Against All Odds (1984)

Wonderful Movie

To me, this movie is perfection.

the audience applauded

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Ok, ish, but ultimately disappointing. First half was good - intriguing, stylish, perfectly paced. Second half degenerated into your average convoluted twist-a-minute thriller. A tighter plot towards the end would have made this a pretty good movie.Solid performances from Jeff Bridges, James Woods and the beautiful Rachel Ward.

I knew about this film for three reasons, the romantic element it was meant to have, the leading male star, and the song by Phil Collins, besides that I just sat back and hoped for something interesting, directed by Taylor Hackford (An Officer and a Gentleman, The Devil's Advocate, Ray, Parker). Basically in Los Angeles, professional football player Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges) is cut from his team, due to his age and numerous injuries, in need of money he accepts a job from an old acquaintance, the shady gambler and nightclub owner Jake Wise (James Woods). Jake wants Terry to track down his girlfriend, Jessie Wyler (The Thorn Birds' Rachel Ward), who has disappeared somewhere in Mexico, she is daughter of a wealthy land developer, who owns Terry's team, apparently she has stolen money from him, Jake claims he just wants to know what has happened to her. Terry is reluctant to take the job, but he is desperate for the money and knows Jake can blackmail him, Terry starts by visiting Jessie's mother Mrs. Wyler (Build My Gallows High's Jane Greer), to get information about where to find her daughter, but also to convince her business partner Ben Caxton (Richard Widmark) to reinstate him on the team. Terry travels to the eastern coast of Mexico, to Cozumel, an island in the Caribbean Sea, and he finds Jessie living there, she refuses any attempts he makes to approach her, as she is confident he was sent by Jake or her mother. Eventually they have a conversation, Terry has fallen in love with Jessie, they get much closer and happily spend the next few weeks together, Terry continues to call Jake claiming that his search is unsuccessful. Terry's team trainer Hank Sully (Alex Karras) is sent by Jake to investigate, he catches the lovers, he corners them into the ruins of Chichen Itza, wielding a gun, but a struggle ensues and Jessie ends up shooting Sully, she disappears, while Terry disposes of the body. Terry returns to Los Angeles, he is shocked to find Jessie has returned to Jake, who has a hold on Terry due to the incident between them in the past, and the death of Sully, so Terry is blackmailed into doing some dirty work. Terry breaks into the office of Kirsch (Saul Rubinek), the team's corrupt lawyer, who is involved in Jake's operation, only to find Kirsch there and dead, a security guard has been hired to kill Terry and make it look like he committed murder, but Terry fights off the security guard. Terry visits Kirsch's secretary Edie (Swoosie Kurtz), she tells him about a secret box containing information to bring down the entire syndicate and local politicians, after another security guard confrontation he is able to get the files. Jessie claims to still be in love with Terry, but stays by Jake's side, she tells Caxton everything she knows, unaware that he is actually Jake's boss in the syndicate, Caxton takes charge and arranges a meeting with Terry at at the site of a new construction project that he and Mrs. Wyler are backing. Terry is able to disarm the henchmen, he demands Caxton take down Jake, in exchange for the files, but Jake pulls a gun and threatens to kill Jessie, Terry drops his weapon, Jessie retrieves this and shoots Jake. In the end Jessie is forced to agree to Caxton's terms to avoid jail, returning to her estranged mother, and ending her relationship with Terry, months later Terry wants to look at Jessie one last time, before leaving Los Angeles to play with a team in Miami, Caxton reminds him he is no longer part of Jessie's life, all they can do is look at each other from a distance. Also starring Dorian Harewood as Tommy, Pat Corley as Ed Phillips and Bill McKinney as Head Coach. Bridges is alright as the guy in love but stuck in the middle, Ward is good as the not so innocent girl, and Woods does fairly well as the mean minor mobster, this film is apparently a loose remake of Build My Gallows High, I found the first half of the film pretty good, the love story is nice, but the second half is slightly confusing and uneven with the rest, it doesn't help that the show is just over two hours, at least it has the great song play in the end credits, overall I found it an average romantic thriller. It was nominated the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song for Phil Collins - "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)". Worth watching!

The film is a part remake of 'Out of the Past.' Jeff Bridges is a washed up football player Terry Brogan who to makes ends meet takes a job from a shady pal Jake Wise played by James Woods who seems to be involved in some kind of illegal bet fixing. His girlfriend Jessie Wyler played by a sultry Rachel Ward shot him and ran away with some money to Mexico and wants Terry to track him down which he does hand ends up with a steamy relationship with her instead.Now I am aware that 'Out of the Past' also had a convoluted plot in the film noir tradition. Here the the film comes across as confusing, silly and dull. It seems all of Brogan's former football coaches are involved in some dark deeds, one of them is even sent to wipe out Brogan. The side plot of his football team owners, associates and Brogan's own lawyer being involved in backstabbing him as well as some land development deal comes across as half baked.Still the film is well shot, Bridges and Ward make a sexy couple, Woods at the time was making himself a reputation as a bad guy and the end title song is very good but the film never lifts off.

Loosely based on a 1947 film noir, "Out of the Past," Taylor Hackford's "Against All Odds" has strong performances in all but the most critical role. Jessie, a confused disoriented heiress, is the romantic obsession of two men and the crux of the film's action. However, Rachel Ward fails to convince that Jessie could obsess anyone with her flat delivery and phoned-in performance. Jessie runs off to Mexico to snorkel and shop, and her gangster boyfriend hires an injured football player to find her. Sending a handsome hunky athlete off to find your girlfriend at the beach is not an inspired idea, and both the expected and the unexpected ensue. The twisted convoluted tale occasionally meanders, and the pacing falters at times. However, when the sweaty romantic scenes are over, the plot manages to re-energize and re-capture attention towards the fade out.Despite her physical beauty, Ward is the black hole at the film's center. However, her two co-stars are more captivating. James Woods can play slimy gangsters in his sleep, and his Jake Wise is appropriately chilling and creepy, which makes Jessie's attraction to him even less convincing. Evidently Jake had a brain fart when he decided to hire Terry Brogan to search for the girl who deserted him, because Jake and Terry are worlds apart in the looks and charm departments. Jeff Bridges's athletic Terry, who has history with Jake, is unwittingly drawn into a vortex of corruption during his search for Jessie. Although always watchable, Jeff Bridges has had better and more demanding roles than an injured jock playing private eye. Despite a decent script adapted by Eric Hughes from Daniel Mainwaring's original, the film's central mystery is why Jake and Terry would be hopelessly drawn to a shallow drifter like Jessie. Ward received top billing over Bridges and Woods, another mystery as baffling as any in the plot.Experienced veterans provide solid supporting performances, led by a still-handsome Richard Widmark, who, at age 70, remained a commanding presence. In a nod to film buffs, Jane Greer, star of the 1947 version, appears as Ward's cold distant mother. Location work in the Mayan temples of Mexico's Yucatan is travel-log appealing, and the end credits feature an Oscar-nominated title song by Phil Collins. An exciting car race through Los Angeles traffic is thrilling, if pointlessly reckless. Although "Against All Odds" runs more than 20 minutes longer than the 1947 original, Bridges and especially Woods are compelling enough to hold attention even when the tricky plot wanders.