Dennis Quaid plays Dexter Cornell, an author turned literacy professor going through a very rough 48 hours or so. His prize student, Nick Lang (Rob Knepper), seems to commit suicide, his estranged wife (Jane Kaczmarek) serves him with divorce papers, and he wakes up (after a night of drunkenness) in a co-ed's (Meg Ryan) dorm. Soon, he's not feeling very well, and he learns that, to his horror, he has been poisoned. Now, he may have less than 24 hours left in his life: precious little time in which to find out who in God's name might have wanted him dead, and why.
"D.O.A." '88 is a loud, stylized, energetic, and very 80s update of the much-loved 1950 film noir classic. The 1950 film is still superior, but this IS entertaining in a trashy, ridiculous way. It comes complete with the kind of twists, turns, and red herrings that one would expect from such a mystery. The rock score (including an on-screen appearance by Timbuk 3) lends some scenes a definite jarring quality. Clearly, directors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, a married couple at the time and the creators of the Max Headroom character, just set out to make a little potboiler of a film, one that may entertain some people but which can also be easily forgotten. Their most interesting touch is to bookend their version of "D.O.A." with black & white scenes.
The cast is certainly of some value. Quaid is good in the lead, and Ryan (his real-life wife at the time) is very cute as the innocent student who reluctantly helps in his search for the truth. Daniel Stern is amiable as Cornell's friend Hal, a colleague in the literacy department. The assemblage of familiar faces includes Christopher Neame as a thuggish chauffeur, Charlotte Rampling as a local ice queen with a tie to the late Nick Lang, Robin Johnson as her daughter, Jay Patterson as a resentful peer at the college, Brion James and Jack Kehoe as investigating detectives, and, in one of his earliest film roles, a young John Hawkes. That's Bill Johnson, a.k.a. Leatherface in the second "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movie, as the desk sergeant in the opening few minutes.
Scripted by Charles Edward Pogue, who had previously written "Psycho III" and David Cronenberg's remake of "The Fly", this does have some sharp lines of dialogue along the way. While it may be sordid and *very* flashy, it's fortunately not boring. While the 1950 noir picture may be the better version of the tale overall, this does show its audience a reasonably good time.
Seven out of 10.
"D.O.A." '88 is a loud, stylized, energetic, and very 80s update of the much-loved 1950 film noir classic. The 1950 film is still superior, but this IS entertaining in a trashy, ridiculous way. It comes complete with the kind of twists, turns, and red herrings that one would expect from such a mystery. The rock score (including an on-screen appearance by Timbuk 3) lends some scenes a definite jarring quality. Clearly, directors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, a married couple at the time and the creators of the Max Headroom character, just set out to make a little potboiler of a film, one that may entertain some people but which can also be easily forgotten. Their most interesting touch is to bookend their version of "D.O.A." with black & white scenes.
The cast is certainly of some value. Quaid is good in the lead, and Ryan (his real-life wife at the time) is very cute as the innocent student who reluctantly helps in his search for the truth. Daniel Stern is amiable as Cornell's friend Hal, a colleague in the literacy department. The assemblage of familiar faces includes Christopher Neame as a thuggish chauffeur, Charlotte Rampling as a local ice queen with a tie to the late Nick Lang, Robin Johnson as her daughter, Jay Patterson as a resentful peer at the college, Brion James and Jack Kehoe as investigating detectives, and, in one of his earliest film roles, a young John Hawkes. That's Bill Johnson, a.k.a. Leatherface in the second "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movie, as the desk sergeant in the opening few minutes.
Scripted by Charles Edward Pogue, who had previously written "Psycho III" and David Cronenberg's remake of "The Fly", this does have some sharp lines of dialogue along the way. While it may be sordid and *very* flashy, it's fortunately not boring. While the 1950 noir picture may be the better version of the tale overall, this does show its audience a reasonably good time.
Seven out of 10.