10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Flashback.. fun.. and there's a heart., August 25, 2004
While looking at the box art.. or maybe just reading on the box.. You may think this film is your stanard opposites clash, then become buddies film.. Well, you'd be right.. and, you would be WRONG. I admit, there are a few contrived scenes.. and the relationship is pretty much spelled out from the beginning of the film and the two main character's FIRST meeting.. BUT, the way it's played is definitely not the same old formula.
Dennis Hopper easily slips into the aging hippie radical.. It's no surprise that he's comic gold. The more surprising part, and it is no knock against him, is Keifer Sutherland. He plays the straight man to the crazy radical, yet also brings an unexpected depth to the character of the FBI agent who's responsibility it is to take Huey (Hopper) back to jail.
Not saying Hopper's character lacks depth.. He is very much a cardboard cut out loudmouth that also has a depth to him when he refers to his regret of having been a fugitive for 25 years after pulling off an amateurish stunt against the establishment.
BUT.. the real surprise to me is still of course Sutherland.. in retrospect.. looking over his career, even up to this point, his most effective roles (and even now, on the big screen anyway) had been of villains and people who are evil.. pure and simple, and without reason for the most part. His character of the sadistic Ace Merill (Stand by Me) was a great role.. but rather just an evil role.. but, of course, Sutherland never let his evil turn into the level of mustache twirling.. He was the bully.. Or his later turns in the small parts in "A Time to Kill" and almost invisible (a completely omniscient and almost spectrual figure, well voice, in "Phone Booth". Here he plays the straight man.. An uptight FBI agent who triest to resist the humor and charm of the aging hipster..
And he seems to have a rather good time playing the almost lack of humor FBI agent.. then he gets his chance as the antagonistic prankster.. But, the most shocking.. Were two particular scenes between Buckner and Carol Kane regarding his childhood.. When he talks about going to school for the first time.. The second was just one simple moment where his character was totally changed.. I am assuming everyone has seen the film and know to what I refer here. As Buckner (Sutherland) watches a family video, watch Sutherland's reaction.. As his character totally breaks down..
Anyway.. I can only recommend this film to anyone.. who doesn't mind the language.. It is definitely a film for ADULTS.. but there are messages for the younger generations as well. So.. it's a buddy film.. there are opposing idealogies.. there's some character depth.. and a satisfying conclusion.. You will laugh, maybe cry.. and hopefully think about the generation that was and what it means to us now and how it may be important now than ever.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A movie to go back to, April 1, 2006
This came out when I was 3, and Mom and I still have the laserdisc version of it. This movie is a great showing about how things have changed, if what Mom says about the 60's and 70's is true. Either way, it's a very fun movie. I feel the urge to watch it at least once a year. Keifer Sutherland plays a "me generation" FBI agent who is sent to take an ex-yippie, played by Dennis Hopper, to a prison where he can serve his sentence for disconnecting Spiro Agnew's train car. The cop and the ex-yippie end up having to flee for their lives and depend on each other for their survival, even if they drive each other crazy. In the end, the cop decides to let the ex-yippie run away. The sort of twist at the very end is nice, and I smile and chuckle thinking about it. I highly recommend it to anyone born in the late 80's who feels like they should have been in college in the 60's.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Call me deprived, but I found the movie AWESOME!, July 19, 2003
This review is from: Flashback [VHS] (VHS Tape)
As an "at the edge-baby boomer" I wasn't quite old enough or precocious enough to appreciate the "labeled" hippie era. However, having, within the past 4 years, gone thru my "requisite" "mid-life-crisis" with accompanying chaos/change it demanded of me, I found the movie totally entertaining and resonant for me. I LOVED the personification of the free spirit of love and life that the movie portrayed the 60's as. The scenes with Carol Kane and her "reclusive, hippiesque, keeper of the flame" character touched a deep chord within my 46 year old psyche. My "old soul" resonated with the archetypal emotions and images that the film engendered. When we enter the old barn thru the camera's lens, I found my deepest yearnings stirred, and I was moved beyond words by the scene when she opens the door to display the images that most resonated with that time period. I'm sure I'm not the only "wanna-be-hippie" who was thus moved. I would love to see more of these souls post their thoughts about this movie!
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