OUT FOR JUSTICE (1991)

ANYONE SEEN RITCHIE???

That's the central question driving this pulpy action thriller starring Steven Seagal (Under Siege, Hard To Kill, Marked For Death) during his breakout period in the early '90's.  Here he plays Gino Felino, a dogged NYPD cop on a mission....to capture the killer of his partner.  That would be the aforementioned Richie Madano, a cranked out mob enforcer played by William Forsythe (Raising Arizona, The Rock, Dick Tracy, Stone Cold) who seemes to be on a mission of his own....to rampage around Brooklyn causing trouble. :o And a chaotic cat-and-mouse ensues between cop and robber, leaving in its wake a lot of broken glass and broken limbs!  This often (unintentionally) funny action thriller was directed by the late, great John Flynn (Rolling Thunder, Lock Up, Brain Scan) and also co-stars Jerry Orbach, Jo Champa, Gina Gershon, Julianna Margulies, and Dominic Chianese.  

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

OUT FOR JUSTICE - 1991

Directed by John Flynn

Starring Steven Seagal, William Forsythe, Jerry Orbach, Jo Champa, Shareen Mitchell, Sal Richards, Gina Gershon, Jay Acovone, Nick Corello, Robert LaSardo, John Toles-Bey, Joe Spataro, Julius Nasso Jr, Ronald Maccone, and Dominic Chianese

Genre: Crime Action Drama (Audio clip)

Anyone seen RITCHIE?!? 😆

Man this is ONE nutty flick. It feels at points like a parody of the first few Steven Seagal vehicles which preceded it...the story's ridiculous, the main villain very cartoonish (par for the course for William Forsythe who just played the motorcycle gang version of this character the same year in Stone Cold), the Brooklyn Italian accents are all exaggerated (but none moreso than Seagal's lead paisano cop), the sound mixing over-the-top, and....a dog gets thrown out of a moving car window in a plastic bag for no reason? 🧐

Seagal's Gino Felino (yes that's really his character's name) is a rogue cop - well I THINK he's a cop though he's dressed like one of those independent Guardian Angel crime prevention guys in NYC during the '80's - who's prowling the streets of Brooklyn one night to capture AND likely kill the suspected murderer of his friend Bobby. That killer would be the aforementioned COKED-UP Ritchie who's a low-level mob enforcer played with snarling glee by William Forsythe, also dressed like one of The Little Rascals!

And basically the 90 minute narrative comprises of these two tearing up shop around Brooklyn....constantly missing each other while they leave a trail of bloodied bodies, broken arms, and smashed glasses in their wake. However.....there ARE a few respites for Pony Tail Storytime as Seagal's Gino likes to defuse any brewing tension by telling childhood stories about himself. 😆 And EVERYbody he encounters just STOPS to listen....because his stories are just THAT good. 😉

It's ridiculous but fun and Seagal is surrounded by a surprisingly solid supporting cast including Jerry Orbach, Gina Gershon, Dominic Chianese, and Juliana Margulies just a couple of years before she would help kick-off TV's smash hit "ER." It's certainly not Top-Tier Seagal (Under Siege, Above the Law) but it never wears out its welcome. And the fights are fun!

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Now granted this is VERY on-the-nose but within the context of the movie, that pretty much tracks and it also happens to be a great song from a genuinely groundbreaking album – the artist are NYC’s OWN Beastie Boys, the album was their iconic 1985 debut, “License to Ill” (not their BEST album mind you but still very good), and the track used from that album is the always catchy, “No Sleep till Brooklyn.”  And we hear it about fifteen minutes into the film as our hero Gino has begun his lone rampage “with an unmarked and a shot gun” driving around….BROOKLYN…..get it? (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film): 

I have often cited the late, great Jerry Orbach as one of my favorite character actors ot this era and this film also came out JUST as he was kicking off a pretty legendary run on TV’s long-running crime show “Law & Order” playing NYPD Detective Lennie Briscoe.  So him playing Gino’s direct supervisor Lt. Donziger would SEEM to be right in his wheelhouse….except disappointingly, he is given VERY little to do here besides just encouraging Seagal’s Gino to go out on this vengeful crusade.  No real direction, no reprimands, there’s just really nothing there…..and a seemingly decent amount utilized via montage.  It’s literally the TEXTBOOK DEFINITION of “Wasted Talent.” (Audio clip)  

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Complete no-brainer as this is DEFINITELY the signature sequence of the film – it occurs about thirty minutes in when Gino himself visits a poolhall/bar run by Ritchie’s brother to “question” folks about where Ritchie might be.  But what it ACTUALLY is around eight minutes of Seagal just…..RIFFING….feeling himself, it’s utterly ridiculous but also shamelessly watchable. We even see him push one thug into a phone booth…..TWICE! (Audio clip) 

Just SUCH a fun scene and it escalates with Gino destroying most of the patrons with the help of a billiard ball wrapped in a TOWEL….apparently a very effective weapons.  Even better though, this sequence CULMINATES when “Sticks” is summoned….Sticks being a bar attendee who happens to be quick with a pool cue, played by real-life martial artist AND protégé of Bruce Lee, Dan Inosanto.  Of course Gino grabs a pool cue himself and they square off….admittedly some of the heavy lifting for this face-off is done by crackling sound design but these guys are still making it count with their moves.  (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

From all accounts, the star threw his weight around the set in SUCH an aggressive fashion that he pretty much took over the film by the time it got to the editing bay….and it SHOWS.  While there are undoubtedly key scenes missing featuring Forsythe giving a genuinely STELLAR villain performance, every possible monologue to be delivered by Seagal is pretty much left unscathed, whether it’s essential to the plot or not…..and HONESTLY, some of these monologues simply seem to have zero point to them except for the character on the other end of it to react to Gino as if he’s saying something profound. (Audio clip) 

That said though, this film is still undeniably entertaining the same way that other star ego-driven romps are like Stallone’s Cobra or previous episode Mission Impossible II which is very much a Tom Cruise flex…..it’s VERY easy to notice the seems caused by the star’s ego but they still result in a fun watch.  Also I can’t deny that even as his reputation has deservedly soured over the years, there WAS a point in time when Seagal did have undeniable movie star charisma.  Outside of Under Siege, he never quite figured out how to collaborate with others to best UTILIZE it….but it was there, at least for a few years.  As a result, for leading the charge on 91 minutes of rewatchable ridiculousness, Steven Seagal is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 2.8 stars out of 5

If we’re going through the pantheon of that early memorable run of Seagal vehicles from Above the Law through Under Siege….this might very well be the dumbest but it’s also by far the FUNNIEST.  It’s just a full-on guilty pleasure along the lines of previous episodes Staying Alive, The Delta Force, and The Good Son….and trust me, MORE Seagal vehicles to come!   

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