Year:1987
Price: 75 cents
Duration: 89 minutes
Director: Beau Bridges
Cast: Beau Bridges, Bubba Smith, Lloyd Bridges, Gary Lockwood, Lela Rochon
I'm not Geste-ing when I say that Beau knows movies. He'll beau you over with his splendid visage and everyman bodytype. He's like the Beaulushi brother who decided to beaucome a tax consultant, but instead he's a Bridges and he decided to act. And it was with this same characteristic decisiveness that Beau first embarked upon the worldly battledome of film directordom with a couple of tv movies and an afterschool special that I haven't seen, but fantasize about the quality therefore of. Up until the time that I saw The Wild Pair, a film that barely exists, I was absent minded and aloof in regard to the Beau, never giving him the time of day or even allowing his bushy brows to make cameos in my Peter Gallagher fan fiction. Don't make the same mistake!
Keep in mind, I'm not actually recommending you see this movie. In fact, you probably shouldn't. It is an actionless and laughless pile of rote action comedy. It's only charms are merely nostalgic in nature, but unremarkable in execution. Virtually any other 1986-88 action comedy would fulfill the same criteria and probably pack a whole bunch more entertainment for your 75 cents. Although, I must admit that Bubba Smith's kneehigh cholo socks and highwatertower sweatsuit look is one that lends credence to the idea of his awesomeness more than any content of the film's story does.
But what this film did do was get me started thinking about this Beau Bridges character. And for that I am thankful. He is a beaut. As a small child, he had an uncredited little role in film noir classic Force Of Evil and a smattering of the kinds of unremarkable small kiddie roles that come naturally when one contains the same genetic material as Lloyd Bridges. One thing that is particularly conspicuous is the absence of notable roles in his filmography. Who could forget his nickname begatting performance in THE WIZARD? No one that's who, but beyond that it gets kooky. I used to think he was in TRON, but that was Jeff Bridges. Either way, I am glad he is alive and that he is able to thwart busted face sibling related hatred from the criminally underrated and superior in every possible way, Randy Quaid. But mostly, thinking about Beau Bridges got me thinking that I really should update this shit again and, if it had to be an unremarkable interracial buddy cop movie from the mid to late 80's starring the lesser half of a divergently attractive brother actor duo, well then, THE WILD PAIR just about fits better than anything. Straight 2008.
