Woods is a grungy, near penniless, third-rate photo journalist who thinks there could be some money made by heading to chaotic El Salvador and getting some pics. Belushi tags along and after barely crossing the border, have guns shoved in their face and nearly get killed. Woods has many connections everywhere it seems, and gets he and Belushi out of trouble...for a short while. The film mostly plays this way, as Woods becomes more daring in trying to get his job done, only to be nearly killed, but rescued by an acquaintance in the warring area. Despite the plot description on the video box, a lot of time is spent on things not related to it. A couple examples would be the carousing by the two leads, as they live for their beer and drone on about conquering a certain anatomical part of female virgins. Also, El Salvador is not even reached until 40 minutes into the film. But when they stick to the gritty stuff, the job gets done pretty well. The film's all over the place at times, but the performance of Woods, as with any of his films, makes up for it. He's not as dynamic as in other works ("Cop", "The Boost"), but still delivers as usual. Belushi, in a rare dramatic role, is the only other one of note, doing a fine job. Woods always outshines even great actors, making them look mediocre, but the others here are just horrid. The gay-ish blonde guy with the sweater tied around his neck, or the mustachioed man with the cigar, have crap line delivery. Fortunately they're not on screen too much. The oddest thing is that Tony Plana, who played Major Max, followed this up with such a tiny part as the demento prison guard in "Born in East L.A."(?). This is the only one Stone's movies that I remotely liked, and you can tell it served as a precursor to "Platoon", which he did after this. But if you're like me and love Woods, that is your sole reason for renting this. Based on actual experiences by Richard Boyle (Woods' character), who somehow survived and was able to share it all.
