Bullet Points: Chance
I am not sure who thought it would be a good idea to take two members of PM Entertainment’s B team and try to make them a dynamic duo, but that’s exactly what happened in 1990’s Chance starring Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Quiet Fire) and Don Haggerty (Repo Jake).
The best thing (or at least most accurate thing) about the movie is the title, because I knew I was taking a real chance watching this title headlined by two TV stars from the 1970’s….
- Chance Encounter: Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs reprises his Detective Jon Chance role for the fourth (and at this point final) time in Chance. As the movie begins, Chance busts two low lives who are engaging in an arms deal. But Chance not being one for procedure, doesn’t call for backup and end ups shooting both guys and one of his shots causes the car with all the illegal weapons in the trunk to blow up. This reckless behavior has Chance’s boss fit to be tied and Chance soon finds himself suspended from the force.
- Off Chance: Between Chance’s bust gone bad and subsequent suspension, a jewelry heist serves as the backdrop as the opening credits of the movie roll. Please note that the jewels being stolen are the property of notorious gangster Mr. Kingsley (Roger Rodd), something that should certainly come into play as the movie progresses.
- Fat Chance: We are introduced to our other leading man in dubious fashion as we see Zach (Don Haggerty) drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels that he has hidden in his toilet tank. He’s drinking right before his Alcoholics Anonymous meeting where he’ll be receiving his one year of sobriety token. Chance, not having anything better to do now that he is unemployed, attends the meeting to support his old friend/old co-worker Zach, who was forced to leave the LAPD due to his drinking problem.
- Jump at the Chance: Later in the film when Zach calls his old buddy Jon for some help, Jon does not hesitate… although Jon had no idea the trouble he was about to find himself in. You see, since leaving the LAPD, Zach got a job as a repo man because PM Entertainment was apparently obsessed with the notion of Don Haggerty as a repo man. Zach repossessed a 1968 Barracuda from a couple of criminals who called a trailer in the middle of nowhere home… the same criminals who stole the diamonds from Mr. Kingsley during the opening credits… and guess where they stashed the diamonds? If you said inside the 1968 Barracuda, you would be correct.
- Fighting Chance: Chance and Zach now find themselves getting shot at by the two diamondless diamond thieves and Kingsley’s hired goons. Plus the cops (thanks in part to dirty cop Riley) believe that Zach and Chance have something to do with the diamond heist. Under normal circumstances this would be the perfect set up for an action movie to really kick it into high gear and go balls to the wall… but Chance had one glaring flaw, I really didn’t give a damn if Zach and Chance overcame the odds.
In a perfect world, Chance and Zach, the diamond thieves, Kingsley and his goons and the dirty cop would have engaged in an epic car chase that saw every car flip and blow up. But in 1990, PM Entertainment had not yet employed Spiro Razatos and perfected their over the top car stunts.
Chance was not totally unwatchable, but it was not the easiest watch either. I would only suggest this one to PM Entertainment completionists and even then, I would not make it a top priority.
I do suggest that you make reading these Bonus Bullet Points a top priority…
- Familiar Faces: The late Robert Axelrod, who had bit parts in several Charles Bronson films in the 1980’s and played opposite Don Haggerty in Repo Jake played one of the two diamond thieves… Jastereo Coviare reprised the Bear role from the previous Jon Chance film, L.A. Vice. Bear was once again portrayed as a man with a very active libido and he even referred to himself as Big Chief Iron Dick.
- Unemployed Quote: “Just trippin’ without my luggage.” – Jon Chance
- Hot Take: I don’t have any factual information to back this up, but it is my educated guess that one of the reasons Maile Bailey was cast as Jon Chance’s girlfriend Sondra was because she had no issues taking her top off. Other than Chance, Bailey only has one other acting credit to her name.
