Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Next of Kin (1989)
Director: John Irvin
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
When his brother is killed in a mob-style hit, Truman Gates (Swayze), an Appalachian hillbilly turned Chicago cop, is torn between his duty and family loyalty which requires that he opt for Old Testament revenge. But even if he can locate a black witness to the slaying, or prove that a smooth mobster's ambitious son (Baldwin) was implicated, can he do so before vengeful brother Briar (Neeson) takes the law into his own hands? On the loose with a shotgun and a belly full of hate, Briar is unwittingly setting the scene for a showdown between the urban mobsters, with their state-of-the-art firepower, and the good ol' country boys who favour crossbows, axes and snakes. Together with Hamburger Hill, this illustrates that Irvin probably couldn't stage an action scene if you held a gun to his head. Even more turgid and unconvincing are the quieter 'dramatic' scenes, which serve only to arrest the plot's minimal momentum and prolong the agony.Author: NF
Cast & crew
Director: John Irvin
Producer: Les Alexander, Don Enright
Cast: Patrick Swayze, Liam Neeson, Helen Hunt, Adam Baldwin, Andreas Katsulas, Bill Paxton, Michael J Pollard full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 108 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now