Bad Day on the Block (1997)

Decorated Los Angeles firefighter Lyle Wilder once saved a baby's life in a crack-house fire, but without anyone knowing it, Lyle left the baby's mother to die in the fire because Lyle ... See full summary »

Director:

Craig R. Baxley

Writer:

Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh

Stars:

Charlie Sheen, Mare Winningham, David Andrews

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlie Sheen	...	Lyle Wilder
Mare Winningham	...	Catherine Braverton
David Andrews	...	Reese Braverton
Noah Fleiss	...	Zach Braverton
Chelsea Russo	...	Marcie Braverton
John Ratzenberger	...	Al Calavito
Dawnn Lewis	...	Sandy Tierra
Keone Young	...	Ron the Repairman
Reggie Jackson	...	Himself
Cody Jones	...	D.J.
David Hewlett	...	Andrew
Phillip Jarrett	...	Firefighter
Kim Roberts	...	911 Operator
Dawn Roach	...	911 Operator
Catherine Swing	...	Crack House Reporter

Storyline

Decorated Los Angeles firefighter Lyle Wilder once saved a baby's life in a crack-house fire, but without anyone knowing it, Lyle left the baby's mother to die in the fire because Lyle thought that any mother who takes a baby into a crack-house is an unfit mother. Lyle is violent, and his wife Marge and son Kenny don't like it. Marge and Kenny leave Lyle because of the violent tendencies, which included pulling a gun on Marge, who has filed a restraining order against Lyle, and Marge and Kenny leaving has caused Lyle to slip over the edge. Lyle believes that the neighboring family Reese Braverton, his wife Catherine, and the Bravertons' two kids Zach and Chelsea are to blame for Marge and Kenny leaving, so Lyle starts terrorizing the Bravertons. When the Bravertons report Lyle to the police, officers Al Calavito and Sandy Tierra respond, and because of Lyle's status as the firefighter hero who saved a baby from a fire, Calavito and Tierra refuse to believe the Bravertons. Things get ...

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Plot Keywords:

firefighter | russian roulette | neighbor | black woman murdered | ethnic hatred | 

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Taglines:

Everyone has a breaking point.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence/terror and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 August 1997 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Under Pressure

Filming Locations:

Stouffville, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Largo Entertainment, Sheen/Michaels Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When the model airplane flies through the window, the glass breaks apart in small pieces like safety glass of a car, normal window glass does not break like this.

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Quotes

Lyle Wilder: Two kids... a husband... Marge though you had something great going on here... special she called it. "Why can't we be more like them? Why can't you play with your son like Reese does? Huh? Why?"
Catherine Braverton: [to her kids] Go upstairs to your room... run
Lyle Wilder: [Now glaring at Catherine] You talked to her a lot didn't you? She worshipped you didn't she? Marge thought she knew me... most of the time!
Catherine Braverton: Lyle I'm sorry if we were an issue between you and Marge... but that has nothing to do with us now... please leave
Lyle Wilder: ...
[...]

User Reviews

Bad day at the office - 18%

Now this is a surprise. Normally, I'd expect Eastern movies to have a different title to the one I'd just watched because of the slight language difference. But this is the first American movie I've seen where the title in the listings and on screen was "Under Pressure" and yet it's actually called "Bad Day On The Block" and is now calling itself "The Fireman". Whatever it's called, it's a duffer and no mistake and not even Hollywood playboy Charlie Sheen can rescue it - ironically, for a fireman.

Martin's less-talented son plays celebrated fireman Lyle Wilder, a brief media sensation after he rescues a baby from a burning crack-house. But when Lyle returns home after work, we see him for what he truly is - a depressed, psychotic loner who lives alone with only memories of his ex-wife and a nasty dog for company. You can tell he's a bad one because he loves moody lighting effects, sweats profusely and has a wide-eyed stare so beloved of nutters for many cinematic outings. Unfortunately, when a model aeroplane belonging to his neighbour's son (Noah Fleiss) crashes through his window, it triggers a lethal domino effect and Lyle begins a campaign of terror against the bemused family next door.

"Under Pressure" is as uninspiring as either of it's titles, dragging what might have been an interesting character study into well-travelled waters. Sheen doesn't help, acting like a Jack Nicholson tribute act and pointlessly quoting the Bible as if his life depended on it. Seeing this, it's not difficult to see why Sheen's professional career has nose-dived quicker than shares in MG Rover. "Pantomime" seems too critical a word but Sheen broods and goes through the motions with almost no interest at all - he's as bad as Jon Voight in "Anaconda" but not as funny. We know very little about how and why Lyle is as disturbed as he is (and why absolutely nobody saw this obvious psycho living in their neighbourhood) and as his one-man war against wholesome neighbours Catherine and Reese (Mare Winningham & David Andrews, respectively) and their two children reaches it's climax, you simply don't care enough about the family or Lyle to bother to check out the ending.

Nothing about this film leaps off the page and grabs your attention, aside from how plain and boring it is. The performances are unmemorable (apart from Sheen, who's just bad), the story is weak and the whole thing has that dreadful TVM feel to it. In fact, I'm amazed that I was inspired enough to write as much about this film as I have. It's duller than a golf tournament and I think I know why it has two titles. Because if you watch a film called "Under Pressure" and find it to be complete rubbish then perhaps you'd like to watch another. It's called "The Fireman"...