Act of Vengeance (1986)

As Good As It Gets

A Masterpiece!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

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.

Charles Bronson, mired in crappy B action flicks in the 1980's, decided to take this made-for-HBO flick to stretch his acting chops. He should have just made another "Death Wish" movie, instead. Based on a true story set in 1969, Bronson plays United Mine Workers union official Jock Yablonski. He fawns over union president Tony Boyle (Wilford Brimley), who is made out to be a ruthless crook immediately. As Jock and his wife Margaret (Ellen Burstyn) coast through life, a mine accident claims the lives of eighty people. Boyle arrives in the grieving West Virginia town and defends the coal company over the miners.Yablonski is almost run out of town, and decides he has had enough. He announces his candidacy for the union presidency, and begins campaigning. Boyle then orders a hit on his former friend.The film shifts gears and introduces us to Paul (Robert Schenkkan), a house painter with a lot of guns and a huge ego. Paul is married to the oversexed Annette (Ellen Barkin), who is probably carrying on behind Paul's back. Annette's father Silous (Hoyt Axton) comes to Paul with a job- kill Yablonski and collect ten thousand dollars. Annette uses her feminine wiles to convince Paul, and he hires local petty criminal Claude (Maury Chaykin) to help.With the campaign in full swing, both sides are confident about victory. Boyle's side is more confident since he has stuffed the ballot box, winning in a landslide. Yablonski decides to challenge the election, and his death becomes more important to Boyle and his gang. Paul hires another killer Buddy (Keanu Reeves), and the trio decide to carry out their plan.With a good cast and confident direction, this film really should have hit its mark. Unfortunately, it never seems to get momentum going, as the central plot about the campaign takes a back seat to the killers' subplot.The staged campaign speeches are, well, stagey. The crowd scenes never move, and Boyle is so evil right away, the election's outcome is never in doubt. Bronson tries, but his dramatic scenes are just like other action films he has done, except he does not pull out a gun. Burstyn is wasted in the dutiful wife role, I have a feeling stronger writing would have bolstered her part.The best performance here? Writer/actor Robert Schenkkan as Paul. He turns Paul into such a desperate loser, he would be pitiful if his actions were not so despicable. One creepy scene has him humping a sleeping Annette to calm his urges, and Annette obviously knows what a little oral sex will do to better her station in life.Claude and Buddy are also disgusting creatures, there are plenty of opportunities to kill Yablonski but Claude chickens out. Claude and Paul make the trip to the Yablonski's country house so often, they know where to stop for gas.Claude, Paul, and Buddy eventually cross over into "funny" territory, and that is where the film finally lost me. The final violent scenes show the trio bumbling like the unfunny "I Love You to Death," but the humor is completely wrong here. Barely an hour and a half, "Act of Vengeance," a generic name that could serve as a "Death Wish" subtitle, never grabs its audience and proves to be an exercise in predictability, despite the excellent work of Robert Schenkkan. (* *) out of five stars.

After a coal mine collapses and kills 80 miners in West Virginia a man named "Joseph 'Jock' Yablonski" (Charles Bronson) decides to do something about the greed on the part of the coal companies and the corruption within the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) by running for president of that organization. Naturally, this doesn't make the current president "Tony Boyle" very happy and being the unscrupulous person that he is decides to do whatever is necessary to retain his grip on the union--and the money and power that goes with it. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film was based on a true story which made major headlines in all of the newspapers across America and this made-for-television film does true justice to it. Of course, being a made-for television film it has some inherent restrictions which sometimes lessen the overall entertainment value but all things considered this picture captured the basics rather well and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I'm a big Ellen Burstyn fan, so I'll see anything with her. But I didn't have high expectations for this based on the title (sounds like a Steven Seagal actioner) and the cover artwork (looks like a pulpy B-movie, with Ellen's mug thrown in as an afterthought).Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised. Ellen was excellent as always, but Charles Bronson was also terrific, as was a young Keanu (spelled Keannu in the credits) Reeves. But the real revelation here is Wilford Brimley as the union boss. What a great bad-ass! For those used to seeing Wilford harp about cholesterol and diabetes, check this one out. You'll realize how much he's wasting his talent by doing those commercials.This is a moving human drama with fine performances, captivating direction and a compelling, if occasionally clichéd, script. It's an act of triumph. Eight out of 10 stars.

What a wonderful surprise, Charles Bronsonn actually acts a little in this fine HBO film as union rebel Jock Yablonski whose wish to change the UMW cost him his life. Ellen Burstyn is wonderful as his doomed wife and Wilford Brimley is sinister as corrupt union President Tony Boyle. The guys who killed Yablonski and his family were first class idiots who were immediately arrested. They were the dumbest assassins you can imagine.