No Way Back (1995)

The one thing positive to take away from watching this movie is that Russell Crowe has always been a good actor, even before he was known widely. This movie came out the same year as "The Quick and the Dead" where he played a reformed gunslinger forced into a gunfight tournament.Russell Crowe is FBI Agent Zack Grant and the movie begins with the botched assignment to have an new agent drop a listening device into a suspect's apartment, but things go terribly wrong. So Zack needs to redeem himself by finding the person responsible.Zack finds that the agent had made several calls to Etsushi Toyokawa as Yuji Kobayashi and assumes he was the bad guy responsible, so he sets out to arrest him and bring him back. Very shaky assumption.On the flight back to L.A. a critical role is filled by Helen Slater (of early "Supergirl" fame) as Mary, a rookie flight attendant who tries hard to get along with Zack but doesn't quite get there.There could be a summary of the story but I am going to skip that. This movie is barely as good as its IMDb rating of "5". The dialog is very poor most of the time, and the characters are directed to do some very stupid things, often, to advance the plot. Just one example, Zack at one point has chased down Yuji in the desert after an escape, and as Zack begins to mumble something steps in front of Yuji in perfect position for Yuji to overpower him, which he does. No FBI agent in his right mind would have done that. There actually is a second positive thing to take away from watching this movie. I have no doubt the script writer and the director tried their best to make this a fine movie, so it just serves to illustrate how difficult the job is. When we see a fine movie with an interesting script and superb acting we tend to take it for granted, but few movie-makers have that skill.

It's strange yet funny in an odd sort of way when you see a film from years and years ago staring people you know of now as they've had such good careers since. Russell Crowe wasn't really an absolute nobody when No Way Back was made; Romper Stomper and The Quick and the Dead were pretty good films that were made in an established and impressive way but you really have to wonder what Crowe was thinking when he starred in this.The cop/buddy formula was probably rather alluring given the fact it was 1995 and they'd enjoyed reasonable success before then what with Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills Cop but No Way Back plays out more like a forced, ugly looking Steven Segal film if anything. The film is nothing original nor is it anything special – that 'borrowed' feeling is only further emphasised when an exchange deal involving Zach Grant (Crowe) and a Japanese guy looks like it's going to go wrong so Grant makes an attempt to play cards with some gangsters and gives himself an excuse to put his hands under the table whilst his accomplice gets into a spot of bother. The whole thing is completely lifted from Carlito's Way (1993) when Carlito sets up a pool trick shot in order to get the jump on the majority of the baddies.Amongst feeling generic and looking rather grainy, No Way Back just feels like it's a film that wants to have fun; it's almost saying 'don't take me seriously for the best part, enjoy me' since a series of silly events and silly characters fill up the screen. One accomplice comes in the form of an air stewardess who is given no introduction as a character, has no back-story or anything yet suddenly finds herself caught up in the plot and is suddenly acting as a central character – if Grant wasn't so unhinged, she'd almost certainly be the love interest. The stewardess, Mary, is played by a woman who was Supergirl in a failed film that was supposed to launch her career: she has an annoying whiney voice that spoils the action scenes, she stays so very one dimensional throughout, it's ridiculous and there is just no development what-so-ever: she's pointless to the film.Along with this, the fact I was laughing following Grant and co's capture following a desert chase is surely the sign of bad film-making. Someone who I think was attached to a corrupt law enforcement agency has a wooden gun that he places in a box that comically sticks out from off screen before being retracted as we see the corrupt guy pull out a German Luger pistol – hilarious. This twinned with the delivery of his lines really was bad.Where No Way Back does scrape some credibility is that Crowe's acting isn't bad – a man who has had his son kidnapped and has suffered past tragedy, only emphasising why getting his son back is so important as it's all he has. Also, the way a police trooper character is so quickly introduced and then eliminated though a surprise gunshot towards the end was impressive but with a weak climax and an odd, sympathetic final shot doesn't really tell the whole story. Where did Mary go? What about the Japanese person he was escorting? Do they think going to a baseball game will erase all the problems? Why is Grant still living in the same, obviously unsafe place he was before? No Way Back does more things wrong than it does right but I think it's enjoyable in a guilty, brainless sort of way as it balances action and plot progression as well as dealing with sensitive issues such as loss of loved ones be it the big bosses son, Grant's son as he's kidnapped or Grant's past catastrophe.

If you are interested by Russell Crowe's career , you cannot miss this movie ! I find the relationship between Zack and his son Eric is particularly interesting and very touching !

No great shakes, just a 90 minute time killer. Has enough action to make you forget about the canyon-sized plot holes, and Crowe is convincing as always. He plays an FBI guy who botched up an assignment and is trying to make amends to the agency. He is also a widower and has a seven year old son. Helen Slater is annoying in the thankless role of comic relief. The themes of racism reminded me of 'Romper Stomper' which Crowe starred in. The beginning of the movie looks like its directly from that excellent movie shot before this. As a fan I had to see it for Russell. If it were Bruce Willis I would have never bothered. Its only ninety minutes so no one really can get offended.