BLACK DOG
Swayze is Jack Crews, a former trucker who went to jail and lost his
license after accidentally killing a pedestrian one rainy night when he
hadn't had enough sleep. At the start of the film, he's out of prison and
working as a mechanic making next to nothing and in danger of losing his
house. His wife Melanie (Brenda Strong) is supportive, but they just can't
make ends meet. Then, along comes an opportunity from his low-life boss:
$10,000 to drive a load of illegal weapons from Atlanta to New Jersey. When
Jack reminds him that his license had been revoked, his boss says, "You
only need a license if you get stopped." So Jack agrees. This is the
kind of sparkling scriptwork we have from the three-person team of William
Mickelberry, Dan Vining, and Scott Sturgeon. Apparently, in this case, no
heads are better than three.
As soon as he arrives at the Atlanta trucking agency run by the Bible-quoting
Red (Meat Loaf), he senses trouble. A handful of guys are assigned to go
with him to provide "protection," and only one of them, Sonny
(Gabriel Casseus), appears to have all cylinders firing. But Earl (Randy
Travis) and Wes (Brian Vincent) prove themselves later on. As soon as they
leave, Red is after them to hijack the valuable cargo, ready to kill any
and all participants. Why he didn't just shoot Jack in the parking lot is
beyond me; it would have saved a lot of time and trouble, and I could have
gotten home earlier.
But no, we have to endure another hour of trucking, shooting, blowing
up, trucking, shooting, blowing up, trucking, shooting — oh, and some
more blowing up. Even after the entire story has been resolved and we think,
"yay, we've hit the credits," there is a ridiculous extra action
scene tacked on that produces an audible groan from any audience member
over 14.
This is the worst I've ever seen Swayze. He is dead from the neck up; a thick, jarhead tough-guy with no more personality than a bag of bricks. Travis and Loaf come off as, well, singers trying to act, and the only person who creates a believable character is Casseus. How in the world did Hooks let that happen? *