Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

A.W.O.L. (1990)

Director: Sheldon Lettich

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This fight movie, despite its faults, is a considerable improvement on the cynical Kickboxer, Cyborg, etc. With Van Damme deserting from the Foreign Legion when his brother is fatally injured in an LA drug feud, the exposition suggests a revenge story, but in fact events follow an altogether livelier course: the AWOL legionnaire resolves to help his destitute sister-in-law and niece by making fast money the best way he can, as a bare-knuckle fighter. Making something of the character's immigrant status, the film-makers establish a commendably downtown perspective; the really seedy characters are the wealthy gamblers who get off on the bloody gladiatorial matches. This is a B-movie, crude in execution, with gimmicky set pieces, risibly caricatured villains, and overblown sentimentality. But Van Damme is beginning to come good on his promise; in particular, his friendship with the wonderful Harrison Page, as his hustling guide and mentor, bears the fruit of a more human action-movie, one that's almost worth getting excited about.

Author: TCh

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Features

Golden boy

Golden boy

Atonement signals a(nother) bold step for British dynamo Joe Wright.

A lion in winter

Frank Langella hits the sweet spot in Starting Out in the Evening.

Dog day evening

Back with a taut new crime film, Sidney Lumet has plenty more to give.

Kiss of death

Goran Dukic proves that romance never dies in Wristcutters: A Love Story.

Monster in law

Jacques Vergès, infamous defender of Nazis and bombers, takes the stand in Terror’s Advocate.

Optic nerve

The eyes have it in “Views from the Avant-Garde.”

King of New York

TONY finds much to crow about at the 45th New York Film Festival.