Backfire (1988)

Director:

Gilbert Cates

Writers:

Larry Brand (writer)
Rebecca Reynolds (writer)

Genre:

Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

Before the night is over, someone will be rich, someone will be dead, someone will be avenged.

Plot:

Mara, the wife who wants more... Jake, the lover she wants more of... Donny, the husband the war almost destroyed...

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Murder | Tense | Drifter | Nudity

Cast

Karen Allen	...	Mara McAndrew
Keith Carradine	...	Reed
Jeff Fahey	...	Donnie McAndrew
Bernie Casey	...	Clinton James
Dean Paul Martin	...	Jake
Virginia Capers	...	Maxine
Philip Sterling	...	Dr. Creason
Dinah Manoff	...	Jill
Frances Flanagan	...	Claire
Antony Holland	...	Judge Hardin
Dwight Koss	...	Deputy 'Buzz'
Gordon McIntosh	...	Big George
Wendy Van Riesen	...	Alice
Eric Schneider	...	Dr. Cooper
Enid Saunders	...	Aunt Elizabeth

Runtime:

Germany:88 min | UK:89 min | USA:90 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:R | West Germany:16 | UK:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Saanichton, Central Saanich, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

ITC Entertainment Group

Under my thumb... or yours?

Donny McAndrew a Vietnam veteran is haunted by the experience of the war, and his conditions seems to be getting worse. His wife Mara seems concerned, but there's something greedy about her intentions when one night Donny finally cracks.

Likable, slick mystery thriller that works due to it not overly being too clever, but managing to stay one step ahead in its jaded mix of stimulating seductiveness and growing psychological tension. The shady web of paranoia, passion, deceit and underlining guilt never lets story become too comfortable, despite its casual air and fundamental process. Larry Brand and Rebecca Reynolds' compact script plays more towards the taut drama and keeps to this trend, than anything involving charged thrills. But director Gilbert Gates doesn't discard this aspect, but delivers a pinch-full of jarring jolts to feed the story than to just shock. The film's slight conclusion makes sense and threw me off, but it seems vague to how it came to end with this payoff, especially after what came before it. I wouldn't be surprised if you find it simply plain answer. Gates' expertly handles the excursion with neat, and profitable precision. He peppers up a few atmospheric set pieces, but not in heavy doses. The flowing photography is sharply poised and an extremely effective music score is scorchingly bold. The performances of the three leads; the superbly sly Karen Allen, a wonderfully enigmatic Keith Carradine and Jeff Fahey's terrifically scarred Donny are engrossingly delivered. Dean Paul Martin, Bernie Casey and Dwight Koss provide fine support.

A well-devised and at times innovative film that kept me entertained, even with the structure's creeping ambiguity.