Customer Reviews

Loose Cannons

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a truly funny movie. I mean, Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd were absolutely great in this film. They make a great team in this movie. Basically one plays a cop, who doesn't have a home. The other plays a cops who's brilliant at his job, but suffers from split personality disorder. They are both teamed together to solve a murder which revolves around a mysterous film connected to Hilter's death. The critic's blew it again, with this film. Dan Aykroyd was actually quite good in this film. He played his character very well. So, did Gene Hackman. This is a very enjoyable film.

I have a feeling I'm in the minority, but I actually like this movie and have been looking for it for a long time. It's certainly not incredible film-making, but it's fun and silly in a laid-back kind of way. If you like your humour on the goofy side, this one might appeal to you. Picture Sherlock Holmes belonging in an insane asylum with Dr. Watson along just as much to keep an eye on him as to be his sidekick. DeLuise, Ackroyd and Hackman are always enjoyable even when the plot doesn't quite live up to standards.

As a salesman of Aluminum Building products, I used to sporadically call on the Carolco/Dino DeLaurentiss movie studio in Wilmington, NC. Back in summer of '88, I stopped by; spoke to one of the lead carpenters & was allowed to go to the soundstage of "Loose Cannons" & watch some shooting. I was there when the scene @ the health spa was shot with Gene Hackman shooting at a neo-Nazi by the pool. Dan Ackroyd was not there that day.(Dom Deluise was;asleep in a chair in his spa office.). However, when viewing the movie, it seems that Hackman did his pistol & Uzi shooting & them slid the Uzi over to Ackroyd for him to shoot. Movie magic 'cause it all was seamless when viewing the movie. Anyway, I got to meet Paul Koslo, the bad guy in the film, (always stars as a bad guy-was in Charles Bronsons' "Mr Majestick" among many others). He was a real nice gentleman;plus he explained the plot to me. At that time the working title was "The Von Metz Incident". Later on, as I was leaving, I got to meet Gene Hackman , which was quite a thrill. A large fellow, not quite my size, 6'3",250 lb. but very accomadating of someone like me that randomly stumbled into him. Of course, I asked for an auotgraph; he asked who to make it out to. I said my son, Tyler, who was a big SuperMan fan and familiar w/Lex Luthor. When I asked how he liked Wilmington he said very nice , "but hot!". I still have the autograph.
The movie , to me, was pretty decent. I've seen others that have had more critcial & commercial success but seemed to be less entertaining. I have the VHS video and watch it every year or so. I think some reveiwers were put off by Ackroyds' performance when he was in his 'looney' mode, but I thought that he handled it quite well. I doubt that Jim Carrey could've done any better! Plus, when he was in his 'analytical mode' his character was very thought-provoking to watch. The story line is intriguing and all of the acting is very good. I recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good thriller with some comedy thrown in!

I don't know if this film actually deserves five stars, but as for me, I think it does purely for comedic value. Akroyd shows that he was definitely the "pre-Jim Carrey." Hackman has always had a knack for comedy, and certainly does not disappoint. Together, they are totally crazy and, with the addition of Dom DeLouise (hope I spelled that right) makes this an excellent combination of suspense and comedy. Well worth the price!

Whenever I need to relax and watch something very funny this is the first DVD movie I pop in. Dan is great in just about every movie he appears.

No, this movie was never going to win any Oscars, even if I was the only one voting, but it was a fun movie.

Hackman plays a cop who's been forced to move, so he has all his possessions in his station wagon. He's called to a crime scene at a boat dock where he finds Akroid explaining exactly what happened given his analysis of the evidence. Hackman, to say the least, doesn't have much use for whiz-bang theories on crimes, but he reluctantly teams with Akroid to find one of the victims (Dom DeLuise) that got away -- the one the bad guys are after. Turns out the bad guys in question are Germans seeking to protect their candidate for Chancellor (or something) who has a Nazi past and DeLuise knows where the film proving that past is. Anyway, Akroid has one signficant problem: while he's a brilliant analyst, he's got multiple personalities that come out at, well, the most unsuspecting times.

So, after finding DeLuise, Hackman and Akroid go to one bizarre scene after another and find themselves the targets of the bad guys. One scene has Akroid driving Hackman's car and destroying all the possessions on it and in it. Another has Akroid's personality becoming a cartoon character to get out of a jam.

The plot isn't very plausable, but it isn't outlandish and for this sort of movie, all that is OK. Both Hackman and Akroid are brilliant in their roles and both are very funny at times. I don't recall any or much in the way of language, but there is some mild violence. It isn't too bad and this can be a fun movie for the family to watch.

It's fun to watch two great actors, Hackman and Ackroyd, having such fun together. Hackman reprises Popeye Doyle and Ackroyd displays his super-goofy side, a side I'm sure his kids enjoyed. The Roadrunner face had me in stitches. The plot may be sacrificed to the slaptick that informs this film, and I don't mind. A real buddy picture, and the friendship of the two heroes is believable, though the plot does wander a bit. Who cares. It's Hackman! It's Ackroyd!

I enjoyed Loose Cannons. Yes, the plot is somewhat cliched--Nazis are the bad guys who must be stopped and the good local cops battle the bureaucrats at the FBI. But Dan Ackroyd, Gene Hackman, and Dom de Luise make it worth watching. Ackroyd is terrific as the brilliant but mentally disturbed detective, Hackman as the straight shooter, and De Luise as the sleazy but good hearted target ofthe bad guys. Nancy Travis is also pretty good as an attractive Mossad agent. It's fun and enjoyable, and what else do you really want from a movie?

This is an excellent movie. This is the movie that 'Lethal Weapon' should have been! I first saw it in the movies, of course as soon as it hit video... I grabbed that! Partnership, Purpose, Panic, Pestulance, and Perserverance. It just won't get old, no matter how many times you watch it(believe me, I KNOW ;-) rent it, and you'll want to buy it. I'm still waiting for the DVD!
Trust Me! One viewing and you'll be hooked!

I passed on this one when it was in the theatres because of the terrible marketing campaign for it. They emphasized all the worst aspects of the film and packaged it in one clip i.e. Dan Aykroyd's character going bonkers. The critics and audiences alike must have agreed because they dropped this one like a bad penny. Time has been kind to "Loose Cannons" either because you can watch it divorced from it's awful promotion or the world has been made safe for mentally challenged detectives thanks to Adrian Monk. The film's central plot is so so but the characterizations are just great. Dan Aykroyd gives a bravura performance as a schizophrenic criminologist. Aykroyd gives real nuance to his work here going out on a tightrope but never quite going over the edge. I detected real sensitivity in his handling of this tricky role and that's not easy to do. Gene Hackman does what he does best and that's be Gene Hackman. There's a real rapport between he and Aykroyd's character that's palpable. My favorite scene in the movie is one where Hackman sleeps over at Aykroyd's sanitized apartment in a separate room. The look on Hackman's face as Aykroyd has night terrors is priceless. Aside from the principals Dom DeLuise gives a nice turn as a likable porn king and Nancy Travis(Nancy Travis!!!!) is on hand for the eye candy. Not a classic but not the turkey it was dismissed as in it's day.