Top of the World (1998)

Dennis Hopper to Peter Weller "Do you know who I am?" Weller "Yea the Jesus of craps". So it goes with witty dialog the best part of what is essentially a bad film. To enjoy "Top of the World" you have to ignore the plot, chases, shoot outs, and explosions. Instead focus on the often biting and amusing vocal bantering. With a frantic pace, the movie is only a couple minutes from the next priceless exchange of words. The list of character actors here is impressive, including Ed Lauter, Joe Pantoliano, Martin Kove, Peter Coyote, and David Alan Grier, among others. I say this. Go in expecting bad, and then simply be surprised how much there is to like. - MERK

I watched the ending of this film with total bemusement. If she has all that cash in the boot of her car why did she need to go into the casino's counting room to skim a few bills? I wouldn't leave that cash unattended and neither would she, but she had to be in the casino to get Peter Weller in and kick-start the ludicrous plot. The violence was cartoonish and the acting wooden. I was surprised to see the shadow of the helicopter in the opening shot but by the end it seemed symptomatic of the sloppy way it was all handled. And although I am not really conversant with the operations of Las Vegas casinos I would be amazed if anybody could steal that much money without anybody noticing - if it is all being monitored and double-checked, how would you do it, or did I miss something? I found the whole thing uninvolving and cynical to boot.

Yes, it looks like a big bloated bomb. The production values aren't exactly top-notch. The camera angles are often far off, the acting can be very misguided (maldirected), some areas of bad sound, and David Alan Grier is in it. All are signs of a bomb to watch out for.But surprisingly, this is one to watch. It has a unique story which is beefed up with actually funny jokes and genuinely offbeat characters. The action scenes are very well done, too. It has many old-school action sequences with no CGI's and great stunts. Its got nicely done shootouts and an excellent car chase, but somehow it doesn't feel structured around and for the action. It keeps its focus on the story, which I'll get to...now.A uniquely fun Peter Weller plays an ex-cop, ex-con who gets out of jail on parole. The first thing on his agenda is to knock off his ex-wife's new husband (Dennis Hopper in one of his most generic performances to date) by swindling a way to win the jackpot at his casino. Or is his (HOT) wife Tia Carerra (at her most hot) in on it too? This one is, out of a lot of reasons, unnoticed because a bigger-budget but sub-par movie called "Ocean's Eleven" happened to be released four years later. "Top of the World" is much better, because the action is better and it doesn't need cutesy and lame humor to seek a wide audience's approval. Plus, I'd pick Peter Weller over George Clooney any day of the week...not to mention Julia Roberts isn't even 1/1,000,000 of Tia Carerra.

Ex-cop Ray Mercer gets released from jail and is picked up by his estranged wife Rebecca. She is now seeing casino boss Charles Atlas and they stop off at one of his casinos on the ride to a cheap hotel for Ray. When in the casino Ray idly plays the games with his last few dollars and wins the jackpot. However before he can collect his money the casino is robbed – leaving Ray not only trying to get his prize money but mistaken as part of the gang. With double crosses and shootouts all over the place, all Ray wants is his winnings.This promises much – look at the cast to see the potential. However what it delivers can be summed up buy it's weak plot. The story essentially sees Ray Mercer put in lots of action scenes – using the thinnest of excuses to keep the story moving. For example Ray jumps onto an armoured car and hangs on the roof, the truck then crashes and drives through a huge explosion – but Ray is unharmed. Likewise, we have the bad guys who do the robbery spend the whole film running round the hotel killing everyone looking for a way out – but yet the armed police on the ground floor cant seem to catch them!To be fair, the spectacle is good – but it's bangs without substance. The action is OTT – does no one ever run out of bullets? The action has no real tension or excitement to it and is really dull – if you just want guns then you might like this, but really it's a poor action movie.It's a shame because they managed to get a great cast on board. Weller and Tia Carrere are OK names and give OK performances. But add to that names like Dennis Hopper and Joe Pantoliano and you've got a good cast. Unfortunately none of them have anything to work with at all. The support cast also has plenty of familiar faces but again they are little more than cardboard cutouts who are there to get shot at or shoot people. These include Tagawa (from Mortal Kombat), Kove (Karate Kid, Cagney & Lacey), Peter Coyote (Sphere, Patch Adams).Overall this is really daft plotting at it's worst. The action fails to ignite any interest and the whole think flops badly. What a way to waste a great cast – the director has been making films since the 50's – has he learnt nothing in all that time?