EDITOR’S NOTE: Did you know that Visual Vengeance has a ton of movies on Tubi? It’s true. Check out this Letterboxd list and look for reviews as new movies get added. You can find this movie on Tubi.
I’ve watched two of Steve Lustgarten’s movies — this and American Taboo — and I’m really surprised by his directing and writing. Both films seemed like stories I’d have no interest in and they each got me, watching on the edge of my seat.
Kyle Lockwood (Tim Vandeberghe) left town as soon as he could but now he’s back. Maybe Los Angeles didn’t work out like he wanted it to, but then again, the Nebraska small town of his past hasn’t fared that well either. The farmers are pretty much stuck growing marijuana thanks to a predatory drug lord who just so happens to be married to the girl that got away from Kyle.
Some people are happy to have him back home. The cops sure aren’t. They’re reminded of chasing him not all that long ago, him blowing their cars off the dirt trails that act as roads and getting away with it. They aren’t all that thrilled with him being back in town or disrupting the shadow world of cops making money off drugs they’ve enjoyed the last few years. The town has given up its soul and now the black sheep is back to try to pull it out of its thrall.
It’d be any other action movie but you care so much about each character that it just works. John Durbin, who plays main villain Gene Lynch, is so just plain detestable that you want to see everyone succeed. He gets the best exit I’ve seen in some time.
I really enjoyed the time I spent with the people in this movie. They feel real and I cared about what happened to them. How many films can say that?
B&S About Movies 
Many years ago, more than I care to remember, when I was in wanderlust mode with what I wanted to do with my life (I also bid on an FM station at a bankruptcy auction), I had the opportunity to buy the rights to American Taboo. I was familiar with the film because it premiered at an art cinema in Minneapolis back in 1983, but I missed that showing. Anyway, the guy who was a film producer/broker in Texas wanted way too much money for what was a student film, albeit an award-winning one, so I passed. He was also hawking the rights, except for TV syndication, as I recall, to The Nail Gun Massacre and Night Beast. I finally saw the Visual Vengeance release of American Taboo last year and was impressed with Steve Lustgarten’s directing skills. But I’m glad that I didn’t spend the money, which I’d have never recouped even with a sale to the good folks at Visual Vengeance. 🙂
LikeLike