Flashback (1990 film)

Last updated
Flashback
Flashback poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Franco Amurri
Written by David Loughery
Produced by Marvin Worth
Starring
Cinematography Stefan Czapsky
Edited by Carroll Timothy O'Meara
Music by Barry Goldberg
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
February 2, 1990
(United States)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$6,488,144 (US) [1]

Flashback is a 1990 American adventure comedy film starring Dennis Hopper, Kiefer Sutherland, and Carol Kane. The film is written by David Loughery and directed by Franco Amurri.

Contents

Plot

Huey Walker (Dennis Hopper) is a hippie and a former New Left radical (in the vein of Abbie Hoffman [2] ) who has been on the run from the law for 20 years for something he did not do, disconnecting Spiro Agnew's train car in Spokane, Washington. John Buckner (Kiefer Sutherland) is an FBI agent who is set to transport Walker back to Spokane for trial.

Their journey forces them to cross paths with a corrupt Sheriff Hightower and the two end up fleeing for their lives. As the story progresses, it is revealed that Buckner was raised on a communal farm and that his given name is Free. As Buckner learns to reconcile his past with his present, Walker does as well.

Cast

Reception

The film received mixed reviews.

Vincent Canby in The New York Times stated,

About 30 minutes before it's over, Flashback begins to go to pieces, like someone who has overdosed on carrot juice and organic marzipan. The movie becomes woozy and sort of distraught. Until then, it's an engaging comedy about the confrontation of a superannuated flower child of the 1960s and a 26-year-old representative of the clean-shaven, cholesterol-conscious, fiercely conservative 1980s. [3]

The Los Angeles Times critic Peter Rainer stated:

In "Flashback" (citywide), the casting of Dennis Hopper as an Abbie Hoffman-like radical prankster is weirdly dislocating. Still primarily identified with "Easy Rider," Hopper is the shaggy archetype of '60s hippie anomie. [...] Despite his scraggly derelict's appearance and screw-loose antics, he is wised-up and politically right on. He is, God help us, the conscience of the '60s. And that's where the dislocation comes in. Hopper represents the fringes of hippiedom for us, yet his character here is also being promoted as a robust politico—an Abbie Hoffman in Rip Van Winkle drag. [4]

Remarked Roger Ebert,

I've heard people complaining recently that once you've seen the coming attractions trailer for a movie, you've seen the movie. That's the way I felt after seeing the trailer for Franco Amurri's Flashback, but the film itself is a pleasant surprise - deeper and more original than the formula that the trailer seems to promise. [5]

The then-new Entertainment Weekly magazine gave the film a B+, stating:

Ever since the mythic ’60s ended, countercultural idealists have been grappling with the loss of what they believed would be their eternal youth. Considering how many serious books and movies have addressed the aging of the Woodstock generation, it’s surprising to find Flashback, a seemingly insubstantial film that has something important to say on the subject. [...] Screenwriter David Loughery cleverly builds this simple role reversal into an affecting vehicle for exploring identity and growth. Against all odds, the movie manages to avoid easy caricatures. [...] Unlike many such voyages through the past, this is one ’60s trip that’s worth repeating. [6]

Based on 15 reviews, the film has a score of 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. [7]

Box office

The film debuted at number 5. [8]

Soundtrack

The film produced a soundtrack made up of a mix of 1960s and 1980s alternative music. The theme song "Free" by the band Big Audio Dynamite is only available on this soundtrack; it was never included in any Big Audio Dynamite album, although the single edit appears on their compilation Planet B.A.D. . A remake of the song, titled "Kickin' In", was later recorded by Big Audio Dynamite II and included on the Kool-Aid album. Bob Dylan's version of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" is also only available on this soundtrack, as it hasn't yet been released on any Dylan album or any of his many box sets or Bootleg Series releases, although a different version that Dylan recorded in 1975 is available on iTunes as a bonus track on Bob Dylan: The Collection .

Track Listing

  1. "Free" – Big Audio Dynamite
  2. "Fatal Attraction (And It's So Strange...)" – The Ultraviolets
  3. "Next Time (I'll Dream of You)" – Flesh for Lulu
  4. "Walk on the Wild Side" – Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
  5. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – R.E.M.
  6. "People Get Ready" – Bob Dylan
  7. "On the Road Again" – Canned Heat
  8. "Born to Be Wild" – Steppenwolf
  9. "Comin' Back to Me" – Jefferson Airplane
  10. "All Along the Watchtower" – Jimi Hendrix

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Audio Dynamite</span> British musical group formed in 1984

Big Audio Dynamite were an English band, formed in London in 1984 by Mick Jones, former lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the Clash. The band mixed various musical styles, incorporating elements of punk rock, dance music, hip hop, reggae, and funk. After releasing a number of well-received studio albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Big Audio Dynamite broke up in 1997. In 2011, the band embarked on a reunion tour.

<i>Easy Rider</i> 1969 film by Dennis Hopper

Easy Rider is a 1969 American independent road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South, carrying the proceeds from a cocaine deal. The success of Easy Rider helped spark the New Hollywood era of filmmaking during the early 1970s.

<i>Pale Rider</i> 1985 film by Clint Eastwood

Pale Rider is a 1985 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars in the lead role. The title is a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the pale horse's ghost rider (Eastwood) represents Death. The film, which took in over $41 million at the box office, became the highest-grossing Western of the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiefer Sutherland</span> Canadian actor (born 1966)

Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland is a Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series 24, for which he won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Satellite Awards.

<i>Out of the Blue</i> (1980 film) 1980 drama film directed by and starring Dennis Hopper

Out of the Blue is a 1980 drama film directed by Dennis Hopper, and starring Linda Manz, Hopper, Sharon Farrell, Don Gordon, and Raymond Burr. The film was produced by Leonard Yakir and written by him and Brenda Nielson. Its plot follows a troubled and rebellious teenage girl living in the Pacific Northwest with her dysfunctional mother and alcoholic father. The title is taken from the Neil Young song "My My, Hey Hey ", which is also featured in the film.

<i>Steal This Movie!</i> 2000 American film

Steal This Movie! is a 2000 American biographical film directed by Robert Greenwald and written by Bruce Graham, based on the 1976 book To America with Love: Letters From the Underground by Anita and Abbie Hoffman and 1992 book Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel by Marty Jezer. The film follows 1960s radical figure Abbie Hoffman, and stars Vincent D'Onofrio and Janeane Garofalo, with Jeanne Tripplehorn and Kevin Pollak.

<i>The Three Musketeers</i> (1993 film) 1993 film by Stephen Herek

The Three Musketeers is a 1993 action-adventure comedy film from Walt Disney Pictures, Caravan Pictures, and The Kerner Entertainment Company, directed by Stephen Herek from a screenplay by David Loughery. It stars Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Chris O'Donnell, Oliver Platt, Tim Curry and Rebecca De Mornay.

<i>My Science Project</i> 1985 American science fiction film

My Science Project is a 1985 American teen science fiction comedy film directed by Jonathan R. Betuel. It followed on heels of other teen sci-fi/comedy films released the same year, such as Back to the Future, Real Genius, and Weird Science, though it did not perform as well as those films.

<i>The Cowboy Way</i> (film) 1994 American film

The Cowboy Way is a 1994 American action comedy western film directed by Gregg Champion and starring Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland.

<i>Chicago 10</i> (film) 2007 American film

Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace is a 2007 American animated documentary written and directed by Brett Morgen that tells the story of the Chicago Eight. The Chicago Eight were charged by the United States federal government with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War and countercultural protests in Chicago, Illinois during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe is a documentary film about the late American civil rights attorney William Kunstler directed by daughters Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler that premiered at the 25th Sundance Film Festival in January 2009.

<i>Beat</i> (2000 film) 2000 American film

Beat is a 2000 American biographical drama film written and directed by Gary Walkow, and starring Courtney Love, Kiefer Sutherland, Norman Reedus, and Ron Livingston. The film focuses primarily on the last several weeks of writer Joan Vollmer's life in 1951 Mexico City, leading up to her accidental killing by her husband, the writer William S. Burroughs. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2000 and was entered into the 22nd Moscow International Film Festival.

<i>Paradise Found</i> (film) 2003 film

Paradise Found is a 2003 biographical film based on the life of Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin. Starring Kiefer Sutherland as the title character, alongside Nastassja Kinski and Alun Armstrong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Hopper filmography</span>

Dennis Hopper was an American actor, director, writer, film editor, photographer and artist. He made his first television appearance in 1955, and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). Over the next ten years, Hopper appeared frequently on television in guest roles, and by the end of the 1960s had played supporting roles in several films.

<i>The Last Days of Frankie the Fly</i> 1996 American film

The Last Days of Frankie the Fly is a 1996 crime film directed by Peter Markle, written by Dayton Callie and starring Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen, Kiefer Sutherland, and Daryl Hannah.

Franco Amurri is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter, best known for directing films such as Da grande, which inspired the Tom Hanks film Big, Monkey Trouble and Flashback.

<i>Behind the Red Door</i> (film) 2003 film by Matia Karrell

Behind the Red Door is a 2003 drama film directed by Matia Karrell. The lead characters in the movie are Kyra Sedgwick, Kiefer Sutherland and Stockard Channing. The film depicts the relationship between a sister and her brother, who is suffering from the fatal disease AIDS.

<i>I Am Wrath</i> 2016 American film

I Am Wrath is a 2016 American action thriller film directed by Chuck Russell and written by Yvan Gauthier and Paul Sloan. The film stars John Travolta, Christopher Meloni, Sam Trammell, Amanda Schull, Rebecca De Mornay, Melissa Bolona and Luis Da Silva. Principal photography on the film began on March 9, 2015, in Columbus, Ohio. The film was released on December 16, 2016 by Lionsgate, and received mostly negative reviews.

<i>Forsaken</i> (2015 film) 2014 film by Jon Cassar

Forsaken is a 2015 Canadian revisionist western film directed by Jon Cassar, from a screenplay by Brad Mirman. The film stars Kiefer Sutherland, Donald Sutherland, Brian Cox, Michael Wincott, Aaron Poole and Demi Moore. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 16, 2015. The film was released on February 19, 2016. One of the executive producers on the film was Doug Falconer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bottom Line (Big Audio Dynamite song)</span> 1985 single by Big Audio Dynamite

"The Bottom Line" is a song by English alternative dance band Big Audio Dynamite, released as both a 7" and 12" single from their debut studio album, This Is Big Audio Dynamite (1985). It was written, and produced by Mick Jones, his debut single with a band singing lead vocals since being fired from the Clash in 1983. Whilst not a hit in their home country, peaking at No. 97 on the UK Singles Chart, it was a Top 40 hit in Australasia, peaking at No. 34 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart, and No. 38 on New Zealand's Recorded Music NZ chart.

References

  1. ↑ Flashback at Box Office Mojo
  2. ↑ Senses of Cinema
  3. ↑ Canby, Vincent (2 February 1990). "Review/Film;Liberal Old vs. Conservative Young in 'Flashback'". The New York Times . Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  4. ↑ "MOVIE REVIEW : Hopper as a Hippie Icon in Familiar 'Flashback'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  5. ↑ "Flashback". Chicago Sun Times . Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  6. ↑ "Flashback". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  7. ↑ "Flashback (1990)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  8. ↑ "WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : 'Driving Miss Daisy' Gets the Checkered Flag". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2012-06-10.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.