DeuceWild_77 "Ricochet" was one of the lesser movies that Denzel signed to be in, before he got the Academy Award for his supporting role in "Glory" ('89) that enhanced his status in Hollywood as a serious actor and a bankable star.Directed by the visual mogul, Russell Mulcahy, the well-known music videos' director and responsible for one of the most visually creative fantasy films from the 80's decade: "Highlander" ('86), his turn on the action / thriller genre with "Ricochet" was even a bigger step backwards than "Highlander 2 - The Quickening" ('90) which was critically torn apart and flopped hard at the B.O.The major problem with Russell Mulcahy's films are that, even if he's an acomplished director to compose stylish visuals and stage creative and peculiar scenes that works so well on screen, on the other hand he isn't much of a storyteller, and the writing for his movies are mostly, from passable to bad (with the noble exception of the aforementioned, "Highlander"). He also have a great sense of how actors can look the best on screen, to have a presence and doing their best to act their parts physically, but unfortunately he never was a good director of actors and sometimes the bland dialogue given to his characters didn't help either."Ricochet" is an action / crime / thriller film that lacks realism, congruence or logic, being nothing more than an over-the-top mess, that is even too sordid and gross to be called a 'cheesefest' like its counterpart movies from the 80's.Fred Dekker ("Night of the Creeps" ('86), "The Monster Squad" ('87) & "House" ('89), who signed the original story, is an imaginative writer for fantasy / horror films, so as his co-writer, Menno Meyjes, a Spielberg's usual collaborator and Steven E. de Souza, from "48 Hrs." ('82), "Commando" ('85) & "Die Hard" ('88) fame, wrote the screenplay, so what went wrong here, for so much talented individuals present a ludicrous final draft ?Mulcahy's handling of the film is no better, some scenes are way 'off' and just inserted in for the sake of the director's egocentrism, like the out of place / silly behind bars' swordfight between John Lithgow and Jesse "The Body" Ventura (the former W.W.F. Superstar, better known for playing Blain in John McTiernan's "Predator" ('87), which was reminiscent or better, a "homage" to Mulcahy's previous "Highlander" films.Denzel acts too straight serious for the movie's ridiculous tone, looking like he was thinking that he was in the next "The Silence of the Lambs" and John Lithgow plays his usual screen personna: the wicked and demented individual which is also very intelligent and stylish and then makes a stupid move out of nowhere for the hero to save the day. Lithgow is always exquisite & over-the-top / hammy in this kind of roles, but his fans will love him no matter what, 'cos the actor never disappoints.The rest of the cast are as useful to the overall plot as umbrellas in a sunny day: Kevin Pollak is totally dull and his death scene / line exchange with Denzel is near Ed Wood's material; Lindsay Wagner plays it better, but lacks screentime and Ice-T, playing himself once again, is so irritating to follow and acts so lousy that makes Keanu Reeves' a Sir Laurence Olivier in comparison.The only way you can enjoy "Ricochet" is if you're a fan of Golan-Globus produced B-films from the decade earlier, and even Cannon Group released far better and entertaining action flicks that, at least, did not take themselves so seriously.In short, "Ricochet" only wins in its polished visuals and scores at a "so bad, it's good" level that worths a watch, besides that it may be for Denzel nowadays what "Bachelor Party" is for the now established and respected Tom Hanks, but at least the latter is funny and entertaining, whereas "Ricochet" is a failed attempt at whatever they were suppose to be doing and an almost embarrassing product for the resumé of the all involved.

lost-in-limbo There are some features that it's best you don't think too much about, but simply go with it and enjoy the over-the-top ride. "Ricochet" is one of those films. It's quite an eye-rolling, but barnstorming action thriller starring Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Kevin Pollack, Lindsay Wagner and Ice Cube. No cliché is left untouched in the plot developments as the criminal that was put-away goes after the cop, now district attorney that put him there, but his revenge is to see this man become tainted and slowly succumb to a downward spiral. Both were rookies in their chosen profession, but only one could hit stardom. The way it's all orchestrated is contrived in its manipulation, where success and satisfaction is gained from one's failure. It's the two leads that bring it up to par. A classy Washington oozes with confidence as the district attorney, while the icy Lithgow is left off the leash in the villain role. No holding back here… performance, but also the outlandish plot. For most part it sets up building upon the situation, like a dynamite waiting to explode. Director Russell Mulcahy's stylised handling is expansive, noisy and industrious with a real eye for mean-spiritedness and biting humour amongst its stagy set-pieces. Daft, but fun thriller hokum. "I've been following your career, you know."

Rodrigo Amaro In "Ricochet" a dangerous man escapes from prison with the sole purpose of getting revenge on the man who put him behind bars many years ago. John Lithgow plays Earl and he goes on a limitless hunt trying to destroy the reputation of the former cop, now a respected district attorney played by Denzel Washington. Let's say that the formula of "Cape Fear" gets really twisted, really messy, at times outrageously funny trying to be very serious in here. What makes this movie worth viewing is the way the villain executes his plan of destroying the hero bit by bit without killing him, he makes better: he makes the honorable man looks like a crazy fool who'll lost respect of the society he helped to improve by condemning guys like Earl, and will try hard to get the love and respect of his family and friends. The plan was interestingly performed, things are quite surprising in this department and the film succeeds in this. It also succeeds with Lithgow playing an scary antagonist stealing the show from everybody, and Denzel does his routine acting, very good.However, this film cannot be viewed just for those things. The main problem of the film was some absurds put on the screen to make us impressed by the plot. And it's strange that director Russell Mulcahy and writer Steven E. De Souza (the future director of "Street Fighter") wants us to make not only shocked, entertained and all but also wants the audience to take this story seriously, but it's really hard to do that. Here's some moments and things that puts this film on a lower level: the violent jailbreak scene almost got right with the excess of violence (very unbelievable that prisoners would have access to such dangerous tools like a saw and would be fast enough to use right away on the guards); a sex tape being broadcasted on live TV in the morning (one of Lithgow's tricks against the hero), very laughable. But the one who is really absurd but was interesting to watch was the fight between Lithgow and another prisoner, both wearing an armor made of books glued with duct tape, where director Mulcahy recreates his famous fight in "Highlander". That would never happen in real life but it's sure funny to see that happening. It's hard not to laugh at some of those things and some even might find this a silly movie because of that; it loses all of its seriousness just to appeal to audiences.It certainly produces memorable moments, it's quite entertaining and it is very exciting. Don't expect much and don't even pay attention to the nonsense talk about the racial issues brought up by some mongoloids viewers who watched this film way over of what was proposed. Take a look at some of the amazing extravagances of 1990's cinema and enjoy it. 8/10

Newsense I don't know what other people were expecting. This was supposed to be a popcorn flick not a movie made to win Oscars. The story is simple enough Denzel Washington plays Nick Styles, a cop/attorney who busts a psychopath named Earl Talbot Blake(John Lithgow) at a drug ring gone sour. Earl Blake plots his revenge on Nick Styles in jail and escapes from prison. From then on, he systematically destroys Nick Styles life and has everyone questioning Nick's sanity.The storyline is not bad and Denzel does a great job as usual. John Lithgow is perfect as Earl Blake and its probably his best role since the scared flight attendant in Twilight Zone: The Movie. His villain is a throwback in the days when villains were villains and not these craven new age geeks who tap on laptops and run from confrontation as far away as possible. Kevin Pollak is decent enough as Nick's partner Harry. Ice-T plays Odessa(and who the hell names a man Odessa?), the man who helps Nick Styles take down Blake. If you are looking for Oscar material you are definitely in the wrong place but if you are looking for a pretty good thriller it wouldn't hurt if you tried this.