Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Sadly Over-hyped

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are some movies that perfectly encapsulate the late 80's, early 90's epitome of trash bag, chromed up, machismo soaked, violently silly over the top theme park ride vibe of the action genre at that time. Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man is a perfect example of that. It's a down and dirty sleazeball flick that is just so fun. Mickey Rourke plays Harley, a biker cowboy on a steel horse who makes his way back to a slightly futuristic LA to reconnect with his old barfly friends, including the rodeo riding Marlboro Man (Don Johnson). Rourke claims he only did this one for the dough, but I call bullshit. He has such a ball with his leathery tan, cocky prick attitude and spiked hair it's impossible he wasn't invested, even in a purely camp form. Don Johnson is slick and deadly as his trigger happy buddy Marlboro. Between quips, fist and gunfights, smoking and boozing, they try to exact revenge on the tyrannical big city banker (Tom Sizemore) who laid waste to their friends inner city bar. Sizemore is no stranger to dangerous, mean spirited roles, and he plays the megalomaniac financier with a razor sharp, homicidal calm that's giddily entertaining. A young Tia Carrere shows up as his sultry assistant, as well as work from Daniel Baldwin, Kelly Hu, Vanessa Angel and Chelsea Field. It's no smart action flick, but it's a brutal, tongue in cheek modern western with dusty, broken glass and whiskey soaked style that will entertain anyone who has nostalgia for that era of action movies.

Who was the Einstein to put Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson together, because their agreeable combination was a blast as the two novelty title characters … but as for the feature itself it was a very lukewarm conventional buddy action comedy with a modern western touch to it all. From guys having a good time, organising a heist that goes wrong (not money, but drugs… whoops) and then finding them on the run for it. Having strong protagonists is one thing (though you could say Rourke and Johnson do feel like they were on cruise control), but they do carry this one along, where as having weak villains is downright criminal. A less than imposing Tom Sizemore is wasted, despite being the main corporate villain oozing with confidence, while Daniel Baldwin just lacked any sort of punch even though looking the part decked in black leather as a henchman. Even the bit players come and go with little to no impact. Julius Harris adds some class, while there's amusing playful parts for Big John Studd and Giancarlo Esposito. Then the likes of Chelsea Field, Vanessa Williams, Tia Carrere and Robert Ginty's characters felt like secondary inclusions to add something ala filler, which probably could have been scrapped from its bloated script. Director Simon Wincer gives it slick technical treatment (crafty cinematography) and aplomb in it's vigorously over exaggerated action set-pieces and stunt-work, but its liveliness couldn't hide its generic score, banal story structure and silly plotting. A mindless popcorn action romp with its two stars having a ball. "It's better to be dead and cool, than alive and uncool".

I probably would have liked this flick a lot better back when it first came out. I was still a pro wrestling fan back then, so seeing Big John Studd would have been a treat. Except for being overweight, he looked better and younger here, well after his wrestling career was over. I had to wonder though what happened to his cauliflowered forehead from all those blading jobs he did back then. So now you fast forward to the late 2000's and Mickey Rourke actually becomes "The Wrestler" and it's like coming full circle.I was reading the other reviews on this site, and was intrigued by the number of comparisons given Rourke and Don Johnson to Redford and Newman. I had the same thought while watching the film, but not because this was such a great buddy film. The story actually ripped off two "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" gimmicks - the 'Who are you guys?' line, and the buddy jump off the cliff to escape the posse. As far as their buddy chemistry went, I'm not convinced they were as tight as Butch and Sundance, and certainly not in the same league.As for action and plot, this one's been done dozens of times, and at best is passable for a couple of hours of light entertainment. I was probably most intrigued by the movie references made by all the memorabilia in the Old Man's bar, especially the poster and statue honoring John Wayne's "Hondo". It seems I just saw a film with another Hondo poster in it not too long ago - "The Man With Bogart's Face". One of the benefits of being an attentive movie fan.Anyway, I was never a big Don Johnson fan, and as for Rourke, it looked like he was doing Bruce Willis here just a couple of years after Willis got his big movie break with "Die Hard". Suffice it to say that this was no crystal dream, and if I might point to another buddy flick, "Tango and Cash", this one might not quite have been FUBAR, but it was pretty close.

It's not too far from anyone's life to believe there are friends, . . . and then there are Friends. This film illustrates the ladder. Two men, Harley Davidson and his partner the Marlboro Man, (Mickey Rourke & Don Johnson) reunite after a couple of year absence and discover their old life time mentor, (Julius Harris) is being evicted from a special nightclub. The club and its location has remained in the owner's hands for over thirty years. Therefore, unless, he can raise a couple of million dollars, he must vacate the property. With the help of other nightclub friends, they decide to raise the needed money by robbing the very bank which holds the mortgage. The bank job proves easy, however instead of bank money, the robbers learn they have stolen two million dollars of the latest, specialized but illegal drugs. The bank president assigns a special hit squad, led by 'Alexander' (Daniel Baldwin) to recover the drugs and dispose of the thieves. The film is very fast paced and there is no shortage of action, confrontation and physical violence. For anyone seeking a good old fashion, shoot-em-up gangster film, you are invited to this one.