THE BLACK SHEEP is an ongoing column featuring different takes on films that either the writer HATED, but that the majority of film fans LOVED, or that the writer LOVED, but that most others LOATH. We’re hoping this column will promote constructive and geek fueled discussion. Dig in!
UNLAWFUL ENTRY (1992)
DIRECTED BY JONATHAN KAPLAN
INTRUDERs beware…
You know what the deadest give away is that Jonathan Kaplan’s highly amusing UNLAWFUL ENTRY is a F*cking Black Sheep of a 90s crime thriller? Well, aside from the fact the DVD has gone out of print and the flick has yet to be released on Blu-ray or multi-format (WTF?), one need not look any further than the upcoming release of THE INTRUDER, starring Dennis Quaid as an obsessed, property-trespassing-psycho-stalker. Why is that? Well, the writer of THE INTRUDER, a fella named David Loughery, clearly thinks the general filmgoing public has all but wiped UNLAWFUL ENTRY from our collective consciousness. How else do you explain his attempt to remake the movie not once, a la the racially spun LAKEVIEW TERRACE in 2008, but now once again via THE INTRUDER, which simply swaps a law enforcer for an overly-attached landlord. Yeah, who the hell does this Loughery dude think he’s fooling? Dude even helmed the similarly-themed OBSESSED, which not only plays to the psychological plot of UNLAWFUL ENTRY, but very obviously in movies like FATAL ATTRACTION, THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, et al. Honestly, if such bald and unabashed attempts are made to redo such a superior movie, what does that say about the original?
What it tells me is that, no matter how UNLAWFUL ENTRY was received at the time (which was quite fair, culling decent reviews and over $10 million at the opening weekend box-office); the story itself is one worth retelling. Better yet, the film is worth revisiting! Scripted by Lewis Colick (GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI, OCTOBER SKY), I’ve always loved the hell out of this movie since watching on HBO in the early and mid-90s, yet when it comes to movies of a similar ilk, it’s hardly ever mentioned. One of the great things about the movie is the way in which it opens with a gripping home-invasion sequence, as the overarching plot will become an even sneakier and conniving home-invasion of a different kind. In Los Angeles, Michael and Karen Carr (Kurt Russell and Madeline Stowe) have their opulent new home broken into. Michael grabs a golf club and searches the house, only to find an amped-up base-head put a blade up to Karen’s throat. Michael is helpless. Rightly unnerved when the crook escapes, the Carrs call the cops to report the break in. Arriving on the scene are two unassuming blue-boys, Officers Roy Cole (Roger E. Mosely) and Pete Davis (Ray Liotta). In what is almost certainly Liotta’s finest and most well-rounded non-GOODFELLAS performance to date (I always liked him in BLOW by the way), he radiates such an innocent and harmless charm in this introductory scene, it’s impossible to blame the Carrs for instantly wanting to become chummy with him and inviting the officer into their lives.
Kaplan gives us a great shot when introducing Karen to Pete. As Karen descends the staircase, the camera does not hold on her, but rather stays on Pete’s face, looking upward, with amorous infatuation in his eyes. We notice it, but the other characters do not, which sets up for a dynamic cat-and-mouse scenario later on. This is also one of the screenplay’s most brilliant designs; the way Liotta, aside from this one shot to the audience, never quite lets on to how much he’s smitten with Karen early on. Davis maintains his air of professionalism, remains cool and calm, and continues genuinely help the Carrs…on the surface that is. When Davis has the Carrs install a new high-tech security system, he inherently knows the password, giving him access to their house that goes well above and beyond the law. Conversely, while Davis doesn’t let his lusty intentions be known early on, Karen neither encourages nor dissuades Davis enough one way or the other to get him off her back, literally as the third act demonstrates. In fact, as Michael begins to notice Davis’ sadistic behavior, in particular when he captures the home invader from the opening scene and demands Michael assault him as payback, only to do the violent deed himself when Michael’s moral core disallows him from doing so, Karen doesn’t side with her husband, but rather with the man who can seem to protect her best, Officer Davis.
Further blurring the lines is the way in which Carr and Davis begin to physically resemble one another progressively throughout the film, especially during their nighttime interactions. The casting of Russell and Liotta is really inspired in this regard, and with both rocking tightly-cropped hairdos and clean-shaven mugs, Kaplan has fun playing with their images in the shadows. One minute Carr looks like Davis, and the next minute we sense that Davis is Carr. This is no doubt done as a metaphor for Karen’s subconscious desires, but also one that suggests that police officers and ordinary citizens are typically alike, and only separated by their willingness to bend the law and abuse their authority. To wit, each becomes like other in different parts of the narrative, which makes the twinning effect even more fascinating. Michael wants to be like Pete in the beginning, a protector who can keep his wife safe. Pete wants to be Michael, married to the lovely Karen. Later, Michael is driven to the same violent madness as Pete demonstrates. Likewise, Pete tries to romantically woo Karen in the final act as her husband would do. I love this subtle overlay in character appearance and motivation, as it gives a nuanced complexity to what could have been an otherwise straightforward thriller.
The thing is, without such credible acting, I’m not sure said complexities would much matter. Ray Liotta absolutely steals the show here with an obsessive madness roiling beneath the surface of a staid demeanor and sweet smile. He gets to run the gamut from noble and gentlemanly to the downright depraved, whether he’s politely petting housecats or putting his paws on pussy of a different kind (prostitutes), Liotta no doubt has the showier role. That said, without the thankless but steady turn of Russell as the straight man, Liotta’s supercharged stint would lose much of its steam. Russell’s almost chameleonic as Carr, diametrically opposed to the badass action heroes like Snake Plissken or RJ MacReady he’s played in the past. Instead of the physical (at least until the finale), Russell actually gets to showcase his acting chops as a pacifistic un-macho man in UNLAWFUL ENTRY, and in so doing gives a thoroughly convincing turn as a guy who, despite being caught on both sides of the law, is willing to do anything to save his imperiled spouse. Word is Jeff Bridges, Kevin Costner and Bill Pullman were considered for the role, but honestly, outside of maybe Bridges, I doubt anyone else could have done a better job than Russell. Same goes for Liotta, who had competition from Mel Gibson, Tom Berenger, John Travolta and Charlie Sheen. None of those dudes have the sinister charm Liotta has!
UNLAWFUL ENTRY is such a F*cking Black Sheep of a movie that its own IMDB page has a glaring grammatical error on the top-line synopsis. The disrespect this flick has gotten is just as criminal as Davis’ intrusive comportment. I know it. You should know it. David Loughery surely knows it well enough that has made a subsequent career out of updating the story with an element of interracial panic via LAKEVIEW TERRACE, OBSESSED, and now THE INTRUDER. If nothing else, let's acknowledge that these three films owe a debt of gratitude to UNLAWFUL ENTRY, which is not only a superior version of the three, but still remains an undeservingly overlooked 90s crime-thriller!