It's pretty bad, that's for sure. At one point, the lead character runs from the cops, jumps on the back of a motorcycle and points a gun at the rider and tells him to get us out of here, and the guy instantly does, and helps him elude the cops. And then they bond!
This movie is practically a parody of 80s action movies, with Anthony Michael Hall's presence being the icing on the cake. However, Hall does do a fine job with the material he's given.
The movie tries to balance the main character's folksy farm upbringing charm with a zany LA revenge/caper plot and it doesn't work.
It doesn't look cheap at all, it looks like they dropped some bucks on this, with some complex stunts, lots of speaking roles, quite ample extras and a lavish appearance. But at the same time, it looks they trimmed this to bone in editing, probably thinking they had a turkey.
Crazy and unlikely as it may sound, there might be a more interesting cut that could have happened. It makes you wonder why they even bothered with the Iowa scenes, setting up Daryl's mother and father. Even Daryl's brother seems barely worth setting up, considering they talk briefly then he's dead.
It does have striking music I'd never heard before, particularly Cities in Dust. And they did succeed in the goal of showing LA in a different way than other films.
This movie is practically a parody of 80s action movies, with Anthony Michael Hall's presence being the icing on the cake. However, Hall does do a fine job with the material he's given.
The movie tries to balance the main character's folksy farm upbringing charm with a zany LA revenge/caper plot and it doesn't work.
It doesn't look cheap at all, it looks like they dropped some bucks on this, with some complex stunts, lots of speaking roles, quite ample extras and a lavish appearance. But at the same time, it looks they trimmed this to bone in editing, probably thinking they had a turkey.
Crazy and unlikely as it may sound, there might be a more interesting cut that could have happened. It makes you wonder why they even bothered with the Iowa scenes, setting up Daryl's mother and father. Even Daryl's brother seems barely worth setting up, considering they talk briefly then he's dead.
It does have striking music I'd never heard before, particularly Cities in Dust. And they did succeed in the goal of showing LA in a different way than other films.