Directed by Mikael Salomon
Written by Graham Yost

Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Randy Quaid, Minnie Driver, Richard Dysart, Betty White, Ed Asner, Michael Goorjian, Dann Florek, Ricky Harris, Mark Rolston, Peter Murnik, Wayne Duvall.

From the writer of Speed (perhaps the best action movies of the 1990s), Graham Yost, comes this action yarn from the late 90’s, and one of my guilty pleasures.

A group of robbers, led by Freeman, decide to rob an armored car, of the $3m within it.  They didn’t predict two things; the once in a century storm going overhead that is slowly flooding the town they are in, and the young new guard (Slater), who decides to hide the money from them, and seek help from the towns’ recently un-elected Sherriff (Quaid).

At a tight 90 minute runtime, this is an easy to follow plot, with ‘mostly’ likeable characters. Full of fun action sequences, which I fondly remember for the almost handheld like camera movements during the gunfire and explosions. This heightened the intensity to the scenes, and makes it memorable. There is also a surprising end of second act twist that changes some character dynamics and relationships.

A fun score from Christopher Young complements the action. This film also may just have the best ‘single f-bomb’ use in cinema history.

The performances are a little bland, with some of the cast looking slightly bored. The MVP here goes to the “retired” Randy Quaid as the sheriff. He seemed to be having a ball, and was riding high from his ID4 & Vacation fame. The late great Betty White is also great in her role too.

3.5/5

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