Miscellaneous Reviews Festivals Lists Interviews
#
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Here


web analytics

The Films of Peter Hyams

Rolling Man

Goodnight, My Love

Busting

Our Time

Peeper

Capricorn One

Hanover Street

Outland

The Star Chamber

2010 (October 22/2017)

A fairly ill-advised sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010 follows Roy Scheider's Heywood Floyd, the architect behind the first film's doomed expedition, as he and several scientists embark on a journey to find out just what happened to the Discovery One. It's a fairly promising setup that's slowly-but-surely squandered by filmmaker Peter Hyams, as 2010, which progresses at an often unreasonably deliberate pace, rarely succeeds as either a follow-up to Stanley Kubrick's landmark picture or as a stand-alone science-fiction thriller - with the movie's hands-off atmosphere compounded by an often impenetrable screenplay that's rife with padded-out, surprisingly uninvolving set-pieces. (Having said that, there are a few interludes that do manage to pack a suspenseful punch, with the most obvious example of this involving two crew members' efforts at free-floating towards the Discovery One.) The resulting lack of momentum grows more and more problematic as the surprisingly thin story unfolds, and it's clear, consequently, that Hyams' ongoing endeavors at cultivating tension generally fall distressingly flat. This ultimately does ensure that the oddball, metaphysical happenings within the picture's second half are hardly as meaningful as scripter Hyams has intended, with the filmmaker's attempts to clarify certain happenings within 2001: A Space Odyssey faring just as poorly as one might've feared (ie Hyams just complicates what was a relatively straight-forward narrative) - which ultimately confirms 2010's place as a fairly disappointing (and thoroughly needless) sequel.

out of

Running Scared

The Presidio (July 13/16)

The Presidio casts Mark Harmon as Jay Austin, a San Francisco police detective who's forced to team up with a military commander (Sean Connery's Alan Caldwell) after a murder is committed on the title army base - with the film detailing the pair's efforts at solving the crime and also Jay's burgeoning romance with Alan's fetching daughter (Meg Ryan's Donna). Filmmaker Peter Hyams opens The Presidio with an impressively exciting car chase that, when combined with the rousing introduction to Harmon's character, seems to lay the groundwork for a fast-paced thriller, and yet the movie quickly segues into a less-than-engrossing midsection devoted primarily to the mismatched protagonists' rather routine investigation. (It's clear, too, that the erratic narrative suffers from an ongoing emphasis on Jay and Donna's somewhat tedious relationship.) There's little doubt, then, that the film benefits substantially from Connery's typically magnetic performance and the sporadic inclusion of unexpectedly engrossing sequences, with the best and most obvious example of the latter a thoroughly captivating foot chase through San Francisco's Chinatown. (And one can't help but get a kick, of course, out of the interlude in which Alan takes down a barroom bully with just his thumb.) The lack of a compelling villain doesn't help the movie's uneven atmosphere, to be sure, although it's certainly hard to deny the effectiveness of the gleefully over-the-top shootout that closes the proceedings - which ultimately does confirm The Presidio's place as a watchable, occasionally enthralling '80s thriller.

out of

Narrow Margin

Stay Tuned

Timecop (May 24/18)

Directed by Peter Hyams, Timecop follows Jean-Claude Van Damme's Max Walker, a time-travelling police officer, as he attempts to prevent a shady politician (Ron Silver's Senator McComb) from destroying the timeline. It's a fairly irresistible premise that's employed to consistently watchable effect by Hyams, as the filmmaker, working from Mark Verheiden's screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced thriller that's rife with appealing elements - with, especially, Van Damme's typically engaging turn heightened by a proliferation of agreeably over-the-top action sequences. (The most obvious example of this is a high-water-mark moment that finds the erstwhile Muscles from Brussels doing the splits to avoid a potentially lethal electrocution.) The movie's sci-fi-friendly storyline is augmented with precisely the sort of fun silliness one might've anticipated (eg Walker travels back to the Great Depression to stop someone from taking advantage of the stock market), and it's clear, too, that the picture benefits from a narrative that consistently escalates the stakes for Van Damme's sympathetic protagonist (ie McComb makes disastrous changes to Walker's present reality). And although the film does stumble in its final stretch - the climax, which transpires almost entirely in and around a dimly-lit house, is almost incongruously uninvolving and padded out - Timecop is, for the most part, a solid actioner that ranks near the top (if not at the top) of Van Damme's very best endeavors. (This is all in addition to Silver's gleefully broad turn as the seriously smug villain, with the actor's strong work here ultimately playing a key role in cementing the production's success.)

out of


Sudden Death (January 3/17)

An especially blatant Die Hard knockoff, Sudden Death follows Jean-Claude Van Damme's Darren McCord, a former firefighter coping with a tragic loss, as he's forced to battle a group of terrorists (led by Powers Boothe's nefarious Joshua Foss) that are holding the Vice President (Raymond J. Barry) and an entire stadium full of people hostage - with the movie, for the most part, detailing McCord's surreptitious efforts at disarming the many bombs that have been planted around the aforementioned arena. Sudden Death, directed by Peter Hyams, admittedly boasts a promising opening half hour, as Hyams, working from a script by Gene Quintano, does an effective job of establishing the central character and the perilous situation in which he eventually finds himself - with Hyams' old-school treatment of the material seemingly setting the stage for a briskly-paced action adventure. The better-than-average vibe is perpetuated by a typically charismatic turn from Van Damme and by the inclusion of a few top-notch action sequences, with an early highlight a battle between Van Damme's McCord and a villain dressed in an oversized penguin costume. (Indeed, this interlude remains the centerpiece of the entire picture.) It's only as the film progresses into its meandering, sluggish midsection that one's interest begins to wane, as far too much of the narrative's second act is devoted to McCord's solo exploits as a fledgling bomb defuser - with the less-than-engrossing atmosphere compounded by an ongoing emphasis on underdeveloped supporting characters (eg Hyams spends an inordinate amount of time dwelling on McCord's young son sitting by himself). The relatively strong climactic stretch ensures that Sudden Death ends on a somewhat positive note, at least, and yet it's fairly clear that the movie is simply unable to live up to the potential afforded by its setup. (And a Van Damme flick with only one bona fide fighting sequence is nothing short of tragic, let's be honest.)

out of

The Relic

End of Days

The Musketeer (September 5/01)

Based on Alexandre Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers, The Musketeer follows D'Artagnan (Justin Chambers) as he he's unwittingly drawn into a complex story of intrigue and danger. Directed by Peter Hyams, The Musketeer certainly looks like no other adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic ever has; nothing is pretty in Hyams' world - bedrooms are dirty, tunnels are dank, and pubs are downright unsanitary. And to make all these places look even grungier, Hyams' has chosen to use natural lighting for most scenes (eg a sequence that finds the Musketeers skulking in a pitch-black tunnel has been lit only with the torches carried by the characters). When you get right down to it, though, this is just a talky drama; aside from a few brilliant action sequences, The Musketeer often resembles one of those low-budget historical chamber pieces you might find on PBS. The acting is uniformly good - Tim Roth, cast as an evil henchman, steals every single one his scenes - with the only real weak spot acting-wise being the lead. But those action sequences - the movie is almost worth seeing just for the final duel between Chambers and Roth - are stunning. Much has been made of the fact that the action choreographer also worked on The Matrix, but there's no obvious wire kung-fu here - just some kinetic, ballet-like action scenes. With its booming score by David Arnold and sweeping camera shots, The Musketeer is obviously Hyams' attempt at an old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure. And while it mostly doesn't succeed, the few sword fights make this worth a trip to the theatre on a Tuesday.

out of

A Sound of Thunder

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (May 18/11)

After a run of disappointing efforts like The Musketeer and A Sound of Thunder, Peter Hyams bounces back with an entertainingly absurd thriller that boasts several genuinely exciting interludes and an expectedly riveting performance from Michael Douglas. The film follows struggling reporter C.J. Nicholas (Jesse Metcalfe) as he becomes convinced that the local district attorney (Douglas' Michael Hunter) has been planting evidence to secure his convictions, which eventually leads C.J. to frame himself as a murder suspect to catch Hunter in the act. It's an almost jaw-droppingly ludicrous premise that is, for the most part, employed to better-than-expected effect by Hyams, there's little doubt that the movie does take a while to wholeheartedly get going - as Hyams offers up an underwhelming, thoroughly meandering opening half hour that's exacerbated by the film's palpably low-rent atmosphere (ie it's rather obvious that Hyams didn't have a tremendous amount of money to work with). The less-than-engrossing vibe persists right up until C.J. begins setting his plan into motion, after which point it becomes more and more difficult to resist the inherently compelling nature of the film's unabashedly outrageous narrative (ie the viewer is essentially forced to abandon all logic and embrace the ridiculousness of Hyams' screenplay). And although the movie does run out of steam towards the end as C.J.'s lawyer girlfriend (Amber Tamblyn's Ella Crystal) launches her own investigation, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt generally comes off as an above average thriller that seems to have been unfairly dismissed by most critics.

out of

© David Nusair