Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997) User Reviews

Harshly Criticized But Entertaining Enough

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 16 July 2013]

Somewhat underrated, if derivative, this first time Directorial effort from the slightly off-center Actor, who will, for at least the foreseeable future be associated with the extremely popular TV Series 24, is a not that bad Crime/Road Movie.

There are some glaring ineffectiveness here and there, mostly coming from the badly written Pulpy Dialog. Some of the Pop Culture references and the extended talky Scenes come off as embarrassing rather than insightful. The "Stockholm Syndrome" element is also played out with some unbelievable and forced developments.

But there are some interesting Characters, the least of which is the DEA infiltrator overacted and annoying, that are engaging enough. The Violence is gritty if over stylized, and is attractive Action Movie stuff with guns blazing and squibs squibbing.

Another weakness is the God-Awful Music, from the sappy slow Ballads to the Road Music, it is badly selected and intrusive. Overall though, this delivers enough Gangster stuff to be Entertaining and should have a more accepting approval than it does from Critics and intolerable nit-pickers.

Entertaining crime thriller

[rob-236 · 5/10 · 19 May 1999]

Neat little thriller about a group of ex cons who while ripping off a drug dealer accidentally kill an undercover cop, forcing them to take to the road. They head for Las Vegas to sell the stolen drugs taking along with them a couple as hostages as they are pursued by both the cops, and the drug dealers associates, who are not best pleased with what they have done. The film moves at a reasonable pace and the acting is good, especially from leads, Gallo, Williamson and an evil Kiefer Sutherland, who clearly enjoys his role as the psychotic Curtis. It's just a shame that the plot seems to run out of steam for the last 20 or so minutes but it does come together again for an exciting finale. Well worth checking out. Sutherland also directed.

One of those many PULP FICTION wannabees, and decent like the others

[bellino-angelo2014 · 7/10 · 22 June 2023]

After 1994 everybody wanted to copy PULP FICTION didn't they? With movies such as THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD and TWO DAYS IN THE VALLEY it seemed that every director wanted to re-create Quentin Tarantino's magnum opus; lots of A and B-listers of the time, gritty settings and some bumbling character that ends dead thanks to their actions... a formula that worked greatly in a certain time. When I looked the first time for TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES I didn't noticed this but only the star-studded cast: however, having seen those two aforementioned movies in April 2022, I felt ready for this. And now, after three months, I can finally discuss it.

Raymond Lembecke (Vincent Gallo) has just been released from prison after serving some time instead of his boss Eddie Grillo (John McGinley) despite Raymond was innocent. So when Raymond is released he expects that Eddie is proud of him but nope; Eddie makes Raymond work in a warehouse, but after a while Raymond snaps and wants some revenge. He enlists the help of Marcus Weans (Mykelti Williamson) who is an undercover DEA agent and trigger happy Curtis Freeley (Kiefer Sutherland, who also directed it): Lembecke's girlfriend Addy joins the ride. As they go out of Las Vegas they kidnap a couple that owns an RV but Gordon Jacobson (Kevin Pollak) starts behaving like his kidnappers and wants to be involved with them. The gang not only has to flee the police but also assassin Sir (Martin Sheen) that was dispatched by mafia because Eddie Grillo was working for the real boss, Tony Vago (Rod Steiger) to which they were selling his drugs back to him. The gang, in finding a way for selling the drugs in New Mexico, end in Lembecke's brother's abandoned home and all forces go against them for their crimes.

The plot was a bit intricated and I explained it in the best way possible but this was still good for the following reasons. It was nice seeing so many talented actors even tho McGinley and Steiger had only few moments and then they are shot. The New Mexico locations were great looking and you are tempted to do some camping trip there. And the soundtrack looked like picked from two of the worst movies from the same year (CITY OF INDUSTRY and KEYS TO TULSA) and considering that it was the best asset in those two bad movies, here it was one of the qualities. The ending was unexpected because you'd expect the crooks to go with their loot and continue their lives of crimes but instead, they chose to make all of them die.

Overall, another PULP FICTION-inspired film and, overlooking the plot's complexities, it's still a decent noir to watch during one evening at home after work.

Seen it all before - but it's still entertaining

[bob the moo · 26 July 2001]

Another heist-gone-wrong movie. It's been done before - criminals are cool etc. However this is still pretty good and thrilling all the way through. It is rarely slow or dull. All the actors are good with Gallo really bringing his character to life and making you feel for him. Sutherland does a good job of directing and even plays the crazy killer well.

The film evens tackles the issue of us viewing these people as cool - not something many do - and challenges us on our admiration of them (even if it is on a basic level).

Yes, you seen it before - but that doesn't mean it's totally unoriginal or not entertaining to watch.

The best part

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 22 July 2018]

Kiefer Sutherland directed and reserved for himself the best part in Truth Or Consequences, NM. He's one kill crazy amoral dude in this film.

Vincent Gallo gets released from prison and within the day he's greeted by his girlfriend Kim Dickens and they hook up with Kiefer Sutherland and Mykelti Williamson for a caper involving robbing drug dealer John C. McGinley who Gallo has bad history with.

We find out early enough that Sutherland really enjoys pulling that trigger. In what should have been a simple robbery he kills McGinley out of some pique and then kills another who turn out to be an undercover cop. Getting away they kill a few more cops.

The next step for these out of control hoods is to rip off and kill Mafia kingpin Rod Steiger. Now with the organized crime and the police hunting them, they give no indication of slowing down.

Sutherland the director let's Sutherland the actor have full range and he goes with it. Totally fascinating performance.

The second one to pay attention to is Kevin Pollak whose camper is commandeered by the gang and he and wife Donna Moreland are taken hostages. Moreland is in proper fear, but Pollak starts stockholming with this gang. Makes for some very interesting behavior and he's fscinating to watch.

The shootout, where else but the town that changed it's name from Hot Springs to the name of a radio program as a gimmick. Truth Or Consequences, NM is a fascinating and fast paced caper film where things quite don't work out and a few aren't whom they seem.

Another quality rip-off from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez

[ZipLock · 7/10 · 19 August 1999]

Very good movie, with the exception of being a little slow in a couple places. Good acting, good dialogue, good action.

Only problem is the storyline is a combination of Reservoir Dogs, Natural Born Killers, and the characters are from Resevoir Dogs and From Dusk till Dawn. I kept looking for Tim Roth everywhere. Sutherland tried to do everything himself and that's never a good idea, I think he stretched himself too thin.

The one thing missing in the movie was the soundtrack. But I can deal with that.

The movie should have gotten a lot more play than it did.

Really great movie stars the great actor Kiefer Sutherland

[monkey-man · 7/10 · 27 August 2005]

I am having a Kiefer Sutherland movie marathon spread over 2 days and i am going to watch 10 or more of his movies.And this movie is one of Kiefers best movies that he has done and this movie is worth buying or renting.I am a really big fan of Kiefer and he did a really great job at acting in this movie and he is a good Director.And there are heaps of good actors and actress in this movie like Kevin Pollak from the good movie house arrest,Vincent Gallo,Kim Dickens,Mykelti Williamson and one of the best actors of all time Martin Sheen from the really great movie Apocalypse Now.

Over all this movie is really great and my rating is 7 out of 10.

As senseless as its title

[davidturgay · 4/10 · 17 July 2000]

Of course everybody talks about how much Tarantino influenced modern filmmakers and maybe most of them are right. But only in films like 'Truth or Consequences, N.M.' it becomes clear how much better Tarantino is. 'T o C, NM' has some dialogue scenes that seem to be directly stolen from a Tarantino movie, with just some words changed, so nobody would recognize. Sadly, this doesn't only sound stupid, it does so less fit in this film, it's a disgrace.

Consider one of the first scenes where they talk the first time about a quarter. They talk about it for at least five minutes. But nobody seems motivated to talk about it. They look as if they just have to stop there to get this quarter-thing over. The actors seem to be annoyed and impatient, not only because the guy they have to convince his quarter isn't magical is a sinewy guy, but also because they don't seem to say their dialogue from the heart, but from the screenplay. The guy himself is the only one who doesn't seem to be like that. He looks convinced and, well, is annoying. The fact that it's Kiefer Sutherland, who is also the director of the film makes it somehow understandable. But only so far, as we don't understand why he didn't just delete this dialogue.

As he should have deleted a lot of other dialogue, of course all of the other stuff about the quarter, and most of the monologues Mykelti Williamson has to stand through. He suddenly starts to say something like 'I once knew somebody who...' and goes on and on for some minutes. This really works when everybody talks like that or when at least he seems to be convinced he wants to say that. But here everyone looks at him interested and we just don't know why. Nobody else talks like that in the movie.

It's a quite bizarre movie with quite bizarre characters. Mykelti Williamson for example moves and talks so exaggerated as if it's a comedy. Kevin Pollak has a character development which can be only watched with disbelief. Rod Steiger hops on the screen, screams a bit and is dead. Martin Sheen plays one of his worst and ridiculous roles. And Kiefer Sutherland is the worst of all. He goes so much on the nerves of the audience you want to kill him. It's really quite a relief when he's finally dead. I can't like a movie where I'm glad somebody is dead after I had to watch him for an hour and a half. Not if he's the director.

At least we have Vincent Gallo and Kim Dickens here. Gallo isn't only one of the best actors of our time. He really can give a role life. Even in such a bad movie like this, we care for him. And Kim Dickens as his girlfriend is also likable. We care for both of them and the way the movie ends, makes it even more unsatisfying.

The plot is just stupid, with story lines that can't be believed. The gangsters take hostages and take them with them for such a long time that you never know why. There's a fault in Gallo's plan to make a lot of money, which never is explained. There is one character development which is surprising but in the end it didn't make any difference if it wasn't.

The film wouldn't really be that bad, but Sutherland and Sheen are so bad and annoying, that you just want the movie to end. And Sutherland as a director celebrates violence so much, it's clear that it isn't his effort we care about Gallo and Dickens. Sometimes it seems as if Sutherland took his role behind the camera, shouting: 'Yeah, let's kill him and this one and with a lot of blood there and there. Cool!'

We don't need movies like that. A movie about nothing, with no message, no more than two interesting characters and a lot of unnecessary violence. That's really the last we need.

Bonnie & Clyde of the 1990's

[Chuck-149 · 9/10 · 19 July 2000]

Bonnie and Clyde. Now there was a classic. That movie was as much a classic as a cult movie as a ground-breaker. Over the years, we have seen many different "versions" of this movie, the best one probably being Thelma & Louise (1991). But after seeing Truth Or Consequences, N.M., I'd say this is the movie that resembles the most this masterpiece.

Donald Sutherland. Now there is a great actor. Probably one of the best living actors in today's movie industry. His small roles in A Time To Kill (1996) and JFK (1991) are just as mesmerising as his big roles like in The Assignment (1997). If you were to ask me "Who do you think will be the next Donald Sutherland?", I would have to say "No one". But after seeing Truth Or Consequences, N.M., I'd say Kiefer Sutherland could become as great an actor as his father is.

As for a great director, well, that doesn't seem to be a problem in Hollywood right for many young directors are developing themselves into great ones and many of the older great directors are still around and while not necessarily becoming one of the greatest directors in the industry, Kiefer Sutherland seems to have as much of an acting talent as of a directing talent.

The movie's story seems very simple and in a way it is. A drug deal gone awry leaves about six dead people including five cops and four young people on the run from the law. But as the movie develops, so does the story. Hostages, undercover cop, drug lords, pregnancy, the Mob, and life on the road all mix together into this delightful mixture of love and guns.

In 1967's Bonnie & Clyde, Warren Beatty was a criminal at the beginning of the movie and always wanted to rob and unfortunately killed people. In 1991's Thelma & Louise, the two women had gone on a vacation with no intention to become criminals but unfortunately were dragged into that world by a murder involving a would-be rapist. In Truth Or Consequences, N.M., only Kiefer Sutherland's character starts off as a crazy maniac with the intention of killing people and this is why this movie differs from the two others. What lead these people to be criminals is an internal action, an action caused by Kiefer Sutehrland's character, an action that could have been avoided contrarily to those of Bonnie & Clyde and Thelma & Louise.

Equally good in the movie are Vincent Gallo and Mykelti Williamson. Gallo plays the head of the gang, a man with a conscience who has no desire in killing people and whose only goal is to go down to Mexico with his girlfriend (Kim Dickens)and get married. Williamson has the hardest role of the movie as an undercover drug enforcement agent and must change the way he acts and talks in presence of Vincent Gallo, Kiefer Sutherland, and Kim Dickens. The cast also includes two very small roles, one for Rod Steiger and the other for Martin Sheen who are both in top shape. But the movie belongs to the four young people on the run who act out the movie to perfection.

Slick, Stylish, Enjoyable

[benqstock · 6/10 · 18 January 1999]

I'd been meaning to rent this film for quite a while and when I finally did it was definitely worth my cash. While the basic elements of the plot are nothing new, the finished product is a stylish film which I enjoyed from start to finish. Sutherland does a fine job directing, not to mention his acting. The rest of the cast puts in good performances as well. I only wish we could have seen more of Martin Sheen's character.

Road Movies

[jergutzmen · 5/10 · 10 May 2013]

I love American road movies. such cool. I enjoyed the scenes of the coin and what they said about the coin granting all knowing. And at end before he die he gets it and only sees his own death. wonderful done!

I have come to see a lot of movies from new Mexico, united states. many i enjoy that are like this. the crime, the drama, the violence is like a beautiful death for all the characters.

I was not sad from the death of all the characters. The writing is good and you root for the "villians" not the police. though it is tragic, the film was shot very beautifully.

I think anyone who likes violent movies would enjoy this movie. Sutherlund is very scary as a villain character.

Decent crime caper

[gmoney-4 · 8/10 · 3 November 2000]

Not a bad effort from Kiefer Sutherland on his directorial debut. This little crime caper is fairly derivative of recent Tarantino films, with the discussion of the quarter looking somewhat out of place, Tarantino could have pulled something like that off with snappier dialogue but it just didn't work. Overall though it's a nice little film with some decent action and some cool lines and a nice black convertible car though as is often the case with these little crime capers the ending is pretty weak and predictable. Vincent Gallo put in another decent performance as did Kim Dickens, who you can see more of in a better film that this, The Zero Effect. Also of note was the incredibly pretty Grace Phillips as Donna, she puts in a good performance as the shocked wife of Raymond. The idea of Raymond sympathising/envying the criminals was an interesting one, though I found the transformation to be less than credible. Overall this was a nice action film and you can do a lot worse.

weak story, weak dialog, functional action, great actors

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 25 September 2013]

Raymond Lembecke (Vincent Gallo) just got out of prison. His girlfriend is Addy Monroe (Kim Dickens). Curtis Freley (Kiefer Sutherland) is a psychopath. Together with Marcus Weans (Mykelti Williamson), the four rob a drug dealer of his drugs. The problem is that a cop was working undercover there, and everybody was killed. Now on the run, they carjack an RV with a couple on board (Kevin Pollak, Grace Phillips).

This is a Kiefer's first time directing effort for a full length film. It has it's moments but there isn't anything special and it doesn't flow. The story jerks from one thing to another. Some of it doesn't really make sense. For example when they leave the RV and take the pickup, they left the pickup driver and kept the RV couple. They must know that if they leave the pickup driver, the cops would zero in on the pickup immediately. This was stupid and added nothing to the story. Kiefer should have stayed with the RV in the story.

same old stuff

[Mickey Knox · 5/10 · 2 July 2002]

This movie doesn't bring anything new. The same get-away after a failed robbery, the same police-and-mafia-follow-guys, the same undercover cop, the same ending scene with everyone shooting everyone. The good thing about it is that it has its moments. The dialogue is not bad at all, and the actors, especially Sutherland and Gallo, are very good. But add that to a strange deja-vu feeling you get throughout the whole movie and you got the picture. Doesn't deserve more than 5 out of 10.

Keifer proves a surprise hit on the other side of the camera.

[North-10 · 18 April 1999]

Much-maligned Keifer Sutherland's career has taken a relative nose-dive since the heady days of his Brat-pack success in Lost Boys and Young Guns. But, here he proves to be a surprise hit behind the camera, co-starring in and directing this well paced and exciting outlaw drama. Brad Mirman's plot keeps the action moving, presents twists at every corner and establishes engaging characters. The real key is both Sutherland's own frenetic performance, his directing style and the chemistry between Kim Dickens and the superb Vincent Gallo. A rare treat, with characters you can root for from the very start. Has a great little soundtrack too!

filming location

[myers_mandy_l · 7/10 · 13 August 2009]

How can you name a movie after a place, but never film there. I have lived in Truth or Consquences and take offense to this. It may not have been the best place in the world to live, but you have to take pride in what ever you can. Truth of Consquences didn't have to have a movie named after it to be famous. It was originally called Hot Spring, NM, but changed it's name to match a game show called Truth or Consequences. Don't get me wrong I liked the movie and I love Kiefer Sutherlands work, I just think that he should have at least filmed somewhere in New Mexico. I did not recognize the New Mexico location(having been 5 miles south of Truth or Consequences on highway 285), so I had to check the credits.

See it all many times before

[=G= · 5/10 · 12 July 2003]

"Truth or Consequences N.M." is a sloppy drama about a petty crook and his girl, a half-psycho killer, an undercover DEA agent, and an abducted ordinary couple traveling together with a bunch of drugs and cops and the mob on their tail. In spite of a good cast, this B-movie is just more of the same old stuff we've all seen many times before with nothing to distinguish itself. Full of plot holes, continuity goofs, abjectly ordinary action, etc. this is one for the late night couch potato only. (C)

Great Entertaining Film

[whpratt1 · 8/10 · 11 January 2006]

As the film starts out, you see a prison and its horrible conditions and you wonder why anyone decides this is a good place to serve time in for 20 or 50 long years and more! A convict is being released and you can see he is very happy to have served his time and a nice sexy girlfriend is waiting outside the prison walls in a nice car to pick him up and hopefully start a new and better way of life. This convict no sooner gets out jail and he meets up with Kiefer Sutherland, (Curtis Freley), who is a very wild and Soul lacking human being who will stop at nothing to put your Lights Out for GOOD ! The entire picture takes you from one car to another car and they also hold a guy and his girl hostage and take them all over the country and of course, they are heading for New Mexico. Great film, with good acting and entertaining from beginning to end.

I rented this movie because I thought Vincent D'Onofrio was in it. Boy, did I pay for that mistake!

[MBunge · 3/10 · 15 October 2010]

If you've ever seen the movie Reservoir Dogs, try and imagine what it would have been like if it had been written and directed by Chuck Norris. That will give you an inkling of what a colossal cornucopia of crap this film is.

The movie opens with Ray (Vincent Gallo) getting out of prison, though the moment is treated like he's a star high school athlete on the final day of his senior year. Ray hooks up with his girlfriend Addy (Kim Dickens) and then it's suddenly 8 months later and Ray and Addy have joined with two other guys to try and rob the local drug dealer. Curtis (Kiefer Sutherland) is a kill-crazy half-wit and Marcus (Mykelti Williamson) is a black guy with an inexplicable ghetto accent. It sounds like 30% ebonics, 30% Jamaican and 60% speech impediment.

The drug robbery goes wrong and Ray and company go on the run, kidnapping a couple named Gordon and Donna (Kevin Pollak and Grace Philips) and hijacking their RV. Rather than act like hostage and hostage-taker, everybody behaves like they're long lost cousins meeting again for a family reunion. Defying all reason and common sense, Ray and company keep dragging Gordon and Donna along with them as the criminals try and sell their stolen drugs and get out of the country before the cops and the criminals the drugs belonged to track them down. The movie then spirals into a pit of idiotic plotting, cheesy drama and unintentionally comic violence that would have fit perfectly into any random episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.

In the nigh endless litany of things wrong with Truth or Consequences, N.M., I have to start with the acting. Vincent Gallo is worthless. He has no screen presence and doesn't give an ounce of conviction to any line of dialog he recites. It's like he flunked out of the Quentin Tarantino School of Acting. He's also the least physically attractive guy in the whole cast, whether measured hetero- or homosexually. I've already mentioned Mykelti Williamson's bizarre accent. Most of Kiefer Sutherland's acting in this film is done by his hairdo, though he does let out a Jack Bauer growl on occasion. Martin Sheen plays a mob hit-man and has given better performances doing voiceovers for car commercials. There's not one single second when Kevin Pollak seems like a real person in this story. He could have been replaced by a muppet and not one of the good muppets, like Fozzie Bear. I mean Beaker or Scooter.

As for the writing…well, I'm sure almost all of the words in the script were in the correct order and were accurately punctuated. It's a fiasco on every other level. None of the things that happen in this movie follow any logic except the dictates of the Almighty Plot Hammer. Characters are introduced out of nowhere. Important plot elements are mentioned 30 seconds before coming into play in the story. Foreshadowing is introduced and then abandoned. One cliché after another is piled up like a Pike's Peak of vapid screen writing. I don't think there's one well written instant in the entire movie.

Sutherland's direction is vaguely adequate. Nothing looks really bad but nothing looks really good. You certainly wouldn't ever hire him to direct another film because of his work here, though you wouldn't automatically disregard him because of it either.

Truth or Consequences, N.M. is just plain dreadful. Avoid it.

Great Movie!

[dem0nic · 10/10 · 27 April 2004]

Decided to gamble on this unknown movie after it was recieving so much praise from my Video Shop members, and its great. I'm quite suprised it didn't get a cinema release..

Hopefully after the success of Kiefer Sutherlands "24" it might gain some more recognition from fans of the series. I doubt they will be dissapointed as this is a classy action/thriller with first class acting and a perfect soundtrack..

Highly recommended

Generic crime fodder offers nothing new.

[Ameche · 3/10 · 15 March 1999]

Keifer Southerland's directorial debut is a generic crime action/drama about a group of criminals escaping across the desert from both the police and the mob after a drug heist gone wrong. Standout performances from Mykelti Williamson and kidnapee Kevin Pollak can't save the utter predictability of the plot, which too often falls under its own pretentiousness. What a disappointment.

Worth renting

[swill-2 · 7 January 1999]

Although derivitative of Tarantino and especially of Carl Franklin's "One False Move," Kiefer Sutherland's directorial debut is quite self-assured. Kevin Pollak's character as a hostage who is strangely drawn to the lifestyle of his captors is terrific despite his formulaic "coming-around" at the end. Mykelti Williamson and Grace Phillips as Pollak's girlfriend are both revelations. Vincent Gallo is an unusual actor and definitely an acquired taste, but he works well here with Kim Dickens as his Bonnie. In all, a film you'll be pleasantly surprised with as a bargain rental.

Continuity goofs typical of this uninspired film

[grinder-3 · 4/10 · 14 August 1999]

A lengthy continuity goof is characteristic of this film's inadvertent conception and execution:

After ditching a briefly held 4x4, the fugitives jack a businessman's sedan. Unfortunately the 5-seater can't accommodate everyone. Claustrophobic camerawork keeps you guessing as to which character is riding in the trunk. After half a dozen scenes with the car, it's finally dumped.

This is definitely a small point--one of many that this film randomly produces. It's an ironic downfall that "Truth or Consequences, N.M." doesn't show the same commitment to detail as the style it rips off.

Lukewarm Drug Sting

[Kendra_Powers · 4/10 · 2 August 2013]

This is the kind of movie that you stumble upon, on basic cable, at 3am, when nothing but infomercials are on: entertaining enough to keep watching, though very predictable, clichés up the wazoo, the plot has been done to death, in better movies, and the acting is mostly flat (save for Keifer Sutherland). The excessive violence and gore were a nice touch (I'm a big Tarantino fan, so that explains that), but ultimately, nothing can earn this movie even 5 stars out of 10, because its just written badly and poorly executed, so I'm going with 4 stars, because I didn't absolutely hate it and Vincent Gallo was hot and in his prime, in this movie. A MUCH better drug movie is Drugstore Cowboy (1989).