The Squeeze (1987)
Harry Berg is both a con artist and an actual artist -- he constructs large sculptures out of television sets -- but he is not particularly successful in either role. He owes some money, which gets him involved with Rachel Dobs, a police detective who works with a collection agency. When Harry comes into possession of a strange parcel, both the con man and the detective find themselves wrapped up in a sinister corporate plot to fix the lottery.
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One of my all time favorites.
Crappy film
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Pulling off the crime drama/rom-com/suspense mix is no easy task. This one, if given a chance, is not nearly as bad as the citation its often been given. The Squeeze was prototypical of others of its time, starting with the "every guy" who suddenly gets caught in the middle of corruption and intrigue, then spends 90+ minutes doing his best to stay one step ahead of, well, death. It would be very easy to find a lot of things to critique about "Squeeze," as previous reviews have stated. But it also has a lot going for it.Michael Keaton was a hot ticket at the time, and the character was a good fit for his on-screen strengths. Harry has that somewhat cocky exterior that thinly veils a very insecure, questioning inner self, often masked by not taking himself too seriously. Its been said Jenny Wright was originally to play Rachel, and no offense to her, but after seeing this its hard to imagine a better fit for the role than Rae Dawn. She quite naturally pulls off what too many female lead characters try more forcefully, yet less successfully, to do now; she's a great combination of adorable and feisty, fun-loving, yet tough. Sure, you check your brains at the door, knowing that in reality the leads should have been dead 10 times over. But what this film most has going for it is {1} decent, believable charisma between Keaton and Chong, and {2} genuinely likable lead characters -- two things so often missing from today's movies. It has charm. It has a bit of a dark side without being overly profane or violent, so as to not take away from that charm. As a result, it keeps you interested.This was a favorite from 3 decades ago I had forgotten about, until I stumbled upon it on late night telly recently. I'm glad I did. If you're feeling nostalgic for films that had these aforementioned elements mostly missing today, and can track this one down, I think you will be too.
Sure, its cheesy. Sure, its poorly directed. And sure, its a bad movie. The script could have used more work, and the director could have used a more film classes. But Michael Keaton kills a man with a giant building shaped cigar lighter and shoots another guy with a flare gun with the aid of a US Battleship anti-aircraft cannon. And he has a Dinosaur made out of TVs in his gigantic warehouse of an apartment. Bad Ass, man. Bad ass.When you combine Batman with Commando and throw in some Ghostbusters, you get The Squeeze. Okay, thats not even close. How about mixing The Dream Team with Far Out Man and a touch of Hudson Hawk. There you go. thats The Squeeze cocktail i'm talking about.Seriously, I haven't seen this movie since i was, like, 9, so i really only remember the above-mentioned instances in the film. And the whole lottery scam thing. whatever that was about. i still love this film. it belongs up there with Robot Jox. Yes...Robot Jox.
I remember watching this years ago. It was one of several comedies Michael Keaton made in the 80's, but you can see him beginning to stretch a bit beyond his cornball comedy roles (e.g. Night Shift, Mr. Mom, Gung Ho, Johnny Dangerously). You can just see a hint of the dramatic (and dark) flair he would reveal a few years later in Beetle Juice and Batman.The movie itself is pretty contrived, although it has a great supporting cast. It was fun to see Meat Loaf (whose character is always sweaty, and carries around a battery-operated fan to keep cool) and John Davidson (who essentially plays...himself!).
"The Squeeze" is one of those movies that sadly doesn't work. Keaton's colorful performance can't save a convoluted script that tries to juggle wild comedy with thriller elements. There is a line in the climax that oddly summarized the film in a nutshell. "Its seems like your imagination has finally outpaced reality," one character says. It was so uncanny how well this phrase described the film that I began to think the writer, Daniel Tiplitz, was making a reference to himself! "The Squeeze" is a film with a realistic grounding, but is stuffed with outlandish, completely far-fetched ideas. Watching the film felt like viewing a dream of seeing the movie itself (if this makes any sense at all). I realized this when I tried describing scenes of the film and found it was much like describing a dream. It starts out pleasant enough with a shady poker game where Michael Keaton hilariously tries to bluff the other guys at the table, but doesn't manage to be the least bit convincing. It was an acceptable beginning, but things were thrown completely off course when he gets home to his apartment that has a large rhino made out of TV screens sitting in it!Anyway, Keaton gets mixed up with a young PI (Rae Dawn Chong) who uncovers lottery corruption. They try to piece a muddled mystery together, but the film is so out-there that the deeply buried story becomes lost. This isn't exactly a problem, however. I had an enormously fun time viewing the film, no matter how much it descends into bomb territory.Unfortunately, nothing can stop the fact that this is pretty bad movie. It has a confused story, needless characters and some overly-violent scenes.There is some fun to bad had here, and Michael Keaton is a riot as usual, but it simply doesn't work.(2 out of 4)