Against the Law (1997)

How sad is this?

Beautiful, moving film.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

A young man claims to be the fastest gun out there and he's headed to California in hopes of becoming famous. A city cop gets labeled a hero after gunning down a notorious drug dealer and he doesn't want the fame he's getting. A news reporter is caught in the middle and the gun slinger asks her to set up a standoff at high noon with the infamous cop.Very silly story. Poor Jim Wynorsky has made some bad films, but I think this is the worst non skin-flick type of his I have seen. Richard Grieco reminded me of a poor mans Michael Madsen. Billy Gallo did good on here, always liked him. Nancy Allen played the reporter here and did okay and Jamie Pressly did good in a small part, but Nick Mancuso was really truly amazing and the only reason to watch this movie.I wouldn't advise anyone to watch it. Its a pretty horrible movie. Lots of bad acting, stupid dialog by most and the worst case of blank bullets I have ever seen. It's very slow and painful to set through.One message I liked was that this cop killed a man and didn't want to be treated like a hero for it, cause taking another mans life doesn't make you a great person.2/10 stars

Don't even ask me why I watched this! The only excuse I can come up with that I was sick with Bronchitis and too weak to change the channel. :) It's too terrible for words, the movie that is, not the Bronchitis. The acting is deplorable, Richard Grieco hams it up as a trigger-happy, gun-slinging serial killer with a penchant for knocking off cops. Nick Mancuso phones in a performance as the cop on his trail and Nancy Allen manages to put in the only sympathetic role in the entire film. The script is dismal, peppered with clichéd lines, "Are you ready, Pardner?" purrs Richard Grieco to every single one of his victims. Dire. Avoid.

... but the keyword here is "usually." I have been known to adore movies EVERYONE thinks are dumb. But in the world of B-rated movies, THIS one is Z-rated. Absolutely ridiculous. The thing I respect about most of my favorite B-rated movies are that they don't take themselves too seriously. The makers of movies like that sort-of treat the movie lightly, even if it's a heavy topic. I get the impression, however, that the producers of this movie took themselves way to seriously, like they were putting together a 10-star classic, complete with poor attempts at poignant lines and dumb camera shots. Nevertheless, despite all this, I STILL gave it 4 out of 10 stars, as I am biased towards movies like this. If you're a B-rated fan, however, I would try too hard to find this one.

While surfing, I got hooked about mid-way thru the opening credits. Low-budget, yes -- but full of neat twists. Nick Mancuso is wonderful as a burnt-out cop, smoking, drinking, snarling at authority. Richard Geico looks like a beefy Mickey Rourke, spiky hair and all, and makes a good heavy. Both keep their characters and the story spinning.... One of the best things: no stopping action for sex (just watch Mancuso turn down a former lover).