Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Keepin’ It In The Family:

At some point and time I would imagine that all children or siblings of entertainers ask themselves the question “Should I follow in the lucrative and highly unstable footsteps of my family, or should I just get an education and legitimate job?”. It’s how family acting dynasties are born.
Unless you're Paris Hilton, in which case you’re probably asking yourself “Like, does that Chinese Crested Water Dog match my shoes or should I buy a purple one?” or maybe even “I wonder if this will end up on the internet... do you think my naked body makes me look fat?... giggle...”
In some cases, it’s nice to see actors continue the family legacy.
Drew Barrymore would be unknown today had she not been guided by the long dead hands of John, Lionel and Ethel. Personally I’m fond of the daffy headed little chick and think that an entertainment industry with out her would indeed be a sadder one.
Arguments could be made for many members of the Arquettes and Baldwins (except maybe Daniel who really is pretty corpulent and talentless) and it doesn’t take too much of an imagination to picture these clans a few generations down the road as our answer to the Gishs or Fairbanks.
Michael Douglas has more than earned the right to wear the same professional shoes as his father Kirk, Jaimie Leigh Curtis surpassed her dad Tony a long time ago, Angelina Jolie has weathered her insanity nicely, thank you for asking, and now overshadows papa John Voight, Bryce Dallas Howard attracted attention in M. Knight Shyamalan’s The Village, proving that her father Ron’s talent was no fluke and Tom Hanks brought some much needed legitimacy and redemption to the name of his ancestor, that shifty eyed Abraham Lincoln.

With certain families, the answer isn’t nearly as black or white. John Carradine attempted to start his own dynasty and two out of his four progeny have danced with respectability. Through a couple wives he sired little known player Bruce, David the Kung Fu master Kwai Chang Caine, Keith who played Deadwood’s Bill Hickok and Dexter’s recent Special Agent Frank Lundy (and who fathered Martha Plimpton) and Robert who led a cluster of nerds to victory.
It’s my opinion that Bruce and Robert were not needed.
Emelio Estevez and Charlie Sheen have both had their moments and I think Charlie is pretty funny, but neither can hold a candle to dad Martin.

Sadly, with other families, the answer should be a resounding NO, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY... DON’T DO IT!!!
Jake Busey and Sophia Coppola, please just go away! Scott Caan... you are a redundant and unnecessary meat head. John “Gomez Adams” Astin would be rolling in his grave over son Sean's horrible Sam Gamgee, but John's not quite dead yet. I have yet to understand the point of Bridgette Fonda.

Would someone please tell me the point of Bridgette Fonda?

Lastly, and most disturbingly, there are those children who ask the question above whose voices are never heard, the family dynasties that fail before they even make it off the ground.
So I give you that philosophical conundrum;
"If Robert Mitchum's son James were to make a film, and no one was around to watch it, would it make a dollar? Would it make a career? Would anyone, in fact, care.

Blame Canada... Blame The French... Blame Somebody....:
In 1978. French director Eddie Matalon (of such groundbreaking and award winning films as Dangerous When Aroused and Teenage Teasers) joined forces with Cineplex and took advantage of lucrative Canadian film industry incentives now referred to as Canuxsploitation. They released a Manhattan based crime thriller starring a heavy lidded, square jawed Jim Mitchum, really just a clone of his father, and a pre- Nerd Robert Carradine who was just starting to make a name for himself due to two surprisingly watchable performances in Orca and Coming Home.
It is safe to assume that Mitchum's name, his paternal resemblance, Robert Carradine's rising star and veteran co-stars Ray Milland and June Allyson (along with cheap film making techniques) would be a big enough draw to re-coup the several hundred dollars it must have cost to create this turkey.
While it's not a surprise that this was one of Mitchum Jnr's few roles, I AM surprised that someone actually gave Carradine a second chance. Six years after this Carradine would be making millions laugh as Louis Skolnick while Jim Mitchum would be struggling to make Oscar caliber films like Hollywood Cop, Mercenary Fighters and Fatal Mission.

Half Baked? Ahhh Man, I Asked For Hard Boiled...
An electrical storm hits Manhattan and causes a blackout which douses the lights on the entire City. Cigar chomping electrical technicians spend several sidebars trying to get the power back on.
A prison bus, transporting a load of deranged killers, crashes and four members escape, finding solace in a nearby high rent High Rise. Led by a bookish, articulate psycho, the quartet (Carradine and three completely forgettable Canadian actors) make their way from apartment to apartment demanding what ever they can get. They rape, they rob, they kill, they burn millionaire Ray Milland’s Piccassos, they terrorize a Greek wedding... forcing the repulsive one eye-browed groom to dance to some really good Bouzouki music (stopping just short of breaking plates... OPA!)
The one cop who has made it on the scene (Jim Mitchum with a late 70’s porno moustache and a feathered Club54 hairdo) does his best to contain the damage but he’s either one step behind the whole time or captured and tied up.
The bad guys get their just deserts in the end.

A Scoop Of Redemption:
There is none.

Death To All Involved:
We’ll just make a list of the bad shall we?
Cliche Characters:
-Let’s see... There’s the jive talking pregnant black lady who has her baby near the end of the movie proving that something good can come from even the worst of situations.
-There’s the drunken comic relief who runs around looking for clean towels and boiling water (why do folks always need boiling water?) in the middle of a power outage. He naturally passes out when the baby comes... with his mouth open no less. Truly a laugh riot.
-There’s the crazed black con who becomes enraged when one of his brethren hits a young boy. Despite all they’ve been through, he chucks the guy out a window, shouting “What’d he ever do to you???”, after being shot in the belly. He dies of his belly wound thirty seconds later.
-There’s the unpredictable, intelligent psycho who can go off at the smallest thing... like bad Greek music.

Bad Acting and Writing:
Jim Mitchum- isn’t his dad. He just looks like him. He wanders through this film like he’s stoned. Seriously, he could be the poster boy for drug dependency.
A “suspenseful” torture scene has him tied to some stereo wiring where instant electrocution awaits him should the city get the juice flowing. His ankles and wrists are wrapped loosely with speaker wire. It wouldn’t hold a hamster.
Robert Carradine- is about as menacing as a four year old boy picking his nose. He has buck teeth and looks all of seventeen in this movie. The scene where he threatens the Greek band member if he doesn’t do better is laughable, as is his final death rattle.
One particularly bad piece of writing involves the climactic “Car Joust” where Carradine and Mitchum race towards each other in an underground parking garage while shooting it out. The main reason why this doesn’t work is because Carradine had already escaped.
Yup... he escaped. All he had to do was lay low in the stolen vehicle while Jimmy drove past and he would have been free and clear, but I guess he was so enraged that he felt the need to ram Mitchum’s car thereby alerting him to his presence. The crash doesn’t kill anyone, the bullets don’t kill anyone.. but when Carradine's back catches on fire?... man it’s a doozy. I didn’t think it would be possible to so calmly threaten to kill someone while suffering the agonies of hell.

Directorial Choices:
I don’t think more than one take was used for any scene in this movie. It's embarrassing to watch and yet I sat and squirmed through the whole thing, unable to believe my eyes.

Luckily, Milland did Battlestar Galactica and Oliver’s Story after this, but we just witnessed June Allyson’s last film roll. What a horrifying way to end an award winning career. This is a new cinematic low for me. Robert Mitchum died in 97 and I truly hope he spent twenty years beating the tar out of his son before he went.
At the very least, Jim Mitchum should have to write on a blackboard a million times “I will NOT try to cash in on my father’s name.”


Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age