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Released in 2000 and directed by David Worth, "The Prophets Game" is a crime thriller starring Dennis Hopper as Vincent Swan, a retired detective from Seattle who is asked to fly to Los Angeles to help solve a new rash of murders similar to a case he supposedly solved a dozen years earlier. Stephanie Zimbalist co-stars as "Al," a frustrated officer assigned to keep an eye on Swan while Joe Penny plays the hardboiled chief of detectives. Robert Yocum, Shannon Whirry, Greg Lauren, Michael Dorn and Sondra Locke are also on hand.
While this went straight-to-video in the USA & most other countries it had a theatrical release in Spain and Korea. Having a more modest budget than feature thrillers, it lacks the polish of the similarly themed "The Dead Pool" (1988), not to mention it lacks a super-cop like Dirty Harry and the corresponding fast action, although it has some action. What "The Prophet's Game" has in its favor is an impressive character-driven script by Carol Chrest only hampered by convolution. On top of this you have zesty performances by all the principle cast members. Both Swan and Al are nicely fleshed-out and you care about them and the outcome of the story. Penny and Locke also give knockout performances, although their roles are relatively minor. Shannon Whirry shines as one of the most beautiful women to walk the earth in a peripheral part.
This is an R-rated flick and therefore contains cussing, gruesome gore and female top-nudity, but none of these are overdone. Some people don't like it because of the limitations of its modest budget, but I was nicely entertained from beginning to end. You'll probably like it too if you favor dialogue-driven stories and don't insist on blockbuster budgets. I wouldn't want to pay top dollar to see it at the theater, but it works well for TV, DVD or rental.
AN INQUIRY: There's a scene well into the second half where Swan (Hopper) is walking with two other characters through a campus and a few extras pass between the camera and them. One is a woman wearing white pants who is talking to another person. She is seen again in the same sequence in the background. I need to know who this woman in white pants is. I presume she's an extra provided by the casting agency that hired extras for the movie. I must see more of this actress; it's of the utmost importance.
The movie runs 106 minutes and was shot in Ventura and Santa Barbara, California.
GRADE: B-
(PS: The "INQUIRY" is a joke)
score 6/10
Wuchakk 27 August 2016
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3532968/ |
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1-4-2021 04:53:52