Van Damme Likes To Keep His "Enemies Closer"

Enemies Closer (2013)

Rated R

Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tom Everett Scott, Orlando Jones, Linzey Cocker

Directed by Peter Hyams

The Story:

Henry (Scott) is a park ranger near the US/Canadian border. Clay (Jones) has an issue with something Henry did in the past, and has come to the park to kill Henry. Xander (Van Damme) is a ruthless criminal who has come to the area looking for a plane that crashed carrying a lot of drugs on it. Their paths are about to cross.

It's weird seeing Van Damme as the bad guy.

Nearly his whole career has been spent playing the action hero we're all rooting for.

Come on, don't lie, you know you've watched his movies before.

:)

So while his movies may not hit the big screen, these direct to video B movie gems are floating around out there, and when the Hollywood machine doesn't churn out anything I really want to see during a week, I let the old Netflix queue send me some blast from the past.

It rarely disappoints.

Don't get me wrong, it's got flaws, and plenty of them. From some clunky dialogue to some just flat out head scratching moments, but the three leads: Scott, Jones and Van Damme  never give anything less than 100% out there, and they keep it interesting.

It's Van Damme as the villain with a thousand quirks, he keeps things interesting whenever he's on screen.

He's clearly relishing the chance to be the bad guy after all these years, and he's having a blast doing so.

Final Grade: C+

Chicago Is In Good Hands... "Running Scared"

Running Scared (1986)
Rated R for violence and language and nudity

Starring Billy Crystal, Gregory Hines, Joe Pantoliano, Dan Hedaya, Jimmy Smits

Directed by Peter Hyams

The Story:

Detectives Ray (Hines) and Danny (Crystal) are two of Chicago's finest.  However, when the duo are almost killed, their Captan (Hedaya) orders them to take a vacation.  A trip to the Florida Keys convinces them that perhaps it's simply time to retire and open a bar.  As they go to finish up their tour on the force, the two become very conservative in their behavior, and that could prove costly as they attempt to take down local drug kingpin Julio Gonzales (Smits).

Long live the Buddy Cop film!

Although this film takes a different slant on the buddy cop genre.

Instead of the duo being oil and water, Ray and Danny are like an old married couple.

They can complete each other's sentences, know what one another is thinking...

In other words, best friends on and off the force.

Hines and Crystal's chemistry serves the duo well, allowing both to take on the air of serious action stars while maintaining their sense of humor and general likeability.

The supporting cast is great.

Hedaya makes a wonderful beaten down head of detectives an Pantoliano is perfectly cast as two bit villain Snake.

Some great dialogue, pretty fun action sequences, and you'll find this is one of the underrated action comedies of the mid-80s.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I own it, and I love it.