On The Bounce

'Ricochet's strong opening sequence, reminiscent of titles straight from a Hitchcock movie, bodes well and it's Denzel to the max from the opening frames. The film is very much a product of the 80's in its look and sound, and there's a hard edge and some snappy dialogue that really pushes the action forward without pulling any of its numerous punches. This is most likely down to the screenplay being penned by Steven de Souza who wrote Die Hard; Die Hard 2; 48 Hours and Another 48 Hours, some of the previous decades' defining films, aided and abetted by director Russell Mulcahy of Highlander fame. John Lithgow's performance is suitably deranged, Kevin Pollack provides solid support (nice impression in the early stages). It's a good story, not without a Hitchcockian twist or two, arguably not particularly polished as a final product, but still a barrel load of kitschy '80's fun (even though it was released in 1991). Well worth a look, especially for Denzel Washington fans who might have missed it.