Buddy Cop Double Dose

Flashpoint is a 1980's thriller that reeks of it's era with dodgy music, full fat machismo and acting of spurious quality. Two disgruntled border patrolmen uncover a crashed plane, sniper rifle and a big bag of cash in the desert and soon find their good fortune has a price when their tentative investigations provoke the attention of the NSA. The two leads Kris Kristofferson and Treat Williams lazily chew their way through the hamfisted scripted and although the plot has potential it's doused by the shouty posturing, dull witted characterisations and unnecessary subplots. Wouldn't bother unless your fond of the alt-theories surrounding Dallas '63 or shit films.

A few years later and Off Limits sees Gregory Hines and Willem Dafoe offer a better expression of the buddy cop formula by playing a pair of jaded, wisecracking detectives struggling with crime in Saigon during the Vietnam war. When a prostitute turns up dead the duo find themselves hunting a serial killer amidst the chaos of the city, bumping into a sexy nun, psychotic colonel and a camp counterpoint along the way. There's plenty of action stuffed in beside the fairly formulaic thriller plot but it's the commendable performances of Hines and Dafoe which rescue the film from mediocrity and they've strong support from Fred Ward and Scott Glenn. It's not amazing, just a solid, fairly entertaining retro cop drama with a decent soundtrack.

Adapted Selves

It's been a long time since I read H G Wells' The Invisible Man but the 1984 BBC adaptation seems faithful to a fault. Obsessed with optics the antihero almost ruins himself in his pursuit of a technique to induce invisibility but his irascible nature drifts into murderous megalomania after he succeeds in his experiments. Though the characters and setting seem amusingly quaint by today's standards the menace and tremulous rage of Pip Donaghy's performance as Griffin provide the dark heart to this production. Originally shown as 6 25 min episodes I was happy to gulp the whole lot down in one go but be warned if you're unfamiliar with the original novel you'll probably be surprised by the decidedly modest, almost low key adventuring.

Herman Hesse's beautiful, lyrical novel Siddhartha got the big screen treatment back in 1972 and like Invisible Man it's a remarkably faithful version but inevitably fails to muster the same spiritual potency of the original. A young brahmin leaves his luxurious home to wander the forest with some rishis and during his spiritual journey encounters the traditional obstacles to the path of enlightenment. It's well acted and has a musing Indian score but somehow it feels a little rushed and the cinematography is surprisingly humdrum. A good film but with a little more care this could have been something special.