Review: Eye of the Tiger

Gary Busey plays a Vietnam vet and recently paroled ex-con who tries to make a fresh start after his prison stint for a self-defence killing. Back in his small Texas hometown with a loving wife and daughter (the latter played by the late Judith Barsi), Busey’s chances at attaining normalcy aren’t looking good considering his parole officer is the very same corrupt sheriff (Seymour Cassel) who got him put on an unfair murder charge in the first place. Then there’s the menacing drug-running biker gang ominously riding around, led by evil-eyed Blade (William Smith). Blade just so happens to be on the sheriff’s payroll, and when he and his crew try to force themselves on a local nurse (Kimberlin Brown), Busey saves the day. Blade later retaliates in a brutal and tragic fashion, making the sheriff perhaps wish he’d found better, less volatile partners to be in league with as Busey calls down the thunder on them. Yaphet Kotto plays J.B., a retiring deputy who is caught in the middle as he’s also Busey’s good buddy, and he just wants to be left alone to ride out his last days on the job. Jorge Gil plays a friendly but disreputable acquaintance of Busey’s from prison, from whom Busey calls in a favour.

 

The kind of film that has you sitting there stupefied that it’s not very good. How can a Gary Busey action vehicle with William Smith as the villain, Yaphet Kotto as the best friend, and Survivor’s title song on the soundtrack lead to anything other than 80s action awesomeness? Ask director Richard C. Sarafian (director of “Vanishing Point” and the semi-obscure “Lolly Madonna XXX”) and screenwriter Michael Thomas Montgomery (the dreadful Fred Williamson vehicle “Down ‘n’ Dirty”), the men behind this limp, dull action-drama. That’s the big problem here. Instead of what sounds like a kick-arse ‘one-man army cleaning up a corrupt town’ action vehicle, we get the story of a ne’er do well war veteran coming back to his home town after a stint in prison and trying to make a fresh start…but trouble keeps wanting to get in his way. I guess Sarafian (who had a small role in “Bound”) and Montgomery were aiming for “First Blood” crossed with “Walking Tall”. Or maybe “Death Wish” in a small town. The result is muted and flat.

 

Sadly, flat also describes Gary Busey’s performance in the crucial lead role. Before his accident riding a motorbike without a helmet, Busey (who had a role in “Lolly Madonna XXX”) was a damn solid – and versatile – character actor who could occasionally headline a film. He was Oscar-nominated for playing the lead role in “The Buddy Holly Story” after all. For this though, I actually felt he would’ve been better off playing one of the villains. I’m not saying he can’t play a good guy – he did that very well in “Point Break” and “Silver Bullet” – but he’s just not very interesting as a good guy here. In fact, he looks to be sleepwalking through the part. It’s not an awful turn, and you might find it interesting to see him a little different from the norm. However, I can’t say I was terrible enthralled by his Average Joe slow burn here. It’s a rather low energy performance in a low energy film that almost comes off like a TV movie that could’ve starred Peter Strauss and Daniel J. Travanti in the leads or something. It’s sluggishly directed, and the story is clichéd as hell, too. Every time you think Busey’s getting the urge to fight back, he simmers down and mopes about some more. By the time he finally does take up arms, I was beyond caring, though the big dumb action finale does have its moments. There’s a nice and rather surprising decapitation and head roll at one point, we could’ve used a lot more of that.

 

I could’ve used a heck of a lot less of the cheapo hack-job synth score by Don Preston (the terrible twosome of “Blood Diner” and “Night Patrol”) however, and Sarafian has no clue how to properly employ Survivor’s title song. “Rocky III” used it so brilliantly but it comes off flat here, all chopped up and mostly just using the chorus. I highly suspect the film wasn’t originally meant to be called “Eye of the Tiger” or feature the song but someone thought it financially clever. Having co-star Yaphet Kotto blasting out some James Brown on a boom box seemed a touch on the nose to me, too. Speaking of Kotto, the one thing this film has going for it is a terrific B+ supporting cast, though an actor named Jorge Gil takes up too much screen time with his annoying wannabe Pacino schtick. Kotto’s role is beneath him, but he’s solid nonetheless and doesn’t phone things in. Even better are Seymour Cassel and William Smith as the villains. I said earlier that Busey would’ve been better playing one of the villains, but make no mistake, Cassel and Smith are the best things here. Versatile character actor Cassel is oily as hell as the corrupt lawman, though I’m not sure I particularly needed to see him bare-chested at one point. As the psycho biker, Smith has zero problems oozing evil from his first moment and his hairdo is truly spectacular here. He’s bald except for a small, mullet-like patch of hair at the back. My God, it's something to behold. It’s majestic. Truly It’s a shame veteran soap opera super-villainess Kimberlin Brown is underused as a local nurse, she’s a pretty dependable actress. Familiar face Bert Remsen is pretty good value as the local Irish-American priest, a role he’s very much typecast in. That’s the late, adorable Judith Barsi as Busey’s daughter, an actress – and life – taken far too young. Hers is a truly tragic real-life tale, so don’t Google her if you enjoy sleeping at all.

 

Sluggish and rather disappointing crime-drama with far too few action elements and an uninspiring Gary Busey in the lead. The supporting cast is mostly good, but that’s about it. I’m not surprised this one’s been largely forgotten over the years.

 

Rating: C-