Took a look at the trailer for this early Taylor Hackford thriller, as well as the oft-aired video for Phil Collins’s Oscar-nominated, Grammy-winning title ballad, to see if that might jar any memories of actually having seen this loose ‘n’ lusty remake of Jacques Tourneur’s film noir masterpiece ‘Out of the Past.’
Turns out I can’t recall anything more than what this 7-inch sleeve reminds me: Jeff Bridges was then at his most swoon-worthy dashing; Rachel Ward, who I fell hard for via Carl Reiner’s spoof ‘Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid’ starring Steve Martin and the TV miniseries ‘The Thorn Birds’ (both from ‘83, shortly before this flick arrived), ranks high among the great beauties of her era; both remain excellent actors; and I’d gleefully gawk at them entangled on tropical beaches in hot positions like this for at least two hours with zero plot. Rename it ‘Against Each Other (Take a Look at Them Nude).’ My guess is I had little interest in the movie at 14, nor much ability to see it at that age, and I frequently changed channels whenever it turned up on cable. Now, aware that it was Hackford’s third film (after ‘The Idolmaker,’ which I loved as a teen, and his first big hit ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’) and co-stars younger James Woods and older Richard Widmark, this has leapt onto my watchlist. As for Phil’s pleading tune, one of those smashes that gets completely disassociated from its source, it’s still pop perfection — but I prefer the Postal Service version these days. (Theirs also came from a movie: ‘Wicker Park.’)
SoundtrackSunday 004:
‘Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)’
Atlantic, 1984
d: Taylor Hackford