Max Piersig Movies
Bored small-town teens anxious for excitement get in over their heads when they believe the wild tales of a wounded stranger in this absorbing and taut Canadian drama. Kyle, Eric and Brad are fourteen years old and already feel trapped by the boring routines of their small-town lives. Their only refuge from their adolescent angst is an abandoned cabin located in the woods. One day they got to their sanctuary and find themselves staring at a heavily bleeding wounded wild man with a gun pointed right at them. He calls himself Luke Cooper and tells them that he is a good cop who must escape from some bad ones. The three boys totally believe the tale and so begin helping Luke. The adventure is great fun until suspicions rise and they discover the awful truth: Luke is a real criminal wanted for killing a cop. Luke then turns violent on them taking Eric hostage after beating him. The tension increases as the inevitable blood soaked final confrontation approaches. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Penn, Dominic Zamprogna, (more)
The fourth entry in the Iron Eagle series follows the return of General Charles "Chappy" Sinclair (Louis Gosset Jr., who deserves better) as he trains a Dirty Dozen-style team of juvenile delinquents to improve their quality of life by flying planes and combatting evil. This time the Air Force itself is the enemy, as the intrepid teens uncover a conspiracy involving biological weaponry. When Chappy contacts his old friend, General Kettle (Al Waxman), he learns the General is in on the action. Along the way, the group manages to combat some ill-prepared drug dealers as well. This installment is better than the second or third, but that's not the highest of praise; Iron Eagle IV is a dumb-dumb fantasy for fourteen-year-old boys who don't yet have their learner's permits, much less their pilot's licenses. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Gossett, Jr., Jason Cadieux, (more)
Caroline and Lloyd (Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey) are a married couple constantly at each other's throats, masters at crafting acid-tongued barbs at the other's expense. Indeed, they are so obsessed with belittling each other that they never stop -- not even at gunpoint. Such is the premise of the acerbic comedy The Ref, which shows what happens when this quarrelsome duo is taken hostage. The gunman is Gus (Denis Leary), a thief on the run from the police, who kidnaps the couple as an insurance policy, planning to use their home as a hideout. But their incessant bickering proves more than Gus bargained for, forcing him -- for the sake of his own sanity -- into the unenviable role of peacemaker. To make things even worse for Gus, he discovers that he has taken the couple hostage the night of their big Christmas party, and the guests are already on the way. Not wanting to leave Lloyd and Caroline unattended, Gus opts to attend the party, pretending to be the couple's marriage counselor. This naturally leads to a series of comic confusions, as the hostage crisis and marital tensions head towards their inevitable conclusion. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denis Leary, Judy Davis, (more)
