Carl Taylor and James St. James (Charlie Sheen and his brother Emilio Estevez, who directed and wrote this) dream of owning a surfboard store but for now they’re picking up trash. The thing is, if they kept at this job — and this is old me and not young me who saw this back in 1990 — they’d have great benefits and a pension and just about be ready to retire by now.

Their boss wants them fired for the way they behave, so he brings on his brother-in-law Louis (Keith David) to catch them breaking the rules, except he’s part of their hijinks when they find the body of city councilman Jack Berger (Darrell Lawson) in the trash, the same man that Carl shot at with a pellet rifle when he saw him treat his neighbor Susan (Leslie Hope) rough.

Before you know it, they’re involved in a scheme that got the councilman killed as Maxwell Potterdam III (John Getz) is planning on dumping toxic waste all over their beloved beach. He sends his goons Frost (Geoffrey Blake) and Mario (John Lavachielli) after them, plus the guys also have to stay one step ahead of two bullying cops, Mike (John Putch) and Jeff (Tommy Hinkley).

Emilio said of this film, “For me to be able to do a movie where saving the environment is the underlying theme is the greatest contribution I can make, I think. More people are going to see what I’m doing in a film and be educated through entertainment than if I show up at a rally. I’m working on putting the causes I think we need to address into my work and into the projects I choose.”

I was struck by how charming he is in this, just like everything else he’s done. His career hasn’t had the same popularity as it did in the late 80s, but he took some time off and has come back to produce, direct and appear in a few projects since 2018 and has come back to play one of his most famous roles, Coach Gordon Bombay, in the series The Mighty Ducks: Gamechangers.

As for Charlie, well, you know how that went.

The brothers would also star in another movie Emilio directed, Rated X, the story of the Mitchell Brothers.

You can get this on blu ray from MVD.