Against All Odds (1984)

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writers:

Daniel Mainwaring (1947 screenplays)
Eric Hughes (writer)

Release Date:

2 March 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

She was a beautiful fugitive. Fleeing from corruption. From power. He was a professional athlete past his prime. Hired to find her, he grew to love her. Love turned to obsession. Obsession turned to murder. And now the price of freedom might be nothing less than their lives.

Plot:

A gangster hires an ex-football player to find his girlfriend. When he finds her, they fall in love, and the twists start to appear.

Plot Keywords:

Nudity | Beautiful Woman | American Football | Neo Noir | Remake

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Rachel Ward	...	Jessie Wyler
Jeff Bridges	...	Terry Brogan
James Woods	...	Jake Wise
Alex Karras	...	Hank Sully
Jane Greer	...	Mrs. Grace Wyler
Richard Widmark	...	Ben Caxton
Dorian Harewood	...	Tommy
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Edie
Saul Rubinek	...	Steve Kirsch
Pat Corley	...	Ed Phillips
Bill McKinney	...	Head Coach Stassen
Allen Williams	...	Bob Soames
Sam Scarber	...	Assistant Coach Sam
Jon St. Elwood	...	Ahmad Cooper
Tamara Stafford	...	Kirsch's Girlfriend

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | USA:R (Certificate #27136) | UK:15 (theatrical rating) | UK:18 (video rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1984) | Peru:18 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Phil Collins was contacted by director Taylor Hackford to record a song for the movie. Phil Collins had written "Against All Odds" in 1981 for his first solo album, "Face Value", and the song was originally entitled, "How Can You Just Sit There". Phil Collins left the song off of the album because he felt he had too many ballads on "Face Value" already. After Phil Collins's contact with Taylor Hackford, he recorded the song in two days, one day in New York, the other in Los Angeles.

Goofs:

Continuity: In "The Palace" scene where "Kid Creole & the Coconuts" are performing, Terry leaves the main floor and goes into Jake's office. The song playing in the background "Curiosity" skips a beat when heard muffled in Jake's office.

Quotes:

Jessie Wyler: He said the only way I'd get away from him would be to kill him.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Best of Film Noir (1999) (V)

Soundtrack:

AGAINST ALL ODDS (TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW)

An effective neo-noir that gets a little convuluted towards the end

Just recently discovering this on dvd, I'm actually suprised I haven't heard much about it before. A modern film noir that's a very loose remake of "Out of the Past" with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas. The film instead focuses on gorgeous, sunny locations like Mexico and the finer locations of L.A. instead of the dark and grungy look that most film noir's follow. Jeff Bridges stars as a pro L.A. football player that gets cut because of a mild injury. Upset because he has some good years left in him, he attempts to sue the team to no avail. Broke and looking for a job, a shady past friend played by James Woods shows up with a job offer: find his girlfriend who split on him and headed to Mexico. This girlfriend also happens to be the daughter of the woman who owns the L.A. pro football team, a ruthless business woman who is primarily interested in real estate and inherited the team from her late husband. When he decides he needs a vacation and the money, he takes Woods up on his offer. After a couple days of useless searching, he finally finds her...and immediately falls in love. The femme fatale is played by Rachel Ward, a hot commodity back then, coming off of The Thornbirds. A spoiled rich princess-type, she eventually succumbs to him and the following scenes are some of the most beautiful sequences put on film. The only commercial movie that has filmed scenes in the gorgeous ancient ruins of Chichen Itza and Tulum, these sequences make the film. The sex scene is one of the best I've seen, really putting a passion on the screen without becoming too...late night cinemax. Unfortunately, from here, the film plummets into a convuluted mess trying to deal with issues that seem out of place with the film: The L.A. business elite, gambling, real estate, etc. I think the film is definitely worth a watch for the first two-thirds alone. Also, dvd fans are encouraged to listen to the cast commentary. One of the better commentaries I've heard, there is a lot of great anecdotes from a rare track by Jeff Bridges and James Woods. The two leads really seem to come off as real friends joking and ribbing each other, unlike some of the stuffy professional actor commentaries that are usually the case.