friends stage their drag race in the river's concreted bed, graced by only the merest trickle of water. The Los Angeles River: Ignored until it rampages.
"Against All Odds" is a loose 1980's remake of Robert Mitchum's film noir, "Out of the Past." Jane Greer. femme fatale of the earlier film, plays mother to Rachel Ward, this film's femme fatale. Richard Widmark, important player in many earlier films noir, is on hand here too, in a small but critically important part. The plot is set in motion when Jake Wise,(James Woods), well-connected nightclub owner and man of many parts, sets his old friend, used-up former pro football player Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges), to find and return his runaway girlfriend Jessie Wyler (Rachel Ward), hiding somewhere in Mexico.
For starters, Mexico, Bridges and Ward have never looked hotter, the Ward-Bridges sex scenes are too darn hot, and the seemingly mandatory confusing LA real estate corruption subplot doesn't stop the main story line cold too often. The film was ably directed by Taylor Hackford, and the three principals carry their roles. There's also a flavorful supporting cast: Swoosie Kurtz, Saul Rubinek, Alex Karras, Dorian Harewood. "Against All Odds" is a bit dated, stuck in the '80's, and it's not the greatest noir story ever told, but it offers a lot of visual heat. It also delivers on the emotional heat meter, at least to me: true to noir conventions, nobody gets what they want, surely not Terry Brogan, who realizes, belatedly, that Jessie Wyler is literally too hot for him to handle,and he's going to have to leave her to her rich, powerful mother. Yes, it's been done before, possibly better, but "Against All Odds" stands and delivers on its own, and is worth a look-see.
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33 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful scenery of Mayan ruins and a good story, December 27, 1999
This review is from: Against All Odds (Special Edition) (DVD)
Director Taylor Hackford doesn't make a lot of mistakes. But he points out one in the deleted scenes area of this disc. When I saw it back in 1984, I didn't understand what the heck Jeff Bridges was doing flying around Mexico to throw James Woods off the train while Rachel Ward went to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza (an awesome but hellishly hot spot I visited in 1995). The deleted scene helps make this clear and really enhanced my enjoyment of the film.
Whether you like the movie or not, the chance to see the seaside ruins of Tulum and the astronomical temple of Chichen Itza is worth it. No one apparently had been allowed to film there before. And Jane Greer is great as the chilly mother of Ms. Ward and real estate heiress. In a role that demonstrates the calm and quiet banality of evil, Ms. Greer is also a link back to the film's inspiration - the great "Out of the Past," which she did with Robert Mitchum in 1947.
It's true the film comes apart a little i the end with some obvious twists you'll see coming. But it doesn't matter. The whole effort is beautifully shot and assembled with a young Swoosie Kurtz thrown in for some comic relief.
Blu-Ray update:
I was ready to pick up the blu-ray of this title, which came out in Spring 2011. However, it's only a single layer BD disc. The studios should come up with a new rule that if in 2011 and beyond they're going to take a cheap approach to transfers of great films and only place them on 25GB discs instead of the normal 50GB, then they should charge half the price of a normal blu-ray. I'll unfortunately need to pass on what would have otherwise been an automatic upgrade.
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jeff Bridges at his best, September 11, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Against All Odds (Special Edition) (DVD)
No actor has ever looked more sexy on film than Jeff Bridges does here. His chiseled physique, his tousled hair, and all his graceful movements and facial expressions kept me riveted to his presence throughout like I've never been with any other actor in any other film.
Despite some flaws, Against All Odds is a good film and visually beautiful. Jeff Bridges and James Woods put in great performances, as usual, and Rachel Ward's performance was really not bad for a model-turned-actress. Having Jeff and James to play against helped elevate her performance, I'm sure.
Jeff Bridges has always been one of my favorite actors. He was especially stellar in Fearless and The Fabulous Baker Boys, and though I've always considered him to be a handsome man, I never realized just how beautiful and sexy he was capable of being until I rented Against All Odds. It's worth seeing for that reason alone.
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