Revenge, 1990 - LD

I bought this movie, after seeing it on a list of Quentin Tarantino's five top revenge films. This was prior to the release of Kill Bill. You can read the article here.

I've always enjoyed reading what writer/directors like watching. I wasn't a huge fan of Kill Bill, but I have enjoyed Tarantino's earlier work, and something in the article made me purchase this film.

Finally, 1990's "Revenge," starring Kevin Costner as an ex-Navy pilot squaring off against a wealthy Mexican and his goons, who left him for dead and tortured his mistress. "Revenge" was trashed by critics, but Tarantino loved the flick, which was made by Tony Scott, who went on to direct "True Romance" from Tarantino's screenplay.

"I'm a huge fan of that movie. In fact, that was the reason I was supportive and really tried to make it happen that Tony directed 'True Romance,'" Tarantino said. "I was like, I want the man who did 'Revenge' to do my movie."

I'm a huge fan of True Romance, huge fan of Tony Scott... this movie kind of slid under the radar for me, and I was glad when I read the article. I'm always on the look-out for movies I should have seen... I've got a lot of making up to do.

Prior to Revenge, Scott had given us a few intense pictures. The Hunger was his first foray into feature length film, although him and his brother Ridley both were successful commercial directors (Ridley was far and away a successful film director at this time, as well). After The Hunger, Scott burst onto the scene with the highest grossing movie of 1986, Top Gun. From there, he went on to direct the highly anticipated sequel to Beverly Hills Cop in 1987. That was the third highest grossing movie of that year.

So, you have to wonder why he chose to do a film like Revenge? It was a departure from the flashy look and feel of his previous two films, for certain. It wasn't a high concept or action comedy. Very strange.

Based on the novella by Jim Harrison, Revenge is a very simple story. Simple stories are sometimes the best, because they give the writer the ability to write good characters, and develop scenes that fit the simple story, but are made more complex by originality, character or just location.

That's the case with Revenge... and after seeing it, I can understand why Scott was interested in the project. Now, keep in mind, I don't know if he was interested in the project, or was told to direct it, or what-have-you... but after watching it, I can see why he might have wanted to shoot this film.

The pace of the film stands out as solid, character development takes place. A case in point with this films pace is that the inciting incident doesn't take place until almost fifty-five minutes into the picture. The film is just over two hours... and the real meat of the story doesn't take place until the half-way point of the film. And then the pace sprints.

Twice, in three days, I've stated things that people usually disagree with. The other day I wrote a review of Bad Boys, and said I like Michael Bay's directing. Now I'm going to say I enjoy Kevin Costner's acting.

No, wait, don't go!!!

You can't say he hasn't made good films. He's made great films, both as an actor and as a director. His big break was after he was cut from Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill. See, after that, Kasdan felt bad and gave him one of the four parts of Silverado. From there... well, he's gone on to become one of the most recognizable stars in Hollywood.

The Untouchables, No Way Out, Bull Durham and Field of Dreams all preceded Revenge. I suppose after two baseball movies, he wanted a change. I can understand that, as well... this is far and away not your average Costner flick. Though it did become a major changing point in his career. His next project would be Dances With Wolves, in which he would star, produce and direct.

All of this is easy to follow. His four earlier films were huge money makers. Revenge didn't do so well, but he was an Executive Producer on the film, so it's obvious he had some good feelings about it. And with the backing of the studios he'd made so much money for, he worked on Revenge, and then worked on his pet project.

Costner is fantastic in his role as Jay Cochran. I've always enjoyed watching him act, because he brings not only his personality to each of the characters, but also develops them into some different from previous characters. There's always something that comes up that stands the character out from others. We don't get rehashed Jake's, or Eliot Ness's or Roy McAvoy's, or even Wyatt Earp's.

Probably the stand out performance in this film is Madeleine Stowe. She was wonderful in this film, very uninhibited. She worked well with both Costner and Quinn... though I have to say that half-way through the film a single thought popped into my head. "Women are fucking manipulative!" Whew... she played the role well. This didn't seem like the same actress from Stakeout, which came out a few years earlier.

Quinn was great. I don't know too many films with Quinn in them... but he has a presence. You can feel it whenever he's on the screen. I mean, this guy was in The Guns of Navarone, Lawrence of Arabia... he'd been in the business since 1936. Incredibly successful, with two Oscars for Lust for Life and Viva Zapata! and two other nominations. He died in 2001, after filming Avenging Angelo, which also starred Stowe.

Miguel Ferrer's character, although not as large as the three stars, still made a huge impact. I've loved his work ever since Robocop in 1987. He was one of the officers in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock... but I think his work on Robocop was spectacular. He would also go on to have a very memorable role in Twin Peaks, as FBI Agent Albert Rosenfield. He's just great, and it was neat seeing him in this film, post-Robocop. He's gone on to star in some pretty great films of late, including Traffic.

Jeffrey L. Kimball is one of those cinematographers who got on the right project at the right time. Following Cat People and The Legend of Billie Jean, Kimball joined forces with Tony Scott to work on Top Gun. He would work with Scott on Beverly Hills Cop II and True Romance. You can see the trend the two men took through the four films. I feel that the look of the three, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop and True Romance, are more similar than Revenge... but what I find funny is that Scott's other films, such as Crimson Tide and The Last Boy Scout, look more like those films as well, without Kimball. I guess Scott has a very specific look he shoots for...

Kimball also shot Jacob's Ladder, which is a testament to Kimball's ability to meld with the director. There's almost no comparision, look wise, to Parker's Ladder and Scott's films. Kimball, in 2000, would hook up with John Woo with Mission: Impossible II, Windtalkers, this years Paycheck and even the short BMW film Hostage. He also shot Star Trek: Nemesis.

All in all, this is a good film with great characters. Again, with a simple plot, we get some interesting scenes that could have gone further, and a conclusion that some people aren't going to be happy with. I was happy with the ending, in some ways... I figure that if this film were made in 2000, there would have been much more action, blood... and the simplistic story would have gotten written over four or five times by script doctors, for mass consumption. Rent this and learn about character development and pacing.