I have seen Kuffs several times, mostly when it has been on television. The movie wasn’t spectacular, but it was entertaining. It was a bit different, and silly at times, and some things were unbelievable, but that didn’t bother me. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a movie like that.

PLOT

George Kuffs had been dating Maya for a while. They were happy, but George wasn’t ready to settle down with her. Maya told him that she was pregnant and George left her soon after by leaving her a note saying she would be better off without him.

George wanted to make a lot of money and would come up with what he thought were sure fire plans to get that money in a hurry. He went to see his brother Brad to try to borrow some money so he could go to Brazil for his latest money making scheme. It was Brad’s birthday and George took him a frozen turkey as a present. George planned to cook the turkey for dinner, but that didn’t work out like he planned. The two men went out to dinner instead.

Brad was a Patrol Special and owned a district. Patrol Special’s weren’t police officers, but they had to go through the police academy to do that work. People within a district would pay the owner of the Patrol Special district for protection and to handle problems. The local police station seemed to have some sort of authority over the Patrol Specials. The districts were set up because there weren’t enough police in San Francisco to handle everything. People in Brad’s district were upset because crime had gotten so bad. Brad was trying to do things, including hiring someone else, to help please the people in his district. Brad shared that someone tried to bribe him recently.

Brad wanted George to work with him, but George refused. Brad received a call and had to go into work. He stopped at a church on the way. George stayed outside to call Maya. He heard gunshots. When he got inside, he saw a man, Kane, standing over Brad with a gun. The police couldn’t charge Kane because George hadn’t actually seen him shoot Brad.

Brad died later that night at the hospital. He left George his district. A man named Sam Jones offered to buy the district, but George decided that he was going to keep it. One of the officers that had worked for Brad wanted to buy the district and was very upset that George wouldn’t sell. He didn’t think that George should be in charge of the district.

George had to go through the police academy. The captain of the local police station, Moreno, assigned a police officer, Ted, with George. When George met Captain Moreno, he said that he was in charge of the Patrol Special. George had to let Moreno know what he was going to do with the district. Ted was already on probation because he had an affair with the chief’s wife. On his first night working, George got shot and Ted ended up suspended. Ted wasn’t happy with George after that night.

George was determined to catch Kane. That caused some problems for George. He did discover that something was going on at a Chinese Laundry. Kane was trying to buy up businesses in George’s district for Sam Jones. Captain Moreno told George to stay away from Kane, but George didn’t listen and kept watching him. George even convinced Ted to help him.

George was missing Maya and regretting leaving her like he did. One night he saw her out on a date with another guy and that really bothered George. He decided that he wanted her back. He sent her flowers to make up with her. She agreed to come over for dinner and George spent a lot of time getting ready and cooking the meal. He didn’t know that she was bringing her parents with her. Unfortunately for George, Kane showed up first and shot the apartment up.

George didn’t have any experience with that sort of work and several people decided that they no longer wanted the services he offered. They didn’t believe that he could do the job like Brad had done. There was a huge payment for the district due related to the change of ownership and if George couldn’t make it, he would lose the district. Sam Jones tried to cause George to lose the district because he still wanted it. Captain Moreno wasn’t always that supportive to George.

CAST

Christian Slater - George Kuffs
Milla Jovovich - Maya
Leon Rippy - Kane
Craig Benton - Paint Store Owner
Ashley Judd -Wife of Paint Store Owner
Bruce Boxleitner - Brad Kuffs
Troy Evans - Captain Moreno
Tony Goldwyn - Ted

Bruce A. Evans - Director
Written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon

Kuffs was made in 1992 and rated PG-13. The movie was 102 minutes long. It is available on VHS. I first saw the movie when it was first out to rent on video. Since they I have seen it several times on television. It is edited when it is on television. I can tell where some swearing was edited out when it has been on television. I don’t think that children should see the PG-13-rated version because of the language, but it would probably be all right for them to see the version that is aired on television since it has been edited.

I have enjoyed watching Kuffs a few different times, but some people may find the movie too silly. There were a few moments that were quite silly, like when George was trying to get a police dog named Thunder to howl. George talked right to the camera a lot like he was talking to another character. Some people could be annoyed by that, but it didn’t bother me. There were some funny things that happened in the movie.

The whole Patrol Special aspect of the plot of Kuffs was a bit different. I’ve never heard of anything like that before. I don’t think there is such a thing, but I could be wrong. Even though I’ve seen the movie a few times, I’m still not completly sure what was going on with those things. It just seemed strange that the Patrol Specials were doing things that normally police would do. It also seemed strange that the Patrol Specials were paid by people in the district for protection. To me that seemed more like what I have seen criminals do in other movies. The Patrol Specials did have to go through the police academy to be qualified for their jobs. They did carry guns. I think the Patrol Specials were mainly supposed to try to prevent crimes, but I’m not entirely sure. When Brad was murdered, it happened within his district, but the Patrol Specials didn’t investigate, the actual police did. The actual police had some kind of authority over the Patrol Specials. From things that happened, it seemed like Captain Moreno had some authority over George and his Patrol Specials. Captain Moreno assigned an actual police officer to work with George when he first started to patrol. Captain Moreno also told George what to do at times.

Kuffs was an action comedy movie. There were several funny moments throughout the movie. Most of them involved George in some way. He said and did some funny things, like giving his brother a frozen turkey for his birthday. That was funny to me. Then before George could give Brad the turkey, he dropped it in the street and a large truck ran it over. There was also action in the movie at different times. There were a few rather large explosions, and there was some shooting in a few scenes as well. There was a huge shoot out near the end of the movie. I have seen other movies that have had more action in them, but there was enough going on in Kuffs to keep my attention and keep things interesting. Some parts of the movie, like what was going on between Maya and George, were a bit predictable, but there were plenty of other times during the movie that I didn’t know what was going to happen next.

There was some violence in a few scenes of Kuffs. Brad was murdered at the beginning of the movie. It wasn’t shown when Brad was shot, but it was heard, and Brad was shown bleeding. Later in the movie, there was more shooting and other characters were shot. The violence in the movie wasn’t excessive, so it shouldn’t offend anyone. At two different times in the movie, George was shown going into a gun store and walking out with new guns that he just bought. I do think that the movie was too violent for young children to see. An edited version of the movie shows up on television every so often. Some of the violence has been edited out, along with some swearing.

After Brad was murdered and the police couldn’t charge the man who did it, George became obsessed with catching the man who had shot his brother. George started to do his own investigation into Kane and Sam Jones. That investigation provided a little mystery for the movie. George wanted to find out why his brother was killed. The mystery wasn’t that complicated at all, so if a person is in the mood for a complicated mystery to try to figure out, they should pick a different movie.

George had been dating Maya for a while whenKuffs began, but he wasn’t ready for a serious commitment, so he dumped her. He later had second thoughts about that decision, and started trying too win her back. His pursuit of Maya added a touch of romance to the movie. There were no love scenes or nudity in the movie. George was shown without his shirt a few times and Maya appeared in her underwear once or twice.

There were a few slow motion type of shots in Kuffs. This movie came out years before The Matrix, so the slow motion was like the type that was used in that movie and that has been over used since then. It was just a normal slow motion. Those scenes didn’t bother me like similar shots have done in other movies. They were not over used.

At different times throughout Kuffs, songs were played. The songs that were played matched up well with what was going on in the scene. I had heard the songs that were in the movie before, but I can’t remember what the titles of the songs are. Most of the time when there was music, it was just instrumental, but there were a few actual songs that played as well.

George was the main character in Kuffs. The whole movie basically revolved around him and the changes going on in his life. George started out being someone who was looking to make a lot of money quickly with little effort. He thought of schemes to get rich, but he didn’t want to really work. He wasn’t ready to settle down. Then things started to change and George had a lot to deal with, like impending fatherhood and the death of his brother. George had to grow up and accept his responsibilities to keep the Patrol Special district running. George changed a lot by the end of the movie. He was the most developed character in the movie. He was in just about every scene of the movie, and he spent several of them talking directly to the camera, sharing his thoughts, feelings, and fears. The other characters in the movie weren’t developed much at all. Brad was only in a few scenes in the beginning of the movie. Maya turned up a few times, but other than knowing that she was pregnant and starting to date again, nothing else was really known about her. It didn’t bother me too much that the other characters weren’t as developed since they weren’t in as much of the movie, but it would have been nice if there was some more development for some of them.

The acting in Kuffs was fairly good. It wasn’t great enough too win any awards, but it was better than a lot of other movies. Christian Slater was good as George. He was believable in that role. George was a quirky character with faults and problems. Christian makes him work and made the character likeable. I have seen Christian Slater in some other movies. I’ve never thought he was a wonderful actor, but he does ok most of the time. Milla Jovovich played Maya. I hadn’t realized that she was in Kuffs until recently. I guess I didn’t pay attention to the credits when I saw the movie in the past. I think this was one of her earlier movie roles. She did ok with her part. I’ve also seen her in the movies The Fifth Element and Resident Evil. The other actors were also good, but nothing really stood out about them. Ashley Judd did have a very small role as the wife of a store owner. That was one of her very early roles, and she has gone on too much bigger staring roles. I’ve seen her in several movies like Kiss the Girls and High Crimes.

CHARACTERS

George Kuffs - He was trying to figure how he could make a lot of money with little effort when his world was turned upside down. His brother was murdered and he inherited a business he had to figure what to do with. George decided to keep the business and try to investigate his brother’s death himself. Once he made his mind up, George could be stubborn. He didn’t like taking orders.

Maya - George’s former girlfriend. She was pregnant. She wanted to settle down and have a family for her baby. She started to date again after George had dumped her. She still had feelings for George and seemed willing to give him a second chance.

Ted - He was a police officer assigned to work with George and keep him under control. Ted was on probation with the force because he’d had an affair with the chief’s wife. Ted tried to get George to do things by the book, but it didn’t always work. Ted let himself get dragged into George’s plans a few times.

Kane - He worked for Sam Jones. Kane was trying to buy up businesses in George’s district for Sam Jones. George found Kane standing over his brother, but the police couldn’t charge him since he wasn’t seen shooting Brad. Kane was not a nice person. He did the dirty work for Sam Jones.

Overall, I did enjoy Kuffs. It was an entertaining movie to watch. It wasn’t serious in any way. This was just a good movie to watch when you are in the mood for a fun movie. I have seen better movies, but if your expectations aren’t too high, it can be enjoyable.

Related Reviews

The Fifth Element
High Crimes

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older