A battle of wits between Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze is a mighty clash indeed. But for all its preposterous plotting and hilarious dudespeak, this 1991 yarn about an FBI agent (Reeves) who joins Zen thrill-seeker Swayze and his robber gang of presidential-masked surfers--believe me, you ain't heard nothing yet--has the momentum and velocity of a runaway jet. Thank Near Dark director Kathryn Bigelow, one of Hollywood's greatest and most underused action specialists, who stages foot chases and free falls with dizzying kinetic verve. Bigelow's currently getting the best reviews of her career for the Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker (due next month in Nashville), another study of men inching their way through a pressure-cooker situation--but it doesn't offer the chance to watch the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kiedis suffer. You know you want it. Coming up next at Belcourt Midnight Movies: Teen Wolf and the damnedest movie I've ever seen, the 1977 Japanese jaw-dropper House.
Sat., July 4, midnight; Sun., July 5, midnight, 2009
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