8 Million Ways to Die

Long before the relatively successful Neeson outing "A Walk Among the Tombstones," Block's Matt Scudder saw a big screen adaptation with Hal Ashby at the helm, and Jeff Bridges in the lead, if those strange choices for a hard-boiled detective don't already weird you out, maybe the extremely dated synth music might. But you can't blame this movie's failure on antiquated styles because even at the time it bombed, recouping 10% of it's relatively small budget. In short, it sucks.

After opening in a cemetery (as all movies should) this takes about fifteen minutes to get to a flashback montage then waits about twenty minutes to do another one! Lots to like but it flounders a bit until Tony Lister pops up by sprinting into a scene in what has to be his greatest cameo (I know it's not a cameo when you're just fighting to get on screen). Alexandra Paul leaves an impression or rather shattered the one I had of her based almost entirely on recollections of Baywatch.

This is messy as hell. Bridges starts a disgraced cop, goes through detox, and then suddenly finds himself embroiled in a prostitute-coke scheme. It happens quick. I was quite entertained, even when it might be hard for me defend all of Ashby's choices. If nothing else, watch the climatic warehouse scene. It is textbook stress.

It can be hilariously awkward at times, but the pacing just kills it. Not a good experience.

Very cheesy and not the smartest, but somehow I found it fun still. The girls were annoying and underdeveloped. The other main characters managed to break from stereotypes a few times and be entertaining (Scudder, Chase, Angel). It felt more like episodes of a tv show I would have wanted to watch in the 80s. The stand-off in the hangar was accidentally hilarious.

The actors try their best but they can't overcome a script that is all over the place. There is not a lot of interesting dialogue in this movie. There are a couple of exciting scenes but overall there is not enough to recommend this movie.

Weird. Funny. Awesome. 80s. I bet this is Paul Thomas Andersons favorite movie. Don't ask me why I said that.

With careful cinematography and character-driven plotting, this pulpy drama offers typically likeable Jeff Bridges, meditative subtext by the great Oliver Stone and deliberate showcasing by the great Hal Ashby. And one of the great Andy Garcia one-on-one scenes in the movies. You know, the scene where the other guy preys on his short fuse. Except Bridges finds him to be no easy quarry. What's wrong with being a conventional cop flick if you're done effectively by talented people?

So incredibly 80's it feels like a made for TV movie, or especially long episode of Spenser For Hire, or Hardcastle and McCormick. The music alone is so incredibly distracting to take away from any seriousness scenes have,

43.000

Passes the time.

A brutal, cynical film.

Good little piece of detective fiction. Jeff Bridges is a good choice for the lead, and there are many nice little tidbits of dialogue