Rating of
1.5/4
Could've been better
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/08/09
Rookie FBI agent, "Johnny Utah" (Keanu Reeves) has been assigned to the Los Angeles in to the Bank Robbery Division fresh out of training. He is a bit gung-ho, and is partnered up with a veteran (Gary Busey) who is fairly similar to him.
"Agent Angelo Pappas" (Busey) has been hunting a gang of professional bank robbers, each wearing a mask in the resemblance of former US Presidents which caused the authorities to nickname them "The Ex-Presidents."
"Pappas" has a theory that the bank robbers are, in fact, surfers financing their travels in search of the best wave. However, not even the head of the division believes his theory, which is based on evidence.
The two, with "Utah" going undercover, go to the local beaches to find possible suspects, as the robberies continue.
Now, the two go in search of the bank robbers to bring them to justice.
Let me say first, this is not the best movie I've seen as of late. There are more problems with this movie than entertainment.
First of all, the acting is uneven. Although certain people have chemistry when together, their performances as a whole lack. I did not like the chemistry between Reeves and Lori Petty, who potrayed "Utah's" love intrest while undercover. The biggest problem with their on-screen relationship is that Petty is not on screen enough. You feel nothing when something happens to her which gives a predictable twist in the plot. You couldn't even feel the emotion from Reeves.
Reeves is easily one of the worst performances. His delivery of his lines was very uneven, especially near the start of the film. If you listen carefully, he brings back his "Bill and Ted" voice in a brief moment in one scene which, if you notice it, gives the audience a chuckle. On the other hand, Swayze, who plays the lead robber, had a better performance. However, if you ask me, Swayze was not really into the script, and his performance showed that.
As for the script itself. It's not very good at all. I was not impressed with the dialogue, nor a good chunk of the scenes. There were some good action scenes, with one fantastic foot chase through the streets, and at least one private residence, that had some real good editing, which was also uneven.
Then there are the surf scenes. These were horribly produced. None of them were exciting or edited in a way that made you want to watch the scenes. I wasn't even impressed with the music laid over these shots.
The soundtrack was completely forgettable. I can't even name one song that was in this movie. In fact, if I happen to hear the soundtrack in passing, I wouldn't recognize it as this movie's soundtrack.
The director did a horrible job putting this movie together. Poor script, uneven performances, big plot holes. I can only recommend that, if there is nothing better to do, check this movie out on HBO.
