Overlooked and Underrated: Let it Ride (1989)

I got excited last weekend about the time Disney released Secretariat. Not for the film itself, but upon seeing the TV ads that had run the previous weeks, I ordered a copy of an overlooked comedy about horse racing from the late 80's that I happened to catch on HBO one summer in my teenage years....and my DVD finally arrived. Let it Ride stars Richard Dreyfuss as Jay Trotter, a man trying to break his gambling habits in order to save his marriage only to then have a sure bet fall in his lap. The quick-witted screenplay and brilliant casting makes for a very funny, quirky and enjoyable film. Screenwriter Nancy Dowd and first-time feature director Joe Pytka do a great job of capturing the setting of the racetrack as well as the mindset of the everyday bettor. Dreyfuss once again delivers a comedic performance on the money, but the real jewels of this movie are the side characters. David Johansen is hilarious as Trotter's best friend and biggest loser of the group of riff-raff they hang around the track with. Teri Garr was a great choice to play his wife who is used to having her heart broken time after time. Jennifer Tilly plays her trademark dim-witted character, this time with more sex-appeal, and many other recognizable faces pop up as well, like Allen Garfield, Robbie Coltrain, Cynthia Nixon, Tony Longo, and Richard Dimitri (Roman Maroni from Johnny Dangerously) just to name a few. Richard Edson, the garage attendant from Ferris Bueller has all of eight lines and is one of the funniest people in the movie. These days, a story with this many characters would have the director trying to shoehorn in equal screen time for a bunch of egos, but this one gets it right and gives the viewer no more than they need. A collaborative effort between writing, performance and editing generates a comedy with a good pace, and it all wraps up in a tidy 90-minute package. There aren't many copies out there but getting hold of one is well worth the effort.

Pardon my french, but you're an asshole! (Podcast)

Johnny Lawrence, Chaz Ozborne and Greg Tolin....Three 80s-era villains all brilliantly portrayed by a man whose face should be on the "mount rushmore" of 1980s antagonists. When asked who their favorite bad guys are of that decade most people will undoubtedly picture William Zabka. Proven to be a successful style of character in comedy as well as drama, the preppy blond asshole became a staple duringa time in which comedies thrived. Eventually morphing into other physical characteristics, one character trait remained consisted throughout the 80s and our favorite nemeses became popular amongst us at "The Doomsday Machine" for one reason....They were all dicks.












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The Comeback Kids

The best of recent cinema has been inundated with comeback stories. The Wrestler proved what we all knew—Mickey Rourke is one hell of an actor. JCVD was even more surprising in that Jean Claude Van Damme proved he could actually act. 

Rourke and Van Damme were '80s superstars who came on the scene as a hot commodity then fizzled, taking genre roles in stale films. But their latest flicks got me thinking: If they can do it, what other B-list '80s stars could also show off their unknown chops? 

1. Steven Seagal 

The aikido master was known for his roles in such nighttime fodder as Hard to Kill, Out for Justice and Under Siege. He was never much of an actor, and that's putting it so, so lightly. He was always more of a catchphrase type actor, ending films with that glorious one-liner. 

Now, he's overweight, starring in direct-to-DVD films that can't even garner a 2 a.m. slot on USA. 

But the dude's got fans. Vern from "Ain't it Cool News" wrote an over-300 page dissertation on the genius of his flicks. Sure, it's outlandish, but anyone who has a childish love for Seagal's trademark bone-breaking moves would be in line to see a dramatic turn from the silent martial artist. 

How about life after Under Siege? What does the cook Casey Ryback do post-battle? Perhaps he makes a badass chicken parm. 

2. Dolph Lundgren

The Russian. The one actor forever known as telling Stallone, "I will crush you." Afterwards, he was The Punisher, the villain in Universal Soldier, then he was demoted to lord-knows-what. 

While he doesn't exude personality in these flicks, he was one of the funnier commentators on VH1's "I Love the '80s." Let's give him a stab at a comedic role as a supporting actor. Something tells me he could be the affable tough/gay guy partner ala Val Kilmer in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or The Rock in Be Cool. 

Lundgren's an icon for being the one man who could bring down Rocky. I'm sure he can take time off from the gym to do an action comedy with Chris Tucker. 

3. Mr. T 

I pity the fool who doesn't make a documentary on this perplexing A-Team member. 

4. Christian Slater 

Many will balk at this entry. The guy's known for Pump Up the Volume and doing his best Jack Nicholson impression all the time. But his best flicks flirted with the action genre. Remember True Romance? Hell, even I'll admit Kuffs was a guilty pleasure, and it was ridiculously violent for a PG-13 flick. 

Nowadays, everything he does has action in it. The guy wants to be an action star. Sure, he's tried drama, but no one has cared. He will be forever known as the smart-ass. 

No more. Slater needs to go bald and play the worried dad who constantly reads a book and always chews his magnifying-lens-style glasses. Instead of Nicholson, he needs to start ripping off Richard Jenkins. 

Don't act like you're not intrigued. 

5. The Cast of Young Guns 

With Rambo 5,  Rocky 6 and Die Hard 4 all seeing the light of day, let's bring back the most ridiculous of the sagas—Young Guns. Bring the entire cast back and let Christopher Nolan direct it. 

Make it like The Dark Knight but with '80s teen idols Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen leading a group of newcomers through the Midwest. 

You're right, Nolan would never do that. But if it ever happened, you know damn right I would be there in the front row with a large popcorn.