Review: Freejack

Race car driver Emilio Estevez crashes his car and has his body snatched from the year 1991 and transported to 2009 so that ruthless tycoon Sir Anthony Hopkins can use it to escape his own decaying body. Something goes screwy in the process (which isn’t very well explained to the audience anyway), Estevez, now a ‘Freejack’ says ‘Fuck that!’ and goes on the run instead. Grim-faced bounty hunter Mick Jagger (!) is on his tail, while Estevez tries to stay alive in a very different world. Rene Russo is Estevez’s girlfriend, who in 2009 has become a corporate bigwig, whilst David Johansen plays Estevez’s sleazy best friend, whom he goes to for help. Jonathan Banks is a corporate sleaze, Frankie Faison a homeless person, and Amanda Plummer a rod-packin’, foul-mouthed nun (!) who takes pity on poor Estevez. Look out for small parts played by Esai Morales (“La Bamba”), Grand L. Bush (The other ‘Agent Johnson’ from “Die Hard”), John Shea (TV’s “Lois & Clark”), and a cameo by Jerry Hall.

I saw this 1992 Geoff Murphy (The Kiwi-born ‘King of the Sequels’: “Young Guns II”, “Under Siege 2: Dark Territory”, “Fortress II: Re-Entry”) petrol-head infused sci-fi flick in its theatrical release and I remember enjoying it a bit. I was 12, and I was clearly lacking in taste, because this film ages horribly but clearly wasn’t all that great at the time, either. It was just me and my stupid 12 year-old judgement.

There’s some fun stuff in here (the supporting cast is eclectic, for sure) and a reliable lead in Estevez, but boy is there a lot of crap, too. It’s not brainless- there’s some fascinating ideas and themes, but it’s done in an often silly and slightly laughable manner, especially the dumbski central conceit. Also those ‘futuristic’ vehicles probably played a lot better in 1992 than they do now. I like Estevez, the seedy and hostile depiction of the future (even the nuns pack heat!), and Plummer in her least irritating performance to date, stealing the film. She’s quite hilarious, actually. Johansen (AKA lounge singer Buster Poindexter) is certainly an idiosyncratic presence on screen too (I liked him better in “Scrooged”, though), whilst third-tier Banks is always sleazily good, and Rene Russo is an incredibly underrated actress. She may never have found a truly great role, but was always able to look comfortable on-screen partnered with men of varying ages and acting styles (Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman, Mel Gibson, Gene Hackman, Emilio Estevez, Robert De Niro), with the exception strangely of Pierce Brosnan in “The Thomas Crown Affair”, where she looked uncomfortable with the whole thing. Aside from the scene-stealing Plummer, the best performance comes from the lively Faison, a most underrated character actor who sadly isn’t in the film enough. Jagger is a failed bit of stunt casting, not having the required chops to play a menacing henchman, he’s completely wooden (Gee, I wonder why the talentless Jerry Hall has a cameo here?). It’s strange that for such a dynamic (if diminutive) stage performer, Jagger lacks presence here. Reliable as Estevez is, I gotta say the film doesn’t play to his main strength- humour. Anyone who has seen Estevez in “Young Guns”, “Men at Work”, and “The Outsiders” particularly, knows he’s at home in roles that mix drama/action and humour.

The film wants to be “Total Recall” meets “Back to the Future”, but it’s nowhere near the quality of either, whilst still being far from a dog. What really sinks the film, and plays even worse in 2018, is the ‘virtual reality’ climax. The FX here are not even good for 1992, and scream “Lawnmower Man”. Hopkins coasting along in a ‘barely give a shit’ performance certainly doesn’t help.

Time has absolutely not been kind to this at all but petrol heads might still find it kinda brainless fun, especially the opener. I bet the Robert Sheckley novel is wildly different (it was written in the 50s!) and much better. Scripted by Dan Gilroy (“Kong: Skull Island”), Steven Pressfield (“Above the Law”), and Ronald Shusett (“Above the Law”, “Alien”, and yes, “Total Recall”), from a story by the latter.

Rating: C