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I remember this playing at the cinema, and thinking this would fall below my expectations, so I should steer clear of it. Although it's not as good as the original Crocodile Dundee, but remember that was Crocodile Dundee, out of curiosity, and an avid fascination, which sometimes can bring, what you pretty well imagined the quality of the movie to be like, I decided to see it, as my brother had it on a preview cassette, alongside King Ralph. I must say I was quite taken aback. Here's a feel good movie for the whole family, that has fun in it's story, it's premise which has been done in many other films, but not with such smart ideas. Even Charlton Heston gets in on the act in a dream sequence that finds Hoges in Heaven, after performing a brave act. Ex con, and master thief, Terry Dean, (Hogan) who has a near death experience, when thinking real bullets went through him and didn't kill him, making him change his ways and become devout, truly thinking he's an angel. They were blanks, fired from the gun of a thug, whose part of a group of robbers, who do over this bank, Hoges was gonna hold up, while dressed in Rod Stewart garb. It's not the first time Hoges has made fun of this music icon too, while he takes pokes at Willie Nelson, also. He crosses paths with an angry young cripple, a younger Elias Koteas, a wild actor whose become one of my favourite stars. His sister is played by Linda Kozlowski, these two latter stars, proving they're more the real actors of the show, while Hoges just lazes back, playing himself, not like Crocodile Dundee, which showed off his real acting. Actually Kozlowski's pretty good in this, I thought, one actress who should of done more movies. There's a lot of underlying messages, too in this movie "Like if you do good in this world, good is what you'll get back". Actor or not, Hoges is what makes the film funny, as if he's put in some of his own script input, which leads you to wonder, while John Cornell has again surprised us, and in another way, brought it to the table, but not as good enough match for the croc. For Hoges fans, that will bring a bit of scattered disappointment to some of that minority and a larger one for others, I imagine.
FlashCallahan
Terry is an electronics wizard and thief. After he is released from jail, he is hit by a car while saving a little girls life. While in recovery, he dreams that Charlton Heston dressed as God, visits him and tells him he's an Angel, and must start doing good things to make up for his past life. Not believing it at first, he too becomes convinced. Not having any powers yet, he must use his own experiences and talents to make good things happen......Back in 1990 this looked like a sure fire hit, getting the guy from Crocodile Dundee, and making him an Angel, but with a dangerous side. The thing is with Hogan is that, if you are of a certain age, your mum was guaranteed to fancy him, so he had a devout fan base.But as I've realised thanks to education and common sense, you are only as good as the material you are in, and this has to be one of the biggest vanity projects I've ever seen.Even if Hogan wore a T-Shirt saying 'I'm really that good', it couldn't get any back slappingly obvious.He works for The Lord, he's a robber but everyone loves him, he helps kids, he makes a mans last few days his greatest, he convinces an old man to help people, basically he's great.There are a few funny moments, the Rod Stewart bit is a highlight, but Hogan loves himself too much, and it ruins his character.For die hard Hogan fans only, and your mum.
Bing-18
One of the most overlooked performances in years goes to Elias Koteas as the paraplegic who introduces the 'born again' Hogan into the story of a care centre under threat of closure. It is sensitive and touching without being over sentimental or condescending.This shows a hidden quality in Hogan's writing that Hollywood missed in his post-Crocodile Dundee movies, and is also in evidence in Lightning Jack and the part of Cuba Gooding Jnr. This movie may not have the charm of Dundee, but the comedy is there and it is certainly more thought provoking about our attitudes to the disabled.A very good movie.
