Adams Movie Reviews

I can watch this film at the drop of a hat and not mind that I've seen it a million times. It's not my favourite film, and I have more than a few criticisms of it, but overall, it's one that I'm glad I own.

The acting is fine--Susan Sarandon and Willem Dafoe always are--and Dany Delany does a credible job, but the real star is the screenplay, which was written by the director Paul Schrader. It's endlessly quotable, realistic, funny, and at times thought-provoking.

The soundtrack is marred by having the same no-name singer (who's trying so desperately to ape Bryan Ferry) all throughout--and I thought Vonda Sheppard was lousy--but the incidental music is nice.

Completely overlooked, and well worth the rental.

Willem Dafoe (John) is a reformed junky with a conscience, delivering drugs for an upscale dealer played superbly by Susan Sarandon (Ann). John works dispassionately during the night and without anything to believe in, visits psychics, to try to give meaning to the life he sees changing as Ann trys to go legit with a cosmetics business. Not having saved much and not having another trade, John senses a climax coming; he doesn't know in what form it will appear, but he's not backing away from it.

Women associated with the main drug buying client are dying, apparent suicides and when the last one has a very personal connection to John (Dana Delany - very well acted although the character isn't developed sufficiently), it sets up the violent climax to the movie. John almost welcomes the outcome as his dispair worsens and jail or death wouldn't be an unwelcome change.

The direction is uniquely Shrader. The characters are very well actualized (with the noted excption above). The performances are amazing which should come as no surprise considering the professional abilities of all. The mood remains constant while the soundtrack suits the movie without appealing excessively to only one generation as many do. The visuals as shown in the subdued and grainy colors enhance the overall impact this movie has. This movie is more about a life style than plot driven. The characters are all in denial about the changes in the world to which they need to adapt if they want to survive. It addresses survivorship of those who didn't plan the next phase of their life very well, have been getting by on their wits, but are finding a changing world no longer respects the decreasingly marketable skills those wits once represented.

While not an uplifting movie, it stays with you and is definitely recommended.

Unusual in the usual world of American movie theater. Thought provoking and very consequential, certainly not unpredictable but somehow enriching and very humane. The characters of drug dealers turn out to be very likeable and egzistential.
There are many weaknesses in this plot - violent end seems to be repeating "Taxi Driver" but it is more like "Crime And Punishment," nevertheless it is very simplistic. Drug dealer is apparently more of a character of Paul Schreader than a realistic immersion into the psyche of a drug dealer. Main characters narates too much as if we have a problem to understand his actions, unneccessary in my view. And there is a genuine bad guy to create the vent for the eventual explosion at the end. He is reduced, reduced to inhumanity as if to underline the humanity of others that some of us would have a trouble accepting. All in all a lot of weak places and yet because these types of intelligent movies are so rare, it is so much beyond the usual Holywood entertainment sewer.

I can watch this film at the drop of a hat and not mind that I've seen it a million times. It's not my favourite film, and I have more than a few criticisms of it, but overall, it's one that I'm glad I own.

The acting is fine--Susan Sarandon and Willem Dafoe always are--and Dany Delany does a credible job, but the real star is the screenplay, which was written by the director Paul Schrader. It's endlessly quotable, realistic, funny, and at times thought-provoking.

The soundtrack is marred by having the same no-name singer (who's trying so desperately to ape Bryan Ferry) all throughout--and I thought Vonda Sheppard was lousy--but the incidental music is nice.

Completely overlooked, and well worth the rental.

Willem Dafoe (John) is a reformed junky with a conscience, delivering drugs for an upscale dealer played superbly by Susan Sarandon (Ann). John works dispassionately during the night and without anything to believe in, visits psychics, to try to give meaning to the life he sees changing as Ann trys to go legit with a cosmetics business. Not having saved much and not having another trade, John senses a climax coming; he doesn't know in what form it will appear, but he's not backing away from it.

Women associated with the main drug buying client are dying, apparent suicides and when the last one has a very personal connection to John (Dana Delany - very well acted although the character isn't developed sufficiently), it sets up the violent climax to the movie. John almost welcomes the outcome as his dispair worsens and jail or death wouldn't be an unwelcome change.

The direction is uniquely Shrader. The characters are very well actualized (with the noted excption above). The performances are amazing which should come as no surprise considering the professional abilities of all. The mood remains constant while the soundtrack suits the movie without appealing excessively to only one generation as many do. The visuals as shown in the subdued and grainy colors enhance the overall impact this movie has. This movie is more about a life style than plot driven. The characters are all in denial about the changes in the world to which they need to adapt if they want to survive. It addresses survivorship of those who didn't plan the next phase of their life very well, have been getting by on their wits, but are finding a changing world no longer respects the decreasingly marketable skills those wits once represented.

While not an uplifting movie, it stays with you and is definitely recommended.

Unusual in the usual world of American movie theater. Thought provoking and very consequential, certainly not unpredictable but somehow enriching and very humane. The characters of drug dealers turn out to be very likeable and egzistential.
There are many weaknesses in this plot - violent end seems to be repeating "Taxi Driver" but it is more like "Crime And Punishment," nevertheless it is very simplistic. Drug dealer is apparently more of a character of Paul Schreader than a realistic immersion into the psyche of a drug dealer. Main characters narates too much as if we have a problem to understand his actions, unneccessary in my view. And there is a genuine bad guy to create the vent for the eventual explosion at the end. He is reduced, reduced to inhumanity as if to underline the humanity of others that some of us would have a trouble accepting. All in all a lot of weak places and yet because these types of intelligent movies are so rare, it is so much beyond the usual Holywood entertainment sewer.

When I was a kid (maybe 8 or 9) I remember seeing this on the TV with my Dad (a big fan of 50's sci fi), and I thought it was the scariest thing I'd ever seen. Frankenstein didn't even begin to compare. Recommended, but don't show it to your kid, unless you want them to wake up screaming.

There is something grotesquely ironic about seeing former First Lady Nancy Regan as the caretaker of a disembodied brain bent on world conquest--but at the time the movie first appeared the great irony in casting concerned actor Lew Ayres, who was best remembered as for his screen series as the respectable and responsible Dr. Kildaire, and who here plays a mad scientist. One way or another, cult-film enthusiasts will have tremendous fun with this one. But even so, DONOVAN'S BRAIN has a lot more going for it than cult-film appeal: the story line continues to resonate in the modern era of medical ethics issues, the script is surprisingly intelligent, and the director and actors play it out at a snappy pace.

Based on a successful novel, DONOVAN'S BRAIN concerns a scientist (Ayers) who is experimenting with keeping monkey brains alive in tanks--and when a nearby plane crash lands a terminal accident victim on his surgery table he presses his wife (Nancy Davis, later Regan) and surgical sidekick (Gene Evans) into recovering a human brain for his work. And he succeeds beyond all expection. Trouble is, the brain belongs to a truly evil multi-millionaire who wants to take over the world, and under Ayres care the brain grows... and begins to exert an unexpectedly nasty psychic influence on those around it.

Ayres was a gifted leading man whose credits ranged from ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT to JOHNNY BELINDA, and the film owes much of its success to his talents; Gene Evans is also quite good as the drunken surgeon Ayres befriends. As for Nancy, she is clearly a B-Movie actress, but she is a surprisingly competent one. Cult fans will have a field day, but the movie is too interesting as a whole to be designated such pure and simple; it has a lot going for it, and just about every one who sees it will have a good time. Recommended.

Heres one that just gets better with time. I saw this movie years ago and ordered it with just a vague memory of the theme. Wow! The former first lady has her hands full fighting for her husbands life. The brain grows stronger and more deadly as the movie progresses. MGM Midnight movies are fast becoming my favorite source for classic sci-fi. The price being right is one reason and the other is the high quality of picture and sound. A must see for any fan of sci-fi from the golden age. This review is for the DVD!

Writer/Director John Hughes covered all bases (as usual) with this bitter-sweet "Sunday Afternoon" family movie. "Curly Sue" is a sweet, precocious orphan, cared for from infancy by "Bill". The pair live off their witts as they travel the great US of A. Fate matches them with a "very pretty" yuppie lawyer, and the rest is predictable.

Kids will love this film, as they can relate to the heroine, played by 9 year old Alisan Poter (who went on to be the "you go girl!" of Pepsi commercials). The character is supposed to be about 6 or 7, as she is urged to think about going to school. Some of her vocabulary suggests that she is every day of 9 or older.

Similar to "Home Alone", there is plenty of slap-stick and little fists punching big fat chins. Again, this is "formula" film making, aimed at a young audience. Entertaining and heartwarming. Don't look for any surprises, but be prepared to shed a tear or two.****

This is a really good film! James Belushi stars as a con-man stuck with a cute little girl with curly hair. In another one of their typical cons, they hit the jackpot. They get taken in by Kelly Lynch, who plays a tough, no nonsense attorney. She lets them stay the night after she hits Belushi with her car and eventually they make their way into her heart as well. Of course, this is a John Hughes film, and they always have an underlying dark theme to them (this film is no exception), but all in all it is a great movie. Little Curly Sue will steal your heart. Want a feel good movie with a happy ending? Voila!

I love Jim Belushi and this is one of my favorite movies of his, it's a cute and sweet comedy about a con artist and an adorable little girl with curly hair. Jim Belushi is great and so is adorable Alisan Porter as Curly Sue.

I wish this sweet movie was on DVD and in widescreen!

I rented this purely for Catherine Zeta-Jones, and was dissapointed. The story is dull and depressing, with no redeeming qualities, bosting immorality (on both main characters' parts) and dryness. The guy does eventually get over his father's cruelty, but it doesn't change him for the better, while his wife sleeps with every soldier to come along. Overdrawn, and more of a guy's film than a girl's, with all the war sequences. Also, more than one character gets away with murder.

Entertaining, but somewhat boring. Great acting, costumes, editing...just seemed like something was missing.

The Cinder Path was a long-awaited movie after growing up reading as many Catherine Cookson books as I could get my hands on. I have always been a die hard fan since I first read The Dwelling Place. This story, like most of Cookson's others, present a true-to-life hardship and how the characters react, deal with, and survive the sometimes cruel and unfair obstacles life throws their way.

This film features a pre-Hollywood Catherine Zeta Jones as the haughty and spoiled brat. She plays this role to a tee and was (before being "spoiled" by Hollywood) one of my favorite actresses previously because of this role.

Everyone can enjoy this movie, relate to the hardships and life's tough decisions. All in all, it has a great message, but learning life's lessons is not all that easy.

If you're like me, you probably wanted to check out this movie because it sounded like it really could be an excellent supernatural Gothic horror tale full of goblins and wicked things alike. Well, don't make the same mistake I did and actually watch it. It's horrible. Terrible. An honest to goodness waste of film. The acting is wretched, the film quality is rotten (it actually looks twenty years older than it is), and the plot is thin, weak, and does not give you what it's supposed to. The only reason I bothered to give this film 1 star is because of Alexis Arquette -- he's great looking, but should have left this film out of his career.

Glum film tries too hard as adopted blood siblings reunite later in life. He has a hypnotizing machine, an attitude, and four angry sisters after him, she is psychic and pregnant. Brooding and dark, dull and silly.

I tuned in to Jack Be Nimble when it was on TV today, & I was blown away by Alexis Arquette's acting ability. I've read some reviews saying it was a dissapointment because it wasn't a supernatural gothic horror film with ghosts & goblins, but Arquette's character was so real & memorable I truly felt what he felt throughout the film. I'm rarely touched by movies, which is why I wanted to write this review. I'm a tough critic, believe it or not, being someone who has studied dramatic arts for years, & although this psychological thriller had its weak assets, Arquette's performance was nothing short of sheer brillance.

Well, I have been a fan of this film ever since I saw it as a young teenager...lots of attractive women, guns firing backwards, Bond type driving a station wagon(a station Wagon????) And never for a moment does it take itself the least bit seriously!
So, I was glad to see this film come out on dvd finally, but they sure cropped the image, even though it is widescreen! How do I know this??? Well, the film just ran on cable last month, full screen version, and when Daliah Lavi shoots Nancy Kovack in the back, just before she was to stab our hero Matt, you see her behind as she jumps up(She is only wearing one of his shirts)....so...when the DVD comes out, and you get to this scene...it is cropped so you are not shown the offending buttocks!!!! A film from 1966 is too hot for DVD today??? Why??? I thought the big selling point for DVD was to be the chance to see films as they originally were shot and shown on the big screen...I guess not, but they still get your 20+ bucks. Who knows what else they cut/cropped from the film?????
The image quality is fine,(though the adventures of Robin Hood from 1938 still looks better) but no extras... and you know this is the only time it will be out on disc.....

For fans of the original character, the Matt Helm films can cause feelings of ambivalence. On one hand, the films are enjoyable as pure escapist fun, with no pretensions whatever of seriousness. Cool swinger, and singer Dean Martin portrays Helm as one of the most laid back, and least motivated operatives ever. His 'missions' are viewed more as opportunities to have a good time, rather than as serious business. At 'appropriate' moments Dino will even break into a song. These films are among the most light-hearted fluff, to come out of the 60's spy craze.

Surprisingly, the cartoonish character seen on the screen evolved from something quite different. Matt Helm, is the literary creation of the late Donald Hamilton. The Helm in Hamilton's books, is a rugged, and tough operator, who bears no resemblance to the breezy film persona. Hamilton's novels are serious, often brutal stories, of espionage, with a distinct American flavor. Helm was an American literary equivalent to Ian Fleming's Bond. With the character being so debased in the translation to the screen, an opportunity to serious challenge Bond, purposely was not taken. In many ways the potential of the character was wasted, but what's done is done. While it is certainly possible to enjoy Helm both in books and film, the character bears almost no similarity, beyond his profession as a photographer, residence in the Southwest, and the codename 'Eric'.

The Silencers, is the first of the four Helm films, and it takes some of its plot elements from Hamilton's first Helm novel, 'Death of a Citizen'. Though much is definitely played for laughs, the story does hold together pretty well. With the semi-retired 'Eric', being reluctantly brought back into service as an agent of ICE (Intelligence Counter Espionage), by a lovely ex-partner (Daliah Lavi). Heading ICE is James Gregory, as MacDonald. The USA is threatened with nuclear assault, by the forces of Big O, lead by Tung-Tze (Victor Buono). Helm's mission to recover a secret tape, takes him to Phoenix, and a meeting with klutzy Gail Hendrix (Stella Stevens). Together, Helm and Hendricks, take on the forces of Big O, and foil their plot to alter the course of a missile with a nuclear warhead.

Dean Martin plays a caricature of himself, rather than making any serious attempt to become 'Matt Helm'. His willingness to then make himself the brunt of so much humor, shows that is he is in this project strictly for laughs. While Dean does an adequate job in the hand-to-hand combat department, the 'action' in the film is rather limited. A low speed car chase, while perhaps realistic, looks pretty lame, as are the 'special effects' in the cave battle at the film's conclusion. One bright spot is voluptuous Stella Stevens, who is pretty good in a comic role.

Introduced here are several elements which will reoccur in subsequent films, such as Helm's tilting circular bed that spills occupants into a pool, his secretary Lovey Kravezit (Beverly Adams), and silly gadget weapons. Another pattern that starts with this film, concerns Matt's leading ladies, with one usually being American, and one being European. The film finishes with a promo for the next Helm film, Murder's Row.

The Silencers sets the tone for the films that follow, which if anything, are less serious with even flimsier plots. The Matt Helm series is not for everyone, and it may require some 'regression', back a mid-sixties mindset to appreciate them. But for those who can 'dig it', they offer a rather mindless escape from reality. Now that the Flint films have finally been released on DVD, perhaps Matt Helm will follow.

Great to see the first Matt Helm movie on DVD, widescreen, with English titles. No trailer, though (wonder why?). But the ending of the film IS on the DVD (Helm on a bed with the Slaymates, with words across the screen announcing MURDERERS' ROW is next)-- this is great to see, as it is NOT on the VHS tape edition. Great movie! Buy it! Hopefully the other 3 Helm movies will be out on DVD soon. I agree with the other reviewer -- it's too bad they formated the picture so that we can't see Nancy Kovack's behind as she gets shot in the back. But at least you CAN see that on the VHS tape edition.

Overall, I liked this film for many of the reasons already mentioned here. It's a high school sports movie that brings to mind the scores of films that have been made in this genre (e.g., "All the Right Moves"), and it tries mostly successfully to work against that genre's conventions. It also explores the male-bonding that underlies the relationship between coach and player by bringing together two males who are both outsiders, each needing the other to fulfill a sense of purpose in lives that are otherwise going nowhere.

Whether the coach's need for "friendship" crosses a boundary is an ambiguity that, from the point where you first see it, makes the film not an easy one to watch. And the filmmakers have created a tension there (sexual or otherwise) that their film doesn't totally resolve -- which is maybe appropriate in the hard-bitten world of the movie, where football is played under bleak winter skies on snow-swept, frozen fields. Endings are often difficult, and this one feels somewhat contrived and melodramatic, but the overall film remains strong, and its moody narrative sticks with you long afterward.

Morse, as the coach, has played this kind of character before and portrays well a man of both pride and weakness, who has experienced hurt and failure. Ryan Gosling is wonderfully natural and plays the young protagonist with what seems to be complete understanding. His affair with an "older" woman may seem a nod to convention, but the relationship is written and played for the truth in it -- that his immaturity makes him less than what she's hoping to find in a man. Equally memorable is the cinematography, capturing the Montana landscapes in wan winter light. The music is perfect.

I like films that are not quite predictable, show me a world I don't know, and play with conventions, expectations, and ambiguities. This one held my attention from beginning to end.

I bought the DVD because, sadly, I had missed the screenings and couldn't find it for rental anywhere. The Jay Farrar music and the Indians were the reasons for me seeing it. To be a little critical, it came off as Cohen-brothers lite; if you strung together all the slower sequences of Blood Simple and Fargo, you'd have this movie. I did like the fact that nothing followed convention, and the hopelessness of living was conveyed well. I could've done without the scene near the end where a Native drives up in warpaint, hair flowing, on a motorcycle - it's like things turned into a Sherman Alexie story all of the sudden.

Ryan Gosling is a wonder!!! The scenes between Ryan and David Morse were so intense that I was moved to tears several times.Both gave heartbreakingly beautiful performances.

Sadly a much misunderstood movie...

very few of us now a days, know of the incidents and life in cuba and why fidel castro took power, from a corrupt gangster style goverment of the baustista goverment.
sean connery plays a british mercenary, trying to scope out the situation for the in power goverment , and re-live a old fling
with a old flame from north afrika, ww2 days.
chris sarandon plays the handsome husband of brooke adams, who's family is that of the elite and powerful.
see this movie and undersatnd the life that once was.

*Cuba* may be the best movie you've never heard of. The setting is 1958, just before the final collapse of the Batista regime. Sean Connery stars as a British mercenary with the odd name of Dapes, whom Batista's colonels hope will help them to stamp out Fidel Castro's revolutionaries. However, Connery pretty much figures out -- almost as soon as he arrives -- that Batista's cause will be lost, and so his attempts to guide the incompetent military are rather half-hearted. He's much more interested in reviving a love affair with an old flame, Brooke Adams (surprisingly glamorous, but with an on-again, off-again accent). Problem is, she's married to the profligate son (Chris Sarandon) of one of Cuba's wealthiest industrialists . . . and it's a lifestyle that rather fits in with her imperial demeanor. (She runs the cigar factory and the rum distillery while her husband gets drunk and chases the skirts of the hired help.) The movie does not pretend to be a terribly accurate account of the Cuban Revolution. What director Richard Lester goes for instead are impressionistic sketches of the land, its people, and its culture. All the stereotypes are here, lovingly rendered: the fat, pompous jefes; the sultry women; the tacky gringo culture superimposed on the place for the visiting American businessmen (one of whom is the always-welcome Jack Weston, in a terrifically sleazy performance); the cigar factories; the prostitutes; the skinny kids playing street baseball; posters of politicos; languid bathers poolside; tropical drinks with the little umbrellas . . . get the idea? The movie succeeds spectacularly in delineating the death-throes of a way of life. Havana in particular seems deserted, denuded of people: even blonde American strippers can't find an audience. *Cuba* is a poignant, and at times funny, daguerreotype of a nation filled with ghosts, just on the cusp of revolution.

This movie is on any list of my family's 10 favorite movies. We saw it in the theater when it was new, and hoarded the homemade videotape made from a TV broadcast, which was a major event in this household. Finally on DVD - it's wonderful that now we can see it in both widescreen and non.

The film rewards repeated viewing, since eventually you realize that all the comic business ties in with all the main plot lines. I think this mixture of relevant-to-the-plot background comic bits throughout a film must be Richard Lester's forte, since he does it so well in all of his movies. Here the comic bits are superb - there really are no loose ends!

Every character, every actor is wonderful, even the bit parts. Jack Weston gives one of the best performances of his life. It lingers in the imagination as THE picture of life at every stratum in Cuba at the end of the 1950s, even though (as has been observed in other reviews) the locations were really in Spain. The colors, the ambience, even the music - wonderful.

It's obvious to me, anyway, that this movie stands the test of time...it has survived to be reborn in DVD format. Thank goodness! - Because it deserves to be remembered and enjoyed.

F/X starring Brian Brown and Brian Dennehy is a clever and suspenseful movie!Rollie Tyler (Brian Brown) is a special effets man who entered into the Witness Protection program to stage a murdur. What suprising is the Rollie was set up to take the fall and is blamed for the killings. The only person who can help is a tough cop named Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) who searchs for the real killer and tries to find proof the Rollie Tyler is innocent. A very cleaver and amusing movie! Lots of tricks and suprises! a must see film!

F/X starring Brian Brown and Brian Dennehy is a great Action/ Suspense thriller! This is about a special effects man who is hired by the Witness Protection program to stage an assination of a crime lord. Rollie Tyler(Brian Brown) was baited to take the blame for the assination and now he must prove his inoccents and must confront the man who framed him. Mason is the guy who hired Rollie Tyler (Brian Brown) to take the fall. Leo McCarthy(Brian Dennehy) is the tough Cop who must find Rollie and figure out who resposible for these deaths. A very ingenious movie! Clever plot with suprises and tricks! Highly Recommended!

F/X was one of my favorite thriller of the '80s, a genuinely fun action film that takes itself just seriously enough to make its story credible but at the same time remains blissfully free of the delusions of grandeur that have led to so many overproduced, ultimately empty headed and painfully dull "thrillers" over the past couple of years. In short, F/X is the type of unpretentious, engaging film that could never be made by a Michael Bay or most of the other directors produced out of the Jerry Bruckhiemer School For Technocrats Who Like To Blow Things Up Real Good.

The always underrated australian actor, Bryan Brown, plays Rollie -- an independent special effects artist who specializes in creating gore effects for cheap horror and action films. Indeed, when we first meet him, he is working on a film that bares a hilarious resemblance to Brian DePalma's Scarface which, whatever its qualities, is most definitely represenative of the type of film that F/X strives not to become. Brown is recruited by an uptight but reassuringly paternal federal agent (Mason Adams) to help fake the death of a mobster (Jerry Orbach) about to go into the federal witness protection program. Once Brown agrees to help, he finds himself being targeted and pursued by mysterious killers who might be the government, might be the mob, or might be something else.

The film's main selling point is that, in order to protect his own life and clear his name once the police become convinced that he's a murderer, Brown is forced to rely on his expertise in hollywood special effects. While that certainly is true, it also makes the film sound a lot more gimmicky than it actually is. As opposed to its sequel, F/X never allows itself to become reliant solely on that gimmick. Instead, the film concentrates on presenting its fast-paced plot which, over the course of many twists and turns, avoids the common action film fate of collapsing on the wieght of its own complications. That said, the F/X sequences are pretty cool and the film's conclusion provides perhaps the wittiest advertisement for superglue that I've ever seen.

The film's main strength comes from the cast who all seem to be having a good time on screen and bring a surprising sense of conviction to roles that could easily have been played as B-movie stereotypes. Bryan Brown is one of those charismatic, obviously talented leading men who rarely gives a bad performance yet for whatever reason (though making movies like Cocktail probably didn't help) has never become a bona fide star. Playing the lead in this film, he proves that he did have the talent and the charisma to be a leading man and indeed, his low-key but likeable lead performance is reponsible for a great deal of F/X's strength. As the gruff police detective who becomes Brown's ally, Brian Dennehey is -- well, he's Brian Dennehey and, as always, that's more than good enough. That said, he also brings a welcome sense of humor to the proceedings and he proves once again that nobody in the '80s delivered profanity as wittily and skillfully as Brian Dennehey. The rest of the cast is full of character actors who all turn in nicely quirky performances with the standouts being Diane Venora who is sweet as Brown's girlfreind (whose ultimate fate -- if predictable -- is also well handled and rather sad), Cliff De Young who gives perhaps his best variation on his standard Yuppie henchman role in this film, Joe Grifasi as Dennehey's put upon partner, Mason Adams who perfectly captures the essence of everyone's kindly but kinda strange uncle, and the great Jerry Orbach who, playing a mobster with an all-important pace maker, overacts as if the world depending on it but is still a lot of fun to watch because, afterall, he's Jerry Orbach. They all come together to create (without any trendy angst or computerized special effects to show us what animated human beings look like when they get blown up) one of the most purely enjoyable movies of the '80s.