Boiling Point

A federal agent apparently reaches his “boiling point” after his partner gets killed during an undercover job, and vows to find the man who fulfilled the dirty deed. As it turns out, the man who killed him is just a dimwitted flunky of a lifetime criminal who just got out of jail and owes the mob $50,000. The bumbling duo only have one week to get their hands on the money, while the cop has the same amount of time to nail them. Pretty exciting, eh?

This film includes some pretty bad acting, little to no action, a “Miami Vice” leftover script, and Dennis Hopper acting with his red hair. Having said that, it also features a slick Wesley Snipes acting like a bad-ass while chomping on a cigar every chance he gets, one of Viggo Mortensen’s earlier and less subdued roles, and an overall decent noirish time if you happen to catch it on video. It won’t make or break your evening, but it certainly is an easy appetizer to complement any main dish which you might be contemplating for the rest of the night. Is it all pretty predictable? Yes. Is it all together boring? Not at all. In fact, despite some sub-par acting by some of the side-players, you can’t help but enjoy Snipes acting like a tough guy, Seymour Cassel as a money-laundering flake, Hooper letting his goofy walk do the acting for him, and Viggo the man, giving us a little of what his hair would do for him in the future. Toss in a throwaway role for Lolita Davidovich as the happy hooker with the golden heart, so-so tension and a true-life fate report at the end of the film which lets us know exactly what happened to all of these semi-interesting characters, and you’ve got yourself a mediocre night at the movies. See it if you don’t mind rehashed cop movies featuring some interesting actors, and one of the worst taglines to a movie…ever! –> “He’s a cop who reached the Boiling Point!”. Yech!

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian