Bad Company (1995 film)

Last updated
Bad Company
Bad companyposter.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed by Damian Harris
Written by Ross Thomas
Produced by Jeffrey Chernov
Amedeo Ursini
Starring
Cinematography Jack N. Green
Edited byStuart H. Pappé
Music by Carter Burwell
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • January 20, 1995 (1995-01-20)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3,674,841

Bad Company is a 1995 American neo-noir thriller film directed by Damian Harris and written by Ross Thomas.

Contents

The film stars Ellen Barkin and Laurence Fishburne as former CIA operatives engaging in a dubious romance while plotting to murder their boss, played by Frank Langella, and take over his firm, which specializes in blackmail and corporate espionage. The film grossed $3.6 million in a limited theatrical release in the United States and drew mostly negative reviews from critics, but the film enjoyed lucrative success in the home video market. [1]


Plot

In Seattle, former CIA officer Nelson Crowe is hired by Vic Grimes for a position with his company nicknamed "The Toolshed." Grimes' firm employs people with intelligence service backgrounds to sell their talents with regard to extortion and corporate espionage to domestic and foreign corporations. Grimes' second in command, Margaret Wells, begins working with Crowe and seduces him, enticing him with a plot to murder Grimes so they can take over the firm.

The Toolshed's top client, Curl Industries, is being sued in a class action lawsuit in a case currently on appeal at the Washington State Supreme Court. Curl Industries is accused of poisoning the water supply to a small town, resulting in the birth of disabled children. Grimes gives Crowe $1 million to bribe one of the justices, Justin Beach, into swinging the verdict in favor of Curl Industries.

Crowe and Toolshed operative Todd Stapp buy Justice Beach's $25,000 gambling debt from bookmaker Bobby Birdsong and pay for information on Beach's personal life from his friend, Les Goodwin. During a secret progress report meeting, Crowe is revealed to in fact be a mole for the CIA, albeit against his will. Crowe was dismissed from the agency on suspicion of stealing a $50,000 bribe meant for an Iraqi colonel.

Crowe's former boss, William "Smitty" Smithfield, is threatening prison time or the disappearance of the bribe as leverage to get Crowe to infiltrate the Toolshed. The CIA intends to acquire the firm and use it as a black operations hub with Smitty in charge. During the meeting, as he turns over the $1 million bribe money for inspection, Crowe secretly records his conversation with Smitty, who also forces him to sign a receipt. Stapp later discovers Crowe's secret objective and extorts a payoff from Smitty to remain silent about it.

Beach accepts the $1 million bribe delivered by Crowe. He and his mistress Julie Ames sign a receipt to ensure Beach's cooperation. Beach buys tickets for a flight to the Caribbean and sends Julie ahead with the money, telling her he intends to leave his wife and join her. After reneging on his agreement and voting against Curl Industries, Beach commits suicide.

Despite the setback caused by Beach's death and his vote, Wells and Crowe continue with their plan to murder Grimes. Wells spends a romantic weekend with Grimes at his fishing cabin. Crowe sneaks in and shoots Grimes, then beats Wells to make it appear like the murder was a robbery gone wrong.

Wells and Crowe then take over the Toolshed, though Wells now rebuffs Crowe's affections towards her, having used him to get what she wanted. Upon hearing of her lover's death, Julie travels to Europe, sending Goodwin postcards telling him how she's enjoying spending the $1 million. Goodwin sells this information to Crowe, who takes it to Wells. Wells orders Crowe to find and kill Julie because of her knowledge of the bribe attempt. Smitty confronts Wells in her office at the Toolshed and informs her of the CIA's plan to take over and also of Crowe's involvement in the agency's infiltration.

Julie buys a gun from Goodwin and goes to Crowe's apartment to kill him in revenge for Beach's death. She arrives shortly after Wells, who also came to kill Crowe. In a chaotic shootout, Julie blindly fires at both as Crowe and Wells shoot each other dead.

Julie somehow remains unharmed. As she meticulously picks up her shell casings, she finds Crowe's briefcase containing incriminating evidence, including the tape of his conversations with Smitty and the receipt she and Beach signed. After burning the receipt, Julie mails the tape to the U.S. Attorney's office to expose the corrupt dealings of both the CIA and the Toolshed. She then leaves town for good, alone.

Cast

Critical reception

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. As of December 30, 2010, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 27% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 11 reviews. [2] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Class Action</i> (film) 1991 film by Michael Apted

Class Action is a 1991 American legal drama film directed by Michael Apted. Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio star; Larry Fishburne, Colin Friels, Fred Dalton Thompson, and Donald Moffat are also featured. The film was entered into the 17th Moscow International Film Festival.

<i>Runaway Jury</i> 2003 American legal thriller film by Gary Fleder

Runaway Jury is a 2003 American legal thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz. An adaptation of John Grisham's 1996 novel The Runaway Jury, the film pits lawyer Wendell Rohr (Hoffman) against shady jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Hackman), who uses unlawful means to stack the jury with people sympathetic to the defense. Meanwhile, a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game begins when juror Nicholas Easter (Cusack) and his girlfriend Marlee (Weisz) appear to be able to sway the jury to deliver any verdict they want in a trial against a gun manufacturer. The film was released October 17, 2003.

<i>Someone like You</i> (2001 film) 2001 film by Tony Goldwyn

Someone like You is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Tony Goldwyn, based on Laura Zigman's 1998 novel Animal Husbandry. The film stars Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear, Hugh Jackman, Marisa Tomei, and Ellen Barkin, and follows a heartbroken woman looking for a reason why she was dumped.

<i>Hoodlum</i> (film) 1997 American film

Hoodlum is a 1997 American crime drama film that gives a fictionalized account of the gang war between the Italian/Jewish mafia alliance and the black gangsters of Harlem that took place in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The film concentrates on Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, Dutch Schultz, and Lucky Luciano.

<i>The Twelve Chairs</i> (1970 film) 1970 American comedy film by Mel Brooks

The Twelve Chairs is a 1970 American comedy film directed and written by Mel Brooks, and starring Frank Langella, Ron Moody and Dom DeLuise. The film is one of at least eighteen film adaptations of the Soviet 1928 novel The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov.

<i>Just Cause</i> (film) 1995 film by Arne Glimcher

Just Cause is a 1995 American crime thriller film directed by Arne Glimcher and starring Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne. It is based on John Katzenbach's novel of the same name.

<i>Masters of the Universe</i> (film) 1987 American superhero film directed by Gary Goddard

Masters of the Universe is a 1987 American fantasy film based on the Masters of the Universe franchise by Mattel. The film was directed by Gary Goddard, produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan, and written by David Odell. It stars Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Jon Cypher, Chelsea Field, Billy Barty, Courteney Cox, Robert Duncan McNeill, and Meg Foster. The film follows two teenagers who meet He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, who travels to Earth with his friends to stop their archenemy, the evil Skeletor from obtaining a cosmic key that will enable him to take over their home planet of Eternia and the entire universe.

<i>Eddie</i> (film) 1996 American film

Eddie is a 1996 American sports comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Frank Langella. The film was directed by Steve Rash.

<i>Switch</i> (1991 film) 1991 film by Blake Edwards

Switch is a 1991 American fantasy comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards. Based on George Axelrod's 1959 play Goodbye Charlie, the film stars Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, JoBeth Williams, and Lorraine Bracco.

<i>Bad Company</i> (2002 film) 2002 film

Bad Company is a 2002 American action-comedy film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins. Based on the script for a cancelled sequel to Blue Streak, the film became somewhat famous for its connections to the September 11th terrorist attacks; amongst other things, it was the last major production to film inside the original World Trade Center. The film plot, written years before the attacks, involved a variety of Serbo-Balkan extremists planning a huge attack in New York City. The film's release date was moved out of its late 2001 spot and into a summer 2002 release, similar to several other films with terrorism or violent crime-related stories, including Collateral Damage.

<i>Man Trouble</i> 1992 film by Bob Rafelson

Man Trouble is a 1992 American romantic black comedy film starring Jack Nicholson and Ellen Barkin. It was directed by Bob Rafelson and written by Carole Eastman, who together had been responsible for 1970's Five Easy Pieces.

<i>Pure Luck</i> 1991 film by Nadia Tass

Pure Luck is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Nadia Tass in her only feature film debut. It is a remake of the popular French comedy film La Chèvre (1981). The film stars Martin Short, Danny Glover, Sheila Kelly, Scott Wilson, and Sam Wanamaker.

<i>Frost/Nixon</i> (film) 2008 historical drama film

Frost/Nixon is a 2008 historical drama film based on the 2006 play of the same name by Peter Morgan, who also adapted the screenplay. The film tells the story behind the Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. The film was directed by Ron Howard. A co-production of the United States, the United Kingdom and France, the film was produced for Universal Pictures by Howard, Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment, and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films, and received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director.

<i>Five Fingers</i> (2006 film) 2006 American film

Five Fingers is a 2006 American drama-thriller film directed by Laurence Malkin, and written by Chad Thumann and Malkin. The film had ten producers, including actor Laurence Fishburne, who stars in it alongside Ryan Phillippe, Gina Torres, Touriya Haoud, Saïd Taghmaoui and Colm Meaney. Five Fingers was filmed in the Netherlands, Morocco, and Louisiana in 2004.

<i>Siesta</i> (film) 1987 film by Mary Lambert

Siesta is a 1987 American drama film directed by Mary Lambert and starring Ellen Barkin, Gabriel Byrne and Jodie Foster. According to a 1987 article in The Los Angeles Times, the film "follows a daredevil through her final days leading up to a potentially fatal leap. Rife with Jungian imagery, the film is a post-modern fable of destiny and change, peopled with a gallery of lost souls including a guardian angel, a sorceress and the angel of death ." It also stars Martin Sheen and Isabella Rossellini.

<i>Robot & Frank</i> 2012 film directed by Jake Schreier

Robot & Frank is a 2012 American science fiction comedy-drama film directed by Jake Schreier from a screenplay by Christopher Ford. The film stars Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, Peter Sarsgaard, James Marsden, and Liv Tyler.

<i>Play It as It Lays</i> (film) 1972 film by Frank Perry

Play It as It Lays is a 1972 American drama film directed by Frank Perry from a screenplay by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Didion. The film stars Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins, who previously starred together in the 1968 film Pretty Poison.

<i>Juliet, Naked</i> (film) 2018 American romantic comedy film

Juliet, Naked is a 2018 romantic comedy film directed by Jesse Peretz based on Nick Hornby's 2009 novel of the same name. It centers on the story of Annie and her unlikely romance with singer-songwriter Tucker Crowe, who is also the subject of her boyfriend Duncan's long-time music obsession. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018.

<i>Shit Year</i> 2010 American film

Shit Year is a 2010 American experimental drama film written and directed by Cam Archer and starring Ellen Barkin. The film was screened at the Directors' Fortnight event of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>All the Old Knives</i> 2022 American thriller film

All the Old Knives is a 2022 American spy thriller film directed by Janus Metz Pedersen and written by Olen Steinhauer. It is based on Steinhauer's 2015 novel of the same name. The film stars Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton, Laurence Fishburne, Jonathan Pryce and David Dawson.

References

  1. McCourt, Judith (12 July 1998). "THE TOP 50 TURNS-PER-COPY TITLES 1992-1997". Video Store Magazine : 20.
  2. "Bad Company Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  3. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.