The Pleasure of Watching Jeff Bridges in a Bad Movie

So I was curious about the 80s movie Against All Odds, directed by Taylor Hackford, a remake of the great Robert Mitchum classic Out of the Past. Much of the movie takes place in Cozumel, Mexico. I've actually been to Cozumel w/ my family and actually, the hotel where Bridges' character stays in the movie looks nearly identical to where I stayed. So much so, that I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same place. But what can I say of the film? It's hugely flawed, to say the least. It seems like many pages have been taken from the Joe Ezterhas school of screenwriting. Characters turn from good to evil in seconds. A stalled conversation between two characters who've spent all of 5 minutes in each others' presence suddenly climaxes w/ a passionate kiss. It's ridiculous!

There is a great 80s L.A. feel caputured in the film. Bridges driving his Porsche, at one point racing James Woods on Sunset Blvd. in a truly memorable scene. The film is a mad, possibly substance-influenced Hollywood conconction that two guys hanging out w/ Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion might hash out.

And Bridges in the middle of it all. With his long hair and scruffy beard. His character is a beat-up football player at the end of his career, a man who has two bum knees and a broken shoulder. But he's still a movie star. Woods is slimely to the max, and razor thin. He's a creep through and through.

I wouldn't recommend this sloppy movie. Yet somehow, when it's on cable at 2 in the morning, you might find yourself strangely compelled to see how it plays out.