Red Line

Red Line

D: John Sjogren (1996); Chad McQueen, Julie Strain, Michael Madsen, Dom DeLuise, Corey Feldman, Jan-Michael Vincent, Roxana Zal, Chuck Zito. What would you have to say about a movie from the mid-Nineties that corrals Chad McQueen, Julie Strain, Michael Madsen, Dom DeLuise, Corey Feldman, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Roxana Zal? You might say: a) That casting director needs to quit smoking crack at breakfast; b) Boy, they musta all been hard up for money; c) Did you say Chad McQueen?? This made-for-cable nonsense finds the younger McQueen as a professional car thief who gets spotted hot-wiring a Ferrari and blackmailed into working on a high-dollar auto theft ring by some sleazy Syndicate types. There's a certain Corvette in question, with mob boss Vincent wanting very badly to get his hands on it. Problem is, there's another element of crooks to deal with (led by Madsen as a made man, of course), and it's up to McQueen to play one side off the other while trying to save his own neck. It's all a sub-sub-Reservoir Dogs effort in terms of direction, storyline, and tough-guy dialogue, but it's also surprisingly watchable. McQueen has spent most of his career as a stunt man (his notoriously hard-to-deal-with dad Steve did most of his own stunts), and it shows in the caliber of his acting, a performance that could be taken to the sawmill and made into 2x4's. Courteney Cox look-alike Zal (you may recognize her from Oldsmobile commercials) teams up with McQueen as the two of them take it on the lam from the bad guys. They lead the bad guys on some wild chases through Los Angeles (in a green Mustang suspiciously like McQueen Sr.'s car from Bullitt), dodge gunfire, clamber into bed with each other, and systematically reduce a Porsche coupe to scrap metal, providing a vindictive thrill for class-conscious viewers. Despite the occasional dip of a boom mike into the top of the frame, there's actually an occasional technical flair in this movie, such as an annoying 360-degree spin that the camera does around the Mustang, over and over like the DP just learned how to do it and wanted to show it off. The most amazing thing about the film, though, is the psychotic Jan-Michael Vincent. Vincent's features are incredibly bruised, stitched, and mangled throughout the film; according to the story, he was in a car wreck at some point before the narrative picks up. Truth be told, though, Vincent was in a real-life car wreck, and that's not make-up. Vincent was in the depths of his alcohol problem at the time (he sounds suspiciously mush-mouthed) and practically crawled out of his hospital bed to shoot the movie. At more than one point, the sleeve of Vincent's jacket rides up and his hospital ID bracelet is clearly visible! Scream queen and tall drink of water Julie Strain is little more than window dressing in this film; however, she does appear nekkid in all 6'1" of her silicone-enhanced glory. Corey Feldman appears in a familiar role for him -- annoying snotnose. All told, this is one entertainingly brainless mess of a Nineties B-movie. It's just too bad that there aren't many drive-ins around anymore where movies like these can really be enjoyed in their proper element.