Lethal Tender (1997)

Okay, bad guys let by Kim Coates invade a water facility and threaten to poison the drinking supply as a front for an even bigger crime perpetrated by Gary Busey, only to be foiled by The Lawnmower Man! (Jeff Fahey in a performance that screams "I'm just collecting a paycheck.") Carrie-Ann Moss is supposed to be the sidekick along for the ride, but she actually fares better than the guy protecting her! The Good: For a B-movie, the set-work IS top-notch. Two real water facilities were used and this was taken advantage of throughout the movie. The heels in the movie obviously knew this was a crap gig and hammed it up all the way through. Kim Coates in particular was on a role as the dick-head leader Montessi, with one-liners galore.The Bad: This was supposed to be a Die Hard clone, but there were maybe six bad guys at most. Any police force could have eaten these guys before dinner, but we get David Chase (Jeff Fahey), so the baddies have a chance. Instead of brute force, Fahey should have used his wooden, monotone delivery to subdue the criminals, as it would have been more effective. Carrie-Ann Moss puts a feather in her cap long before Fahey gets his stuff in gear and even is the deciding factor in Fahey's survival - and we're not even halfway through the movie! The bad guys, while funny, are equally inept. In fact, the enemy met their demise largely due to internal backstabbing and their own errors, not due to Chase! There were several times where Montessi could have ended the threat of Chase but instead gave him An Easily Escapable Scenario as Austin Powers would put it.The Ugly: The "Sass Jordan-esquire" song at the end of the movie, which is also the lone song on the "soundtrack." This would have rated higher for camp reasons if the "action" scenes had, you know, action! As it is, a 5/10 for intentional comedy by Kim Coates and crew, followed by unintentional comedy by Jeff Fahey.

Its suppose To be Under Siege in a Water Plant.. But it ain't... Its a really Woeful action Movie and thats what i love about it... (Kim Coates) is given the freedom of the entire movie to act like a complete dick. but he does a good job ..and he's made a fan outta me. He leads a team of incredibly dumb terrorists into a waterplant and will pollute the water unless blah de blah blah.... Cue (Jeff Fahey) the Worst Hero ever...Jeff spends most of this movie talking about his brie omelette's and generally Hiding behind (Carrie Ann Moss )..Yes Folks John McClaine he Certainly ain't .. He Kills 1 Terrorist ( a female one at that) .. and he shoots her in the back !! (Gary Busey) Pops up as the Brains behind the Terrorism...Then he Gets greedy and starts Killing his own men...Which is a good job , becoz i don't Think Fahey was up for it... Fans of Busey will Enjoy his moments on screen.... Yeah its a Dodgy piece of Junk .....But it gets my seal of approval Busey & Coates keep it entertaining and although the Action is "Z list" standard the Unintentional comedy element is Top Notch 10 outta 10 for this Bad Boy

This film was pretty typical. It had its good moments, and it had its bad ones. Jeff Fahey was the biggest negative; a flat and wooden actor, he did nothing to help the movie. He was the stereotypical cop, cheeze-filled and all bravado, but he lacks the charm to pull it off. Too many great actors have done it better.Kim Coates was impressive, he reminded me a lot of Gary Olman in The Professional (though not as good). He brought most of the character into the film, though his band of cronies were all quite amusing.The dialogue was rather amusing, probably the best part of the film. Except for the occasional mandatory cheeze line typical of all second rate action films, the dialogue kept the movie rolling along smoothly.Carrie-Anne Moss was hardly a standout. Compared to some of her other roles, this one was just plain horrid. Her fight scene with Karen Dwyer (who was quite cool) was so horribly fake. And Karen Dwyer's character (Sparky) *should* have kicked her ass, instead of some lame ecuse about being able to fight due to five older brothers in a one-bathroom house (blah-blah-blah)Gary Busey was his wonderfully psychotic self; this could have been his most amusing role since Lethal Weapon, but his character was under-developed. In fact, most of the characters were under-developed; characterization was a real weak point.As well, the film was *just* too long. The final scene was pushing it, and was also anti-climactic after a fairly strong buildup (it just kept going and going and...) As well, this pushes the ‘bad guy keeps the good guys alive then decides to kill them using a more painful and easy-to-escape choice of death' boundary pretty far. After Fahey and Moss escape the first time, never mind the three to four times afterwards, any self-respecting baddie (*especially* Coates' character who liked using his gun) would've just put a bullet in their heads.Overall: Fast-paced, fun action. Often unbelievable, but hey, it's a cheezy low-budget action film, who cares? Fun to watch; I'd recommend this on an ‘all the good films are out' night. 5/10.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsI caught Lethal Tender very quickly as I was channelsurfing last night,and just happened to tune in as it was starting.For some reason,I compelled myself to carry on watching it,and,to start off with,it appeared to be a fairly compact,intelligent spin off of Die Hard.But,after that,it soon degenerated into an unspeakable pash.The acting by far was the worst thing.Even for an action movie,it was the worst I had seen in ages.The dialouge was totally over-the-top ,and the performances were hammy in the extreme.Though the battle with the terrorists was engagingly held,this was all in all,obviously just another cheap,straight to video,Le Monde,channel 5 movie.**