Against All Odds (1984)

Thanks for the memories!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Low expectations are the key to enjoying this movie. Keep in mind that the film is anchored by a dubious ballad by Phil Collins, an even more dubious performance by top-billed actress Rachel Ward, and was directed by a man who has the word "hack" in his name (Taylor Hackford). It is a re-make of Jacques Tourneur's equally stylish but infinitely more cynical 1940s classic "Out of the Past." While Tourneur's film took us on a death-trip that proceeds with cold logic to its blazing suicidal finale, this film is too invested in the romance at its core to allow the characters to be truly bad or truly alive.Let's face it, Jeff Bridges is not a replacement for Robert Mitchum. It says everything about the difference in these two films, that Mictchum's character is a broken-down man who operates a gas station in the high deserts of Nevada, while in this version Bridges plays a football player. That's right, and the plot actually has something to do with football players, coaches (Alex Karras appears prominently), bookies (Dorian Harewood and James Woods), corrupt real estate moguls (Jane Greer, from the original film) and professional fixers (Richard Widmark). The primary weakness of the script is that it spends the first half trying to convince us that Rachel Ward is a femme fatale, and then by the time we're halfway believing it (she deserts Bridges in Mexico after murdering Karras' character), the rest of the movie is spent trying to convince us that she's got a heart of gold. Her character makes no sense, and she doesn't have the screen presence to make us look past that fact.A high speed chase with sports cars that takes place 10 minutes into the film is the highlight of the entire film. We also get to see Kid Creole do his best Cab Calloway impersonation, and other bits of 80s "nostalgia" for things that weren't worth showing in the first place. The director is mostly concerned with having his characters walk through rooms that are stylishly decorated and architecturally moderne. If he had spent more time working on the script and less time scouting locations, it might be worth something. As it is, this film is not only an embarrassment to anybody who is a fan of the original film, but just a poor effort in and of itself. Widmark is the only actor who comes out looking better than he did going into it. Eminently skip-able.

A broke football player (Jeff Bridges) recently cut from his team is hired to track down a poor little rich girl (Rachel Ward) in Mexico wanted by her wealthy mother (Jane Greer) and her gangster ex-boyfriend (James Woods). Against All Odds is a remake of the 1940s classic Out of the Past. Updated for the 1980s, the film was also significantly dumbed down and rather than serve as a hardboiled noir like Out of the Past, Against All Odds is far more content to function as a melodrama probably in an attempt to secure better numbers at the box office. The movie is perhaps most notable for its excellent title song, played over the final scene and end credits, by Phil Collins. This final scene where Ward and Bridges stare at each other knowing they can never be together is the film's best moment. The film also gained traction because of a few, somewhat explicit, sex scenes between Ward and Bridges, but perhaps unconventionally it is Bridges' body that is showcased more than Ward's. The film also includes some nice tropical Mexican scenery, including a few scenes at ancient ruins, where Bridges and Ward have one of their romps. In general, Bridges is quite good here and that is to be expected as he excels in these kind of stoic roles where he plays an outsider. Ward, on the other hand, is about as emotive as a plank of wood. Rather than act, she mostly just whimpers through the whole film. The film also makes up a rather convoluted excuse as to why Ward's character speaks with an English, rather than American accent (the film is set mostly in LA and Ward's character is ostensibly American), but it was mostly likely due to the fact that she couldn't pull off a competent American accent. The film's biggest mistake however was turning the Ward character from a femme fatale who takes the initiative, as she did in the original film (and played by Jane Greer) into a largely helpless and ever whimpering rich girl. In the process the character lost a great deal of allure.The film is further marred by a script that goes totally off the rails in the film's final third weighed down by plot machinations featuring point-shaving and bribery and also a poorly directed climactic shootout/confrontation.

The Argument that You can't Transfer Film-Noir to Modern Times is Weak at best. Talented Filmmakers have Done it Repeatedly and it Can Work. It has been Termed Neo-Noir. Of course, it is a Tricky Transformation and the result has Not always been Successful. There Are some Great Neo-Noirs out there, but this is Not One of them.Director Taylor Hackford said that He did not want to Remake "Out of the Past" (1947), So why did He? It's OK to imagine a Metamorphosis and tailor the Film to Current Sensibilities, Style, and so forth, but Here it Hurts and the Mediocre result is anything but effective.Somehow, the Core of Noir is Lost among the Steamy, Sweaty, Sex Scenes and the Sheen of 1980's crowd pleasing Fads. Music Video Styling and Shallow Representations of the Femme Fatale Fails to intrigue. The Crisp Noir Dialog featured in the Original falls flat and the Actors seem to be Struggling to Make This WorkOverall, Not a Bad Movie, it is Just Unremarkable. Jeff Bridges at His physical Peak of Manhood, seems a bit Whiny on Top of the Tan and Gym Tone and Rachel Ward is a Less than Great Actress and is almost Awful and here Shows No Range of Emotion. James Woods gives the Best Performance but for Him it is a notch Below His usual Show Stealing abilities. Richard Widmark Playing the reprehensible Money Man, a Rich Slime Bucket, is Fine, but again, about Average for His later day Movies.You Know the Movie is Struggling for attention when Just about Everyone Relates to the Film through a Pop Song. A Pop Song? Now that's Definitely Not Noir, in Any Era.

The film is a part remake of 'Out of the Past.' Jeff Bridges is a washed up football player Terry Brogan who to makes ends meet takes a job from a shady pal Jake Wise played by James Woods who seems to be involved in some kind of illegal bet fixing. His girlfriend Jessie Wyler played by a sultry Rachel Ward shot him and ran away with some money to Mexico and wants Terry to track him down which he does hand ends up with a steamy relationship with her instead.Now I am aware that 'Out of the Past' also had a convoluted plot in the film noir tradition. Here the the film comes across as confusing, silly and dull. It seems all of Brogan's former football coaches are involved in some dark deeds, one of them is even sent to wipe out Brogan. The side plot of his football team owners, associates and Brogan's own lawyer being involved in backstabbing him as well as some land development deal comes across as half baked.Still the film is well shot, Bridges and Ward make a sexy couple, Woods at the time was making himself a reputation as a bad guy and the end title song is very good but the film never lifts off.