Review of The Chase (1994) by Grant H — 02 Jul 2013

The annoying thing about this movie...is that it actually could've been quite good. Had Rifkin not been so obsessed with making it a farcical, slapstick mess, who knows how it would have turned out. It switches from trying to be like Smokey and the Bandit to trying to be like Taxi Driver. The movie has no idea what it is trying to say and it just blurts out the first thing that comes into its head.

So you have Charlie Sheen filling up petrol. He looks shady and nervous from the get go. Two policemen come in and the man behind the counter (who I can't imagine has ever worked in the movie business since) takes too much time getting Sheen's change and fumbles with the roll of quarters, spilling them on the floor. All this puts Sheen ridiculously on edge and then the cops get a call in about a stolen car, which just happens to be the car that Sheen drove in with. Things get heated and after some overacting and Sheen taking Kristy Swanson hostage with a chocolate bar (while the cops slide over their guns), the chase begins. Kristy Swanson is not only outrageously attractive, she also turns out to be the daughter of one of the richest businessmen in the world, whipping up a media frenzy. We also learn that Sheen is an escaped convict, of course not guilty...but the law has never been on his side (sob, sob).

Typical conflict of personalities start, but ultimately both rub off on each other while the police cars follow in their droves. Some fairly funny parts, but not enough to qualify this as a bonified comedy and there are some attempts at exploring the psyche of Sheen's character, but it never delves too deep beneath the surface, so you could hardly call it a psychological, fast-paced thriller either. I would say probably the best thing about this movie is Suede's See You In The Next Life played near the end, with a close-up of Sheen in slow motion about to smoke a cigarette. And it's never a bad thing to see cameo appearances from Flea and Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers as fame-seeking madmen.

This is best seen twenty minutes in, flicking through television on a Sunday afternoon, hungover, whilst watching something else during the adverts.