“Like every other young dreamer, I was crushed. You don’t just arrive in Hollywood and become an actor, but after a few years I did get into the business.”
– Bill Paxton
A Chicago cop from the hills of Appalachia is caught between his duty to the law and his family’s code of vengeance when one of his brothers is killed by the mob. It’s a fast-paced and fascinating look at a clash of cultures, as the war between Truman Gates’ backwoods clan and the Chicago crime family plays out.
Bill plays Gerald Gates, a cigarette delivery truck driver who hates the big city and would rather be back home. Gerald is a straightforward guy; guileless and good-natured and more than a little stubborn. He seems like the kind of guy you could hang out with. Kick back and have a couple of beers. Watch the game. Drive down to the beach in the middle of the night playing the radio in the truck real loud. Cut up toy soldiers and glue them back together in strange ways to make them into mutants… Oops, no, that was the guys I went to college with. Think maybe there was a Gerald or two among ’em.
Bill sure makes a cute li’l hillbilly! Oh my, what those shirts with the sleeves ripped off do to me… If I could have a Bill clone to take home with me, I think I’d choose one of these. He’s a cutie pie. Too bad he doesn’t last very long. Bill’s got all of two scenes in this movie, but they are good ones, and he gets pretty badly beat up, if you like that sort of thing.
Three stars – it’s a good movie, and Bill’s part is short but sweet.