Nowhere to Run (1993)

Director:

Robert Harmon

Writers (WGA):

Joe Eszterhas (story) &
Richard Marquand (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 January 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

When the law can't protect the innocent, the only hero left is an outlaw.

Plot:

Escaped convict Sam Gillen single handedly takes on ruthless developers determined to evict Clydie - a widow with two young children...

Plot Keywords:

Motorcycle | Farm | Escaped Convict | Business | Police

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Claude Van Damme	...	Sam Gillen
Rosanna Arquette	...	Clydie Anderson
Kieran Culkin	...	Mike 'Mookie' Anderson
Ted Levine	...	Mr. Dunston
Tiffany Taubman	...	Bree Anderson
Edward Blatchford	...	Sheriff Lonnie Cole
Anthony Starke	...	Billy
Joss Ackland	...	Franklin Hale
Allan Graf	...	Bus Driver
Leonard Termo	...	Bus Guard
Robert Apisa	...	Prisoner
Jophery C. Brown	...	Prisoner
Tony Brubaker	...	Prisoner
Ron Howard George	...	Prisoner
Voyo Goric	...	Prisoner
Jack Lucarelli	...	Prisoner
Peter Malota	...	Prisoner
Frank Orsatti	...	Prisoner
Manny Perry	...	Prisoner
Thomas Rosales Jr.	...	Prisoner
Ron Stein	...	Prisoner
Sven-Ole Thorsen	...	Prisoner
Jack Verbois	...	Prisoner
Chuck Zito	...	Prisoner
James Greene	...	Country Store Clerk
Steven Chambers	...	Pick-Up Truck Thug
Stephen Bridgewater	...	Tom Lewis
Christy Botkin	...	Sarah Lewis
Luana Anders	...	Town Meeting Chairwoman
Kevin Page	...	Hales Associate
Albie Selznick	...	Hales Associate
Andy Gill	...	Bulldozer Man
Jack Gill	...	Bulldozer Man
Jeff Ramsey	...	Bulldozer Man
Randell Dennis Widner	...	Bulldozer Man
Gavin Glennon	...	Auto Parts Clerk
John Rubinow	...	Clydies Husband
Stanley White	...	Cop in Diner
Joseph Menza	...	Diner Cook
John Finn	...	Cop in Chase
John Kerry	...	Big Thug John
Tony Epper	...	Fire Thug Al
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gene LeBell	...	Bulldozer Man

Directed by
Robert Harmon

Writing credits (WGA)
Joe Eszterhas		(story) &
Richard Marquand		(story)
Joe Eszterhas		(screenplay) and
Leslie Bohem		(screenplay) and
Randy Feldman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Gary Adelson	....	producer
Craig Baumgarten	....	producer
Michael I. Rachmil	....	executive producer
Eugene Van Varenberg	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Mark Isham

Cinematography by
David Gribble

Film Editing by
Mark Helfrich
Zach Staenberg

Casting by
Jackie Burch

Production Design by
J. Dennis Washington

Art Direction by
Joseph P. Lucky

Set Decoration by
Anne D. McCulley

Costume Design by
Gamila Mariana Fahkry
Gamila Smith

Makeup Department
Katalin Elek	....	makeup artist
Zoltan Elek	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Tony Mark	....	unit production manager
Tamara Smith	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David C. Anderson	....	first assistant director: second unit
Brian W. Cook	....	first assistant director
Mathew Dunne	....	second assistant director: second unit
Carl Goldstein	....	second assistant director
Peter MacDonald	....	second unit director
Robert Brooks Mendel	....	second assistant director
Elena Santaballa	....	dga trainee
David Spitzer	....	second second assistant director
David Ticotin	....	second second assistant director: second unit (as David A. Tocotin)

Art Department
Larry Clark Bird	....	property master
Oscar Delgadillo	....	set dresser
Dick Girod	....	head paint foreman
Karen Higgins	....	general foreman
Steven Kissick	....	carpenter
Gregory Lynch Jr.	....	carpenter
Stacey S. McIntosh	....	construction coordinator
Richard McKenzie	....	set designer

Sound Department
Fred J. Brown	....	supervising sound editor
Raul A. Bruce	....	boom operator
David B. Cohn	....	sound editor
Martin Dreffke	....	sound editor
Linda Folk	....	adr editor
Frank Jimenez	....	sound editor
David Kirschner	....	sound mixer
Cindy Marty	....	foley editor
Aaron Rochin	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jackson Schwartz	....	foley artist
Michele Sharp	....	supervising sound editor (as Michelle Sharpe)
Stan Siegel	....	sound editor
John J. Stephens	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gregory H. Watkins	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Williams	....	dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Jeff Jarvis	....	special effects coordinator
Mike Reedy	....	special effects technician
Michael A. Tice	....	special effects technician

Stunts
Chris Branham	....	stunts
Tony Brubaker	....	stunts
Bobby Burns	....	stunts
William H. Burton Jr.	....	stunts
Heather Burton	....	stunts
William H. Burton	....	stunt coordinator
Richard E. Butler	....	stunts
Richard Epper	....	stunts
Dane Farwell	....	stunts
Randy Hall	....	stunts
Clifford Happy	....	stunts
John Hateley	....	stunts
Tommy J. Huff	....	stunts (as Thomas J. Huff)
Henry Kingi	....	stunts
Clint Lilley	....	stunts
Jack Lucarelli	....	stunt performer
Gary McLarty	....	stunts
Bennie Moore	....	stunts (as Benny Moore)
Larry Nicholas	....	stunts
Manny Perry	....	stunts
Dennis Scott	....	stunts (as Dennis Ray Scott)
Mark Stefanich	....	stunt double
William Washington	....	stunts
Mike Watson	....	stunts
Randell Dennis Widner	....	stunt double: John Matuszak
Mark Stefanich	....	stunt double: Mr. Van Damme (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mike Benson	....	photography: second unit (as Michael A. Benson)
Samuel Buddy Fries	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Chris Kievman	....	electrician
Michael Meinardus	....	Steadicam operator
Douglas Milsome	....	photography: second unit
Frank Parrish	....	film loader
Tony Rivetti	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Tony Rivetti	....	steadicam
Randall Robinson	....	camera operator: second unit
Andrea Sachs	....	gaffer
Ty Suehiro	....	grip
David Tolsky	....	second assistant camera: second unit

Casting Department
Felicia Fasano	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Robert Fong	....	first assistant editor
Scot Deer	....	telecine colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Tom Boyd	....	musician: oboe soloist
Michael Connell	....	music editor
Stephen Krause	....	scoring mixer
James Thatcher	....	musician: french horn

Other crew
Joseph Aspromonti	....	production assistant
Rhonda Bingham	....	payroll
Susan Dukow	....	production coordinator
Tara Foran	....	assistant accountant
James R. Maceo	....	location manager
Frederic Perrin	....	caterer
Rudy Ugland	....	boss wrangler

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents) (as Columbia Pictures)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1993) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films (1993) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (1993) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1995) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Filmayer (Spain)
• LK-TEL (1993) (Argentina) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Perseverance Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"Ganar o morir" - USA (Spanish title) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and sexuality

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:18 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/12 | Peru:18

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Van Damme's motorcycle is a 1969 650cc Triumph T120 Bonneville.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the lunch scene, Mookie asks Sam to pass the salt. Sam gives the salt shaker to the kid and you can see Mookie taking it with his left hand. In the next shoot, from another angle, he is taking it with his right hand.

Quotes:

Sam Gillen:[after beating up a thug] Three strikes you're out!

Movie Connections:

References E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Soundtrack:

AFTER ALL

A huge surprise

Having recently revisited my old Van Damme collection (my wife has developed a bit of a crush on JC), I have made my way through all the classics (Bloodsport, AWOL, Kickboxer, Death Warrant, Universal Soldier etc) and hugely enjoyed revelling in the guilty pleasure of watching a short, white Belgian dude kick the living snot out of everyone else on the screen. Why else would anyone go to see a Van Damme picture?

The last film I came to was Nowhere to Run. Having not seen it in a good ten years, and remembering it as slow-paced, indulgent and severely lacking in arse-kicking, I was not really expecting to be at all impressed. It's funny, looking through most of the reviews here, that two groups of people have clearly emerged. The first group, the Van Damme fans, are all complaining that this is not your average VD film and bitching about how they were cheated into watching a serious drama.

The other group are all up in arms at the fact that anyone would make a serious drama and cast Van Damme in it. I have a name for this group, but I doubt IMDb would publish it. Let's just call them w*nkers. Why the w*nkers, who clearly have an abundant dislike for the Muscles from Brussells, would go to see a film with his name above the title is beyond me. Cinesnobs have no place at a Van Damme show. I'll leave it at that.

The reason I felt compelled to write this review is that I am, admittedly, a bit of a Cinesnob, but I'm also happy to take a film for what it is. I like James Bond, I like Sonny Chiba, I like blaxploitation and I also fricking like Van Damme movies! What I did not expect, was for "a serious drama starring Van Damme" (trying saying that out loud without snickering) to be so Damme good! (Get it?)

The story is pretty simple, JC is an escaped con who happens upon a sleepy little town which is about to be pulverised by a nihilistic land developer (not surprisingly, a British one, played with appropriate menace by Joss Ackland). He befriends a little boy (not in the Michael Jackson way, though the boy in question is, ironically, Macaulay Culkin's younger brother, Kieran) and consequently gets rather chummy with the boy's mother. Happily, she is both widowed and incredibly hot. As if her being a still distraught widow weren't enough, she is also being harassed to a rather unreasonable degree by Ted Levine, who is hilarious and brilliant and the land developer's chief henchman. Cue Van Damme.

Sounds like the ideal recipe for another typical action flick, so I am willing to forgive those VD fans who felt cheated. What we actually end up with is a genuinely moving, well paced and hugely enjoyable action drama. It may sound unthinkable, but JC actually pulls his character off perfectly. Sam is mistrusting, awkward but ultimately striving to be a decent person. Director Mark Harmon made a very savvy decision in keeping JC's dialogue to a minimum, leaving him the task of creating a believable character with his face and body language alone. Don't believe the naysayers, JC delivers a truly surprising performance.

Rosanna Arquette also handles her role well, even if the character is flying dangerously close to stereotype. Her performance grounds the whole story, and we both care for her plight and admire her determination (the men in the audience will also admire her perfectly formed semi-naked body). The two kids were bound to be annoying, but they're certainly nowhere close to being as bad as they could have been.

The real star of this film is the consistently beautiful cinematography by the relatively unknown David Gribble. With scenery like this, you'd be hard pressed to go wrong with the external stuff, but the interiors are equally well shot.

The big let down, both in terms of cinematography and the film as a whole, is the truly lame action. There are only a handful of action sequences in the whole show, but they're easily the dullest moments in the film. When you have a good story, solid characters and a really well-cast group of fine actors, do you really need to throw in a bunch of crappy fights? Sadly, if you're selling this as a Van Damme picture, the answer is yes. So they had the courage to put JC in a serious role and give him the chance to prove that he can actually act, but they didn't have the balls to actually sell the film on this basis. The trailer says "Van Damme, as you've never seen him before" and then just gives us a bunch of poor action clips. Is it any wonder that nobody who actually bothered to see this film liked it?

If it weren't bad enough that the action scenes are badly shot and clumsily edited, they're also punctuated by really poor one-liners from JC ("Strike 3, you're out!" and "Au revoir, f**ker" are among the worst). One gets the feeling that there were differences in the opinions of the director and the star and the opinions of the producers and studio folk. Presumably, someone thought they had found a happy balance. Someone was wrong, and the film really suffers as a consequence.

If you can overlook this, and you're not watching the film either to complain that it's not a solid action flick or to complain that Van Damme is in a drama, you'll probably find yourself surprisingly impressed with the film.