ccthemovieman-1 For the most part, this is an enjoyable "flashback" for most folks, a look back at the wild and crazy late 1960s. I would have enjoyed it more without all the blasphemous exclamations out of Keifer Sutherland's mouth.For those who loved the '60s and its hippie-far Left political and cultural stances, this will be a nostalgic remembrance of those days. For those who think that period was the beginning of the end, morally and culturally for the U.S., this film will demonstrate that, too.Regardless of where one is politically, the film moves very fast, is very entertaining, and has almost no credibility. In parts, it's just embarrassing it is so ludicrous. Dennis Hopper is very believable as the ex-"hippie" and Carol Kane is a hoot as the "flower child." The rest of the cast, led by Sutherland, is nothing but irritating.Also, the soundtrack of '60s songs is excellent.

MisterWhiplash I enjoy the 1990 movie Flashback, though mostly for it's first 45-50 minutes. That section has some extra pep, if that's the word, in a kind of double-crossing wacky comedy involving a former 60s radical rebel, Huey Walker (Dennis Hopper, at first in a sweet hippie get-up), who got arrested, escaped, went on the lam, and then got arrested again for an 'incident' involving Spiro Agnew's train in 1969. When things don't go so right at all when Buckner (Kiefer Sutherland, a sort of prototype of his character on 24 I'd wager) gets the screws turned on him when tricked into thinking he's been slipped LSD. Walker looks like he's making his escape after shaving his beard, and even with the chance of great publicity for his new book. But a wrong turn comes via a couple of average knuckleheads (Michael McKean one of them, not with nearly enough to be his usual comedic best), and then another cross turned by the local sheriff who doesn't want anything reported on the treatment towards Buckner in prison. So, in short, all of this is actually pretty entertaining, with some funny bits scattered all around, and a great flow for dialog that goes around during the train ride between Buckner and Walker (I also enjoyed, even as slight amusing stuff, the scenes in the woods at night).But then the screenwriter takes a sharp turn into contrivance, and the film basically never fully recovers- Buckner leads Walker to his first home as a kid, a commune where he was originally named 'Free' and gradually gets a change of heart from the middle-aged lady who resides there now. All of this might spark up a twinkle in some old hippie fogey's eye, but it just seemed like a sharp shift in the tone that wasn't needed. Maybe the writer &/or director couldn't think of a better way to keep the story moving (once it gets to its generic conclusions involving a chase and some minor violence on the train, it's only passable and at worst pretty trite), so they had to insert a fluffy commune/hippie piece with Hopper the only one making it only minutely worthwhile. A shame really, as I liked watching chunks of the film early on a totally guilty pleasure vein as an admirer of the trashy exploitation pictures of the flower power era (and, to an extent, trashy 80s FBI/cop thrillers too). Hopper and Sutherland don't make a bad odd couple either, all things considered. But it's not a puzzle either as to why I'd have not too much trouble finding it in the cheap-video bin at the store. Maybe better if you're hardcore fans of either actor; as a coda for Easy Rider, however, it's really lacking that 'something' of that film.

Minofed Second that emotion`Flashback' is not a great film. It has a good plot with some nice twists along the way, and top-notch performances by Dennis Hopper, Kiefer Sutherland (perhaps his best work yet), Carol Kane, Paul Dooley, Richard Masur and Michael McKean. But there is too much violence and profanity for this type of film, and the ending seems unbelievable and wrong.What makes me recommend "Flashback" is that it did something that only one other film has done for me. It took me back in time emotionally. `American Graffiti" made me feel like I felt when I was in high school in the early 1960s, cruising the local drive-in restaurant with friends and trying to navigate unfamiliar romantic waters.There is a scene in `Flashback' when the Masur and McKean characters are listening to a tape of a speech delivered 20 years earlier by Hopper. At that moment I was transformed back to the late 1960s, a recent college grad trying to find my way in a confusing and rapidly-changing culture. It was a chilling moment for me, one I don't know if I'll ever feel again. And I'm grateful to Director Franco Amurri and the actors for giving it to me.

Rick-51 After a month of monotonous plots, this movie is refreshingly different. The characters are not predictable, the plot takes some interesting twists, you know the characters are going to survive until one of them dies. The dialog is thought-provoking, especially for this old hawk who has had time to think about the 60's and the issues that were involved.