Customer Reviews

Hard Cash [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Christian Slater reunited with Val Kilmer reminds us of the high tension action flick "True Romance." But no more is seen the burning power generated by the Tarantino-scripted film; instead, in "Hard Cash" you only see a banal B-action flick with wasted opportunities for any of those involved.

The story is rather simple: master thief Slater and his cohorts attempt to do their final job as Kubrick's "The Killing," but realize that the money they get are all marked by FBI. They have to wait another day for money laundering, but while waiting, crooked agent Val Kilmer steps in, to extort money from them.

As the mildly interesting opening of the film shows, "Hard Cash" has slightly comical flavor, not taking itself so seriously. OK, but with what little humor in there soon gone away, the film goes on and on without much to boast of. Though the heist scenes are shot competently, the suspense comes very few between the acts, so even its 90 minutes running time looks very tedious. And obligatory explosions and car chase are, to be honest, very cheap.

The leading players, including Slater, Kilmer, and Daryl Hannah might not impress you, but the supporting cast are interesting -- see, for example, Balthazar Getty ("Lost Highway"), Bokeem Woodbine ("3000 Miles to Graceland"), Sara Downing (TV's "Roswell"), William Forsythe ("The Rock"), and Verne Troyer (Mini-Me of "Austin Powers" sequels). But they have no moment to really show something they can, possibly except for Troyer's "contigency plan" and even he, or always reliable Getty or Forsythe cannot save the show. So, what can you expect from the leads, who plays the characters we don't care much?

Even Kilmer's and Slater's fans would be dismayed with their "acting," because they don't show any. Those who like them should wait for a Lenny Harlin film "Mindhunters" where they are sure to live up with our expectations.

How did the production company manage to land two of the best actor's in recent cinema history? Not to mention, Darryl Hannah, Bokeem Woodbine, and Balthazar Getty. The script was dull, the plot was unoriginal, and the production quality was very low-budget. The only reason I gave it two stars was Val Kilmer's portrayal of a very eccentric character which was marginally entertaining. Don't buy this movie, don't rent this movie, don't ever watch this movie. Trust me, you don't want to equate this movie to Val Kilmer's or Christian Slater's acting careers.

Thieves steal $2 million of marked money and become involved with crooked FBI agent Val Kilmer. Cristian Slater plays chief thief who must foil Kilmer's plans and save his daughter.
HARD CASH is pretty dreadful. How dreadful? It was originally released as RUN FOR THE MONEY. Films don't change their titles for nothing.
The acting is okay, but there are a half-dozen or so too many why-are-we-doing-this scenes. The usually reliable Val Kilmer walks through the movie with a dazed and confused expression on his face. Slater is a little bit more on top of things, but he's saddled with a wise beyond her years daughter who doubles as a card sharp and is forced to read lines like "I just can't live like this anymore." Not your typical eight-year-old declaration.
Granted, not many movies have dart gun toting midgets crawling out of toilets, but that happens before the opening credits are run. After that it's all downhill. Pass this one by.

starts off good with Slater, Troyer, and two others including his girlfriend try to rob William Forsythes place but it ends up with Slater going into the slammer but then he comes back some months or years later and pulls off a heist that involves Bookem Woodbine, Balthazat Getty, Matthew Schulze and Daryl Hannah, but the problem is that Val Kilmer, a corrupt cop was going to do the heist. all im saying is that Slater and Kilmer do a great cat and mouse game but they should'nt of been in this mess. with wooden characters, but sometimes good action, specifically when the team turns on one another and kills each other over the money. could've been better with different leads

This so-so DTV flick starring surprisingly big names like Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, Verne Troyer, and Daryl Hannah somehow manages to deliver very little out of its premise and makes little use of its capable cast. The plot skips from one heist failure to another, but delivers little in the way of action or witty dialogue. Val Kilmer is given little to do as our bad guy and Christian Slater isn't cool enough as the good guy. The film suffers from a poor script and horrendously uninspired directing. Watching it is kind of like watching someone go through their morning routine. It does all it needs to do, but doesn't add anything interesting. What this movie needs is a better script and cooler music. The movie, however, isn't bad enough to get the dreaded one star rating.

I have never been so dissapointed in a movie in my life. I grew up a fan of Val Kilmer and Christian Slater's movies, so, it was quite wierd to see a Val Kilmer and Christian Slater premiering on cable. Fortunately, they were not what ruined this movie. I don't know who found this director, but they should have left him in Yugoslavia. I sure hope this isn't the best Yugoslavia has to offer. No, seriously. This director has no real talent. It seems that someone just taught him how to use an editing system. The director had no concept of what transitional effects to use, so it appears that he tried them all. The only thing missing was the star wipe.
My advise: Watch this movie in order to see how not to make a movie.

People make this movie out to be the worst movie ever made. They are over reacting. It is not THAT bad. It is not THAT good. It is okay. I liked the beginning. The scam in the beginning with Mini-Me was cool. The second heist wasn't bad either. If it comes on cable, it might be worth watching. overall, not as bad as people say it is.

call me crazy. go ahead but i liked it. i thought it was fun action.

When I saw the cover, I thought to myself, "Why haven't I ever heard of this movie?". Now I know why. I was hoping that it would be an action packed thriller. Christian Slater and Bokeem Woodbine were both in "3000 Miles to Graceland. Despite getting slammed by the critics, I thought it was a good movie and was hoping this might be similar. Slater and Val Kilmer were both in "True Romance", which happens to be one of my favorites. My hopes were extremely high. To say I was disappointed, would be an understatement. The dialogue was hokey, the car scenes were hilarously bad, and the movie in general is awful. Do NOT buy this movie, do NOT rent it, and your time would be wasted if you watched it anywhere. I own a pretty good size DVD collection and this is one movie I feel embarrassed to admit I bought. I can't even find someone to pay to take it off my hands. You have been warned.

I must say I was very dissapointed the night I watched this film on the USA Network for the first time. Christian Slater is my favorite actor and it was awful to have to watch him trudge through this wreteched messs of a movie. I couldn't beleive this movie had landed the cast that it had. Then I realized something, I think everyone in it is just playing a big joke. i mean, i don't think anyone took it seriously, I think they were all just having fum. I mean nobody could possibly have thought tthe car scenes in this looked good. Also, if you look carefully Christian Slater is laughing as he leaps off the boat at the end, saving his daughter from the inferno. Val Kilmer overracts and purposely I beleieve. I think he just wanted to see how bad he could be. "Do you think I'm an idiot" For a laugh I'd give this movie a shot but don't watch this for a good movie. If you wanna watch a Christian Slater movie watch TRUE ROMANCE or 3000 MILES TO GRACELAND. If you want to watch a Val Kilmer movie watch TOMBSTONE or THE SALTON SEA or TRUE ROMANCE for that matter. Actually, whether you a fan of either just watch TRUE ROMANCE as often as you can.