LawnBoy-4
A "so bad it's hilarious" classic from the late 80s, this fine film represents Liam "Scenery Chewer" Neeson's high water mark in the role that he was born to play. Starring as the stereotypical redneck with a stereotypically redneck name ("Briar", y'all! SHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!), Neeson plays the foil to his supposedly reformed and equally inbred brother, "Truman", capably portrayed by "The Swayze."Rest assured, mindless rednecks aren't the only species receiving the stereotype treatment here - Chicago mobsters (including an early performance by Zoolander himself) also manage to get into the act, making for 108 wacky minutes of hijinx, merriment and goofiness, the likes which the Three Stooges would have found to be impressive.So hat's off to Liam Neeson and the pinnacle-topping performance of his mighty career!
SnoopyStyle
Kentucky native Truman Gates (Patrick Swayze) is a Chicago cop married to violinist Jessie (Helen Hunt). His younger brother Gerald (Bill Paxton) follows him to Chicago but is killed by Joey Rosselini (Adam Baldwin). Joey is trying to take over the Isabella crime family. Briar Gates (Liam Neeson) arrives from Kentucky to seek revenge for brother Gerald.This is the hillbillies versus the mob. It is stupid at times but also gritty good at other times. Patrick Swayze does a good job as a guy trying to straddle two worlds. Liam Neeson is surprisingly convincing as the redneck. I was on the fence for much of the movie. Then we got the final ridiculous shoot-out. I had to take one point away for all that stupidity in the cemetery.
slumbergod
Amazingly, I'd never seen this movie, though I'd seen its cover on the rental shelf countless times. It was the passing of Swayze that provided the motivation to see some of his other, lesser known movies.Swayze was as good as always but he didn't really have much to work with here. The plot certainly didn't provide anything we haven't seen a hundred times already. It had a gritty, dirty feel to it so if the director was trying to get that across then he succeeded in this point.The script was rather corny at times, perhaps because that was the way movies were made in this period but perhaps also because it was trying to show "mountain" people. If I was a member of that community I would have been embarrassed to have been portrayed this way but perhaps that is just my ignorance as a foreigner.One of the worthwhile reasons for seeing this movie is to catch a glimpse of some very well known actors before they hit mainstream popularity. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton play rather wooden characters which sadly doesn't allow a hint of their talents to shine through. Neeson is excellent and quite believable as a scruffy looking mountain guy. The most out of place actor would be Ben Stiller. Knowing him as we do today it is just hard to take him seriously so in retrospect he is very miscast.The action is pretty dull by today's standards which might have been okay if the plot was complex and the characters well developed. Unfortunately, it makes for a somewhat boring experience. I found the tiny hints of life in the Appalachian Mountains very interesting. If this movie was remade with more emphasis on their culture and the problems they face then it could be an extremely interesting movie, perhaps showing the community in a way similar to how Witness gave a glimpse at Amish life.As it stands, though, it is really just a late night TV movie or for fans of Swayze.
webmouse
What makes this action drama particularly moving is the comparison between the extended family of a Sicilian crime boss and the clannishness of the hillbillies. While Joey Rosellini insults the mountain folks as people "who farm rocks" his boss John Isabella sees the link -- "that is what they said about our people back in the old country." It is not a matter of who wears the nicer suit; it is a matter of blood, of kinship, and of ensuring that the one with the greater grievance has justice is done for his family. This is a very old tradition, both in the Sicilian families and in those Celtic clans that moved into the hills of Appalachia. In this aspect "Next of Kin" reaches a level of art not usually found in action films. The scene of the women packing sandwiches for the big hunt shows a level of clan community not well understood by us city-folk.Watch this film and enjoy.
AD
