Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
A.W.O.L. (1990)
Director: Sheldon Lettich
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
Cast & crew
Director: Sheldon Lettich
Producer: Ash R Shah, Eric Karson
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harrison Page, Deborah Rennard, Lisa Pelikan, Ashley Johnson, George McDaniel, Eric Karson full cast
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
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