Catchfire (1990)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Dennis Hopper was a major collector of modern art and it shows in this film,its worth watching for the abstract art influences. The gallery, the art works Jodie is an artist that Hopper falls for and the graphics as you go through reflect the modern and abstract influence. Cannot fault the cast although I agree the performances were stilted as necessary from the mafioso themes a group of friends make a film because it would be fun takes the important underbelly out of it and the sound track is dated film background. "You artists have no sense of reality you gotta get out= pound the pavement".

So many weird and disastrous things about this movie- • That Foster's character plays an artist who's work is so clearly modeled on Jenny Holzer's only to read in the credits that the art was actually created for the film... by Jenny Holzer.• How many actresses get to do more than one film with lambs as major plot elements? • That score: 12 Roland D-50's puffing away like a house on fire, and a single saxophone from hell. (Takes you back to the 80's, but not in a good way.) • Worst editing and looping I've ever seen, -IN THE DIRECTOR'S CUT-!!! • A helicopter on a hill! Deux-ex-machina a-go-go.• Biggest allstar cast since "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World", to similar effect.• Who would have guessed that Dennis Hopper had such a grating and unbelievable Jersey accent??

Dennis Hopper's BACKTRACK (Catchfire) had everything going for it- good plot potential and great cast. How did everything to go so wrong? I bought the set- up, yet came away feeling this film was the result of Hopper making a bar bet that he could bed Jodie Foster and get paid to party with his friends in the arty enclaves of New Mexico, then throwing together this production to win the bet.The high point for me was Bob Dylan's cameo as a chain saw wielding deconstructionist (maybe a metaphor for the whole film) and his barely intelligible dialog: "(mumble, mumble), Laddy John Dill, (mumble, mumble)..."Years later I ran into Dill at an art school reunion and it provided the perfect icebreaker..."Hey man, I just saw a horrible film where Bob Dylan dropped your name. That doesn't happen everyday, does it?"

I don't which is more painful. Watching the film, or reading the positive reviews for this on IMDB.com. I really could not believe the reviews or the 5.3 rating. This movie is a way below average.This movie moved very slow. It resembled watching water boil. The remaining time counter on VCR remained on an hour forever and a day. I did not even look to see if this film made it DVD so I could play on DVD player. I doubt it.Jodie Foster and Dennis Hopper had no on screen chemistry what so ever. Jodie Foster did not convince me that she was in love with Milo. Even Jodie Foster's nude scenes could not save this film. Yes, Jodie Foster is an attractive woman, but in this film, she was about as sexy as Kathy Bates in About Schimdt. I did not buy into John Turturro as a hitman.This movie had a great cast. With Dennis Hopper, Jodie Foster, John Turturro, and Dean Stockwell, this film should have been better. But, I doubt that any actor or director could have saved this script.Finally, I am not a fan of technology in films. Milo (Dennis Hopper) three "high powered" 286 processor computers, and Anne Benton (Jodie Foster) "high tech" LED signs really makes this movie seem more dated than it actually is.I don't get me wrong. I like small, no budget films. I like strange movies that make think, "What the hell?" afterwards. I will admit to own, watch, and enjoy Clockwork Orange and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. But, this was not a good film from any view point.