Plot
In 1991 Pittsburgh Police Detective Tom Hardy is on the trail of a sadistic serial killer named The Polish Hill Strangler.
When a police chase with the killer leaves his Police Chief father dead – his world starts to fall apart. Making things worse, his partner and cousin has committed suicide following his testimony of police brutality.
Two years later TPHS is back, and Hardy is now demoted to Ohio River Police Rescue, and the victims are women Hardy knows. Can he and new partner Jo find the killer before there are more victims? And before Jo becomes one herself?
Direction
Genuinely decent action movie, with some stellar action moments including the opening car chase, and boat chases following once Hardy joins the River Police.
There is also some good work in the dark, as some important scenes occur in the bookends of the film, and some okay underwater work too.
I liked the camera angles in the finale, which really worked well with characters almost POV at the time.
Cast/Characters
Bruce Willis does what he does best here, as the action cop – and while this could have been any of his previous type films (Die Hard, Last Boy Scout etc), he does a great job – even if the character is a little cliché (alcoholic, not listened to by his superiors).
Sarah Jessica Parker is solid as Jo, and is written reasonably strong willed – which makes sense when the twist with her character occurs in the latter part of the second act.
It was actually a tough watch with so many of the cast now no longer with us, with John Mahoney, Dennis Farina, Robert Pastorelli, Brion James, Andre Brauger, Tom Atkins, and Tom Sizemore having passed on.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
The themes are a little cliché at times, with the cop on the trail of a serial killer/bosses won’t listen to him/persona non grata in his team.
There were some surprise third act twists that occur that may or may not be easy to spot. I was taken aback by at least one of them.
There is some ironically funny moments in the opening (where Tom and dad have a calm discussion during an intense car chase).
I did find the pacing a little off, with Hardy’s IA hearing a little unnecessary – and only really was included to give the Jo/Emily reveal.
Score/Soundtrack
Being an early 90s film some of the soundtrack does include some era significant songs, but the main song of use was the killer’s choice of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. There is also a fun 90s action score.
Overall
Despite its critical failure, and bashing, I quite enjoyed this and give it a thumbs up and recommend. Good action, good story, good performances! 3.5/5
Ryan's Movie Reviews 