Most Wanted (1997)

A Marine on death row is recruited by a shadowy U.S. military officer as part of a top-secret ops team, then gets framed for murder when the team and its officer set him up as the fall guy for the assassination of the First Lady.

Director:

David Hogan (as David Glenn Hogan)

Writer:

Keenen Ivory Wayans

Stars:

Keenen Ivory Wayans, Jon Voight, Robert Kotecki

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keenen Ivory Wayans	...	James Dunn
Robert Kotecki	...	Marine Lieutenant
Rick Cramer	...	Bus Guard 1
Kenn Whitaker	...	Bus Guard 2
Wolfgang Bodison	...	Cpt. Steve Braddock
Jon Voight	...	Casey / Woodward
Eddie Velez	...	Sgt. Peyton
Michael Marich	...	Omega 3
Simon Baker	...	Stephen Barnes (as Simon Baker-Denny)
Jill Hennessy	...	Victoria Constantini
Donna Cherry	...	First Lady
Robert Culp	...	Donald Bickhart
Eric Roberts	...	Spencer
Paul Sorvino	...	Ken Rackmill
John Diehl	...	Police Captain

Storyline

Sgt. James Dunn, who is wrongly accused of assassination of the officer he had a row with, is saved from death row and recruited for top-secret special operations squad led by Lt. Col Grant Casey. Their mission is to neutralize criminals who had avoided conventional law enforcement methods. On his first Mission, James is made the fall guy for the assassination of the first lady and everyone is looking for him and Dr. Victoria Constantini who was lucky to videotape what happened. One of the forces looking for him is military, led by Gen. Adam Woodward, which is in fact an alias for Grant Casey.

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Plot Keywords:

time bomb | assassination | top secret | first lady | death row | 

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Taglines:

When the first lady is assassinated, an honored soldier becomes a hunted fugitive.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Diehl who plays the Police Captain co-starred with Keenen Ivory Wayans' brothers Damon and Marlon in the film, "Mo Money" five years earlier.

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Goofs

When Dunn is trying to log in to the hospital's computer, he starts typing Shaun, then changes it to Sean. He never tried Shaun or Shawn, which most likely one of them would have worked and given him access, and there was no reason not to try them.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Marine Lieutenant: Standby, Sergeant. Target should be coming into sight. Target's in sight. Take him out.
Sergeant James Dunn: It's a kid, Lieutenant.
Marine Lieutenant: We have our orders, Sergeant.
Sergeant James Dunn: Can't be more than ten years old.
Marine Lieutenant: I don't care about his age. Take him out!
Sergeant James Dunn: I can't...
Marine Lieutenant: [draws his pistol] Goddammit, Sergeant! We have our orders here! Fire, now! Now! Obey my fuckin' order!

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Connections

Referenced in MythBusters: Ice Bullet/Exploding Toilet/Who Gets Wetter? (2003)

User Reviews

Has it's moments but is really daft for most of it

Ex-soldier Sgt James Dunn is on his way to death row when he is taken from his transportation by an elite military unit headed by Col Grant Casey with the offer that he join their assassination squad or be killed. When he joins his first assignment is to kill Donald Bickhart, head of a biochemical company. However when the First Lady is taken out by another assassin, Dunn finds himself set up as a patsy in a conspiracy that seeks to frame him and kill. As Americas most wanted man he goes on the run to clear himself

Written and starring Wayans this has a bit of a vanity project about it. The story is ok at the most basic level - everyone likes a good conspiracy story and a good action movie. However this has so many elements that are just plain daft. One scene in particular - where Wayans is recognised on the street and is chased by about 600 people along a motorway, causing a major pileup, I assumed that this was a dream sequence if was so daft - but sadly it wasn't. This is stretched out throughout the whole film in that whole scenes are daft - the main problem is that Dunn just walks into any building he wants unnoticed. He gets past major security anywhere, he even gets into a high security military unit by hiding in the boot of a car. You can see Wayans' idea was good at the start but he doesn't know where to draw the line - the story is full of wish-fulfilment action scenes (jumping off a building with a parachute - without explaining how Americas most wanted got it from!).

Wayans is not great, he does OK at the start but his one-liners are weak and his performance as an unstoppable force towards the end doesn't set well with the story. Voight is absolutely terrible, what was he thinking. His character is full of stupid characteristics and never comes across as menacing or believable. Paul Sorvino is OK as the FBI director, but with this and Knock Off, he must really wish that someone would make a Goodfellas 2! Hennessey is ok as the only female role in the film, but she doesn't have much to do. Eric Roberts wisely takes an un-credited role and does OK with it. Robert Culp rounds out quite a famous cast - which is surprising when you consider the material.

Overall this is enjoyable for the most part. However most of it is daft and any clever bits are lost in a sea of stupidity. 5 out of 10 for effort.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Most Wanted

Filming Locations:

6th Street Viaduct, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,836,490, 12 October 1997

Gross USA:

$6,391,946

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,838,218

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ivory Way Productions, New Line Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1