VANISHING POINT (1997) ¢ ¢
D: Charles Robert Carner
Viggo Mortensen, Christine Elise, Steve Railsback,
Jason Priestley, Keith David, Rodney A. Grant,
Paul Benjamin, John Doe, Peta Wilson
A television remake of the 1971 car-chase classic, with Viggo Mortensen in the old Barry Newman role as Kowalski, a hero of the highway driving a souped-up Dodge Challenger from New Mexico to Idaho at decidedly unsafe speeds, while an army of cops try to take him in or bring him down. The original movie was primal and existential. This one has backstories and religion. The tire-squealing, gravel-spewing stuntwork is all right, but by the time the asshole lawman played by Steve Railsback throws his badge in the dirt, you know the filmmakers are running out of gas.
