Ricochet (1991)

A District Attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.

Director:

Russell Mulcahy

Writers:

Fred Dekker (story), Menno Meyjes (story)

Stars:

Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Ice-T

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Nick Styles
John Lithgow	...	Earl Talbot Blake
Ice-T	...	Odessa (as Ice T)
Kevin Pollak	...	Larry Doyle
Lindsay Wagner	...	DA Priscilla Brimleigh
Mary Ellen Trainor	...	Gail Wallens
Josh Evans	...	Kim
Victoria Dillard	...	Alice
John Amos	...	Reverend Styles
John Cothran	...	Councilman Farris (as John Cothran Jr.)
Linda Dona	...	Wanda (as Linda Doná)
Matt Landers	...	Chief Floyd
Lydell M. Cheshier	...	R.C.
Starletta DuPois	...	Mrs. Styles
Sherman Howard	...	Kiley

Storyline

In this action thriller, Denzel Washington plays Nick Styles, the assistant district attorney of L.A. The film opens in his early days as a cop on the L.A.P.D. During a carnival, master criminal Earl Talbot Blake creates a scene after a botched drug deal. Styles and Blake confront each other, during which Blake is wounded by Styles and later sent to prison. Seven years later, Blake escapes from prison during a parole board hearing to carry out his revenge against Styles, and what follows is a violent series of events that destroys Styles' career. This sets the stage for one last bloody duel between Styles and Blake.

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Plot Keywords:

district attorney | escape from prison | tower | african american | empty swimming pool | 

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Taglines:

He's a cop accused of murder. And the only man who knows he's innocent is the killer who framed him.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and sensuality, and for language and drug content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Рикошет

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles City Hall - 200 North Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,831,181, 6 October 1991, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$21,760,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Home Box Office (HBO), Cinema Plus, Indigo Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Blake's shotgun at the beginning is a "Stakeout" Ithaca 37 sawed-off pump action shotgun with a five pound slide.

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Goofs

After Blake places Jesse's dead body behind the wheel of the bookmobile, you can clearly see no body behind the wheel as the truck in flames drives off the cliff.

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Quotes

[Nick is trying to persuade Odessa to stop dealing at the Towers]
Nick Styles: Do it for your mother.
Odessa: What about my mother, motherfucker?
Nick Styles: Your mother, nigga! The one that died of a broken heart, praying with my father every night over your sorry ass. The one that buried your kid brother without his head because they couldn't find it. Don't play me, Odessa.

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Alternate Versions

Re-rating in 2007 by the BBFC in the UK waived the cut to the butterfly knife, but still cut the shot of the child-porn magazine.

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Connections

Features White Heat (1949)

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Soundtracks

Oh Freedom
Performed by The Saint John's Methodist Church Gospel Choir

User Reviews

Denzel Washington in Die Hard Mode? John Lithgow as a crackling maniac? You bet. And the results fun.

Remember when John Lithgow used to be menacing? Remember when he was a demented psycho in Blow Out? or the magnificent transvestite in The World According to Garp? What about when he was a demented paranoid in The Twilight Zone - The Movie? And that religious tormented Reverend in Footloose? Even De Palma's Raising Cain was good in Lithgow's gallery of freaks. Yes, John Lithgow used to be dangerous as an actor. And one of those great performances was given in this little seen thriller directed by Russell "Highlander" Mulcahy. Denzel Washington, in a full, maniacal "Die Hard" mode, is Nick Styles, a maverick cop who is framed fro murder after Blake (Lithgow, in electric psycho mode) escapes form prison seeking revenge on Styles, the man that put him on cold seven years ago. The pace is really fast, the situations are extreme and the movie even manages to include some over the top, twisted violence. Sure, it has the very same conventionalisms and clichés of every other action movie (Styles partner dies, et al), but still, Ricochet goes over the average thanks to bravura performances by the two leads and some damn fine action sequences and camerawork.

But now, Russell Mulcahy has stepped into oblivion and John Lithgow has become somber family fodder in mind numbing sitcoms about aliens and rock.