Boiling Point (1993/I)

Director:

James B. Harris

Writers (WGA):

Gerald Petievich (novel)
James B. Harris (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 April 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

He's a cop who reached the Boiling Point

Plot:

Red is an aging scam-artist who's just been released from prison together with Ronnie, a young and not-so-bright hoodlum who is easily manipulated...

Plot Keywords:

Street Life | Counterfeit | Interracial Relationship | Police | Based On Novel

Cast

Wesley Snipes	...	Jimmy Mercer
Dennis Hopper	...	Rudolph 'Red' Diamond
Lolita Davidovich	...	Vikki Dunbar
Viggo Mortensen	...	Ronnie
Seymour Cassel	...	Virgil Leach
Jonathan Banks	...	Max Waxman
Christine Elise	...	Carol
Tony Lo Bianco	...	Tony Dio
Valerie Perrine	...	Mona
James Tolkan	...	Levitt
Paul Gleason	...	Transaction Man
Lorraine Evanoff	...	Connie
Stephanie Williams	...	Sally Mercer (as Stephanie E. Williams)
Tobin Bell	...	Roth
Bobby Hosea	...	Steve

Also Known As:

L'extrême limite (France)
Money Men (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA | France | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Norway:15 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Hexagon Productions

Trivia:

The finished film was primarily centered around Dennis Hopper's character, but due to Wesley Snipes's popularity at the time, Warner Bros. who bought the film in the US, decided to shorten most of his scenes, to strengthen Snipes's role. Other cuts were made to beef up the pacing. The cuts included the loss of several scenes between Mortensen and his girlfriend. In an interview director James B. Harris stated that he did not have final cut and that Warner Bros. removed ten minutes from the pic in attempt to make it more commercial. He noted that they also changed the title from Money Men, to Boiling Point, in a bid to sell it as an action picture, similar to Passenger 57. Dennis Hopper, who felt he delivered his best performance, did not like the version that was ultimately released.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of David Spade (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Stompin with Red

It's Not That Bad

I'm slightly puzzled as to some of the harsher comments featuring BOILING POINT . I will confess that it's not a thriller classic but I will defend it against the accusation that it's a terrible movie Red ( Dennis Hopper ) is released from prison and owes some mafia types money and so is given a seven day ultimatum . Jimmy ( Wesley Snipes - And no early 90s urban thriller is complete without Wesley Snipes )loses a friend in the course of duty and the audience instantly know that these two unconnected characters will tie in with the plot somehow - And they do in a script that while not being the most tightly plotted screenplay you will ever see since there's a few too many characters involved is at least undemanding and easy to follow .

On the style front it's not exactly in the same league as HEAT but probably contains more substance than an episode of MAIMI VICE while we also get to see an early supporting role from Viggo Mortenson . I rate BOILING POINT six out of ten