Against All Odds (1984)

A gangster hires an ex-football player to find his girlfriend. When he finds her, they fall in love, and the twists start to appear.

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writers:

Eric Hughes, Daniel Mainwaring

Stars:

Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges, James Woods

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rachel Ward	...	Jessie Wyler
Jeff Bridges	...	Terry Brogan
James Woods	...	Jake Wise
Alex Karras	...	Hank Sully
Jane Greer	...	Mrs. Wyler
Richard Widmark	...	Ben Caxton
Dorian Harewood	...	Tommy
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Edie
Saul Rubinek	...	Steve Kirsch
Pat Corley	...	Ed Phillips
Bill McKinney	...	Head Coach
Allen Williams	...	Bob Soames
Sam Scarber	...	Assistant Coach
Jon St. Elwood	...	Ahmad Cooper
Tamara Stafford	...	Kirsch's Girlfriend

Storyline

Terry Brogan, an aging football player in L.A., is cut early in the season; he needs money, so he takes a job from a shady friend of his, Jake Wise, to track down Wise's girlfriend, Jessie, who's somewhere in Mexico. She's also the daughter of a very wealthy land developer, who owns Terry's team. He heads for Cozumel, finds Jessie, and promptly falls in love with her. He thinks it's mutual, then without warning, she heads back to L.A. and Jake. What's going on with her, and what's the connection between Jake's hold on Jessie and the various politicians, lawyers, and environmentalists who seem to be converging on some sort of land deal? Terry keeps looking for answers.

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Plot Keywords:

nightclub | mexico | gangster | sex scene | los angeles california | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes love is the most dangerous game of all.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 March 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Out of the Past

Filming Locations:

Riviera Country Club - 1250 Capri Drive, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$25,100,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Columbia-Delphi Productions, New Visions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rachel Ward received top first billing, Jeff Bridges was second billed whilst James Woods received third billing.

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Goofs

During the race between Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges) and Jake Wise (James Woods), whenever both drivers are shown, both of their hands are always on the steering wheel, yet the sound of constant manual shifting can be heard.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Terry Brogan: Señor! Have you, uh, seen this woman?
Taxi driver: Oh - no, sir.
Terry Brogan: Gracias.

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Alternate Versions

CBS edited 9 minutes from this film for its 1986 network television premiere.

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Connections

Featured in Retrosexual: The 80's (2004)

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Soundtracks

BALCONY
Written by Stuart Adamson (as Stewart Adamson)
Performed by Big Country
Produced by Chris Thomas
Courtesy of Phonogram Records Ltd. (London) & Polygram Records

User Reviews

VERY loose remake of "Out of the Past"

Ex football player Terry Brogran (Jeff Bridges) takes a job from sleazy friend Jake Wise (James Woods)--find his ex girlfriend Jessie Wyler (Rachel Ward) who shot him and ran away with a large amount of his cash. Terry tracks Jessie to Mexico...and immediately they fall in love. That's the first hour--the second hour becomes very convoluted with murders and double crosses all over the place.

Interesting movie which is a semi-remake of "Out of the Past". In fact Jane Greer from the original plays the mother of her character here! The original was a strong, well-written film noir. This is not film noir--it's a combination romance/mystery/melodrama. Also Greer played a totally amoral woman in the original--here Ward isn't amoral, just misunderstood. Also Bridges is all pumped up and him and Ward work wonderfully together. Their frequent very R rated sex scenes really work. And it looks great--a portion of the film takes place in Mexico. Still there are definite problems here.

One character, Edie (Swoosie Kurtz) is introduced to provide some REAL clumsy exposition...and doesn't pop up again until a HOUR later. I had forgotten who she was! Alex Karras is incredibly bad in his role. The plot gets way too confused. And the movie isn't sure what it wants to be. It switches gears so much I thought I was gonna get whiplash! The best part of the movie--an incredible car race down Sunset Blvd. has NOTHING to do with anything in the movie! The acting is pretty good. Bridges (in one of his few commercial films) and Ward LOOK fantastic, have great bodies and are both good in their roles. Woods is, surprisingly, pretty wooden. Greer isn't in much but she IS very good. And Richard Widmark hams it up in his small role.

Also the film has a surprisingly somewhat downbeat ending. And there's a wonderful title song by Phil Collins (nominated for an Academy Award).

A very interesting movie. I give it a 6. A sizable hit in its day--but that's because of the steamy sex scenes between Ward and Bridges.