Gene Hackman, Kris Kristofferson, Karen Black (and Harry Dean Stanton), all in the same movie. It leads you to expect an excellent movie. The imagery in the movie takes one back to a simpler time in the past. While the movie is decent, it ultimately fails to entertain. The problem is the plot. Bad cop Hackman forces Kristofferson to sell a massive amount of marijuana in less than three days. The movie focuses on that process. Kristofferson has to contact dozens of people to try to pull off the feat. Transaction after transaction is recounted like they are occurring in comedy/drama. The tone of the process is way too lighthearted. The drug transactions are often done recklessly and in broad daylight. The real problems with the plot of the movie is Hackman's motivation. What does he really want? Why does he seemingly interfere in some of the transactions. What happens to Hackman's character at the end of the movie makes no sense. The end of the movie is abrupt and unsatisfying, like the screenwriter was told he or she had 15 minutes to finish the work.
Review of Cisco Pike
