I guess I'm giving it a 10, I mean, Sidney Poitier is always believable. I think that is the best thing you can say about him. But the problem here is that he has a legendary reputation and this is just a throw-away cop movie.
So you see his name attached and you start thinking it's going to be Oscar worthy off the bat, and, it's not.
But, at the same time, Sidney Poitier is believable, and Berenger is creepy is just the right sort of way. And that is not a complaint, because he really is the hermit that is oddly uncomfortable and still perfect for the role. So, if you ask me, this is one of Tom Berenger's better roles in a not Oliver Stone flick.
It's just Alley that is sort of an eye roll. She doesn't do a bad job, but Berenger nailed it and Poitier was as believable in the role as always... and then Alley was just playing 80s girl, and that is sort of the killer. That is sort of what takes it from a great movie to another throw away genre movie.
But, you have two actors, Berenger and Poitier, who repentantly looked at the script and thought, this is a challenge, lets see if we can bring more to the roles than anyone expects. And they are VERY generous with each other, and it sort of kills me that they weren't in more films together.
So, what you have is an 80s throwaway that two people really stepped up to sell, so it sticks with you despite it being just another cop movie. And that sort of determines my score for me.
