- 1991movierewind
Episode #130: Ricochet
Listen to Episode 130 of the Podcast here while you enjoy the show notes.
SUMMARY - In Ricochet, Nick Styles (played by Denzel Washington) is a police officer who garners national attention when he takes down mass murderer Earl Talbot Blake (played by John Lithgow). Years later, Styles is an Assistant D.A. and Blake is planning his escape from prison to exact his detailed plan for revenge.
Screenplay by Steven E. de Souza; Directed by Russell Mulcahy; and released on October 4,1991.
FILM DISCUSSION
The movie gives us a quick introduction to some of our leads and shows us the good relationship between Denzel and Kevin.
Then it doesn't take long to get into the action and the strip shooting event that kicks off the story
However, almost immediately after, the timeline gets very muddy which is a bit of a problem in understanding the characters' mindset and fully appreciating the urgency
There's a decent amount of action throughout with some fun scenes as the movie does not shy away from the graphic violence
Denzel leads the way and if his acting wasn't as strong as it is, generally speaking, this wouldn't be nearly as fun to watch.
Seeing John Lithgow as a villain, however, was off-putting and he never felt nearly as menacing as we were meant to believe
There are plenty of really dumb character choices throughout which is disappointing in a cat and mouse style thriller.
And why the hell does no one see the notorious killer as he crosses in front of cameras and past police tape?
It's all to set up a climactic battle on these towers, which was alright but not as tense as it could have been
Awards Talk: None to speak of this time
TRUE CRIME & POP CULTURE
This week we don't have any true crime to talk about but Nikki provides some more details about the Watts Towers, which were used for the climax and Jon knew nothing about.
Moving to TV, even though this is our 4th movie released on this day, we managed to find something new to talk about.
60 minutes had a 2-Hour special called "The Entertainers" which was basically a clip show of past interviews
If you want to watch the intro, here you are. Some of the parts are are also on YT.
RANKINGS & RATINGS
Nikki 1-5 star scale - 3 out of 5
Jon 0-4 star scale - 2 1/2 out of 4
Would you watch it again? - It's entertaining enough, and Denzel is great as our hero, but neither of us are itching to bounce back into this movie. If it happened to be playing in the background, we wouldn't change the channel, but there will be an unspecified time jump before we purposefully start this up ourselves.
If you want to watch Ricochet, as of this recording in September 2023, it’s available on Cinemax, DirecTV, VHS, DVD. Check your local listings.
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Join us next time for The Last Boy Scout available on Digital Rental, VHS, DVD
