Bullet Points: Sunstorm
Every once in a while I am in the mood for an action movie that doesn’t involve too much thinking and I can just watch for pleasure. With these types of movies I am looking for three things, short runtime, beautiful locations/people and a simple story. When I came across the 2001 film Sunstorm with its 95 minute runtime and starring Bo Derek, Elena Lyons and Stacy Keach set in Puerto Rico I thought I was made in the shade but did it have a simple story line? Sunstorm has a relatively simple plot but it kept throwing curve balls which made it not as enjoyable as it could have been. I did mention the Puerto Rico setting and beautiful people though. Meatloaf said it best, two out of three ain’t bad.
- Spearmint Rhino – When a movie opens with an establishing shot of the Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen’s Club you know high intellectual art is not in your future, but you will probably be in for a good time. When we go inside and it is just a generic film set and there are only clothed dancers your good time factor has just gone down. The strip club is just a setting for the Sunstorm story to be told by FBI agent Frank Daniels (Ray Raglin, coach in one episode of Sweet Valley High) to a Secret Service agent. Daniels refers to the story as one “that you are never going to believe.”
- Rich Port – Flashback to General John Parker (Stacy Keach, Raw Justice) in sunny Puerto Rico with his daughter Kelly (Elena Lyons, does anyone remember her from USA High or is it just me?). The Parkers are joined by Dave (William Haze, that is right, the same guy who played Carl in that one episode of S Club 7 in Miami) the bodyguard for Gen. Parker. Kelly is not interested in taking over for her dad at his Puerto Rican resort which is called… get this… The Sunstorm Hotel!!!!!!!!
- Funny Money – Turns out Parker and a couple of his Army buddies, Lucas Walsh and Harry Sherman, stole some uncirculated money that was printed but did not have the Treasury signatures in case of a nuclear attack the U.S. would still have paper currency. Why that paper would be worth anything when everything is destroyed is not part of the story. Parker was living high on the hog in Puerto Rico until Walsh’s son Packard Walsh (Michael Manasseri, Wyatt from the television version of Weird Science) shows up and wants his father’s cut of the money. Packard was one of my favorite characters because of the unique southern accent Manasseri went with.
- Land of High Mountains – Packard is being backed by Victoria Warren (Bo Derek, Bolero) who is… you know what I am not sure who Victoria is but she has lots of power in the criminal world and has a base of operations in Haiti.. Any crime boss who has a right hand man named Browner played by Geoffrey Lewis (Only the Strong) is ok in my book. Victoria is not happy when Packard kills Parker (bye bye Stacy Keach) and has his henchwoman China Sue (Monica Soares, Chuvas e Trovoadas). You can tell Victoria is more powerful than Packard for several reasons: one, she has a normal speaking voice; two, Browner beats China Sue as a second in command because there are no racial connections and; three, she puts the fear of God into everyone she comes across.
- Trouble With the Curve – You might be thinking Sunstorm is pretty straight forward, but most of this happens in the first quarter of the movie. The rest of the runtime sees the multiple parties trying to find the money and murderers. That is where we get Agent Daniels and his worthless San Juan PD partner Louis Sosa (Ray Garaza, Fucho from that episode of Guadalupe). We also learn that Kelly has three sisters she never knew about which is just an excuse to have three more good looking people in the movie. More movies should do this. Throw in Dave trying to make amends for the body he was supposed to be guarding and Sunstorm gets crowded.
It may seem like I didn’t enjoy Sunstorm, but that is not entirely accurate. Sunstorm definitely tried to jam too much into the 95 minute runtime, but when that runtime is set in Puerto Rico I can live with it. There was plenty of action, with an entertaining shootout and explosion near the end, but Sunstorm couldn’t help throw one more curveball the audience’s way. I am going to end these Sunstorm Bullet Points with my own curveball, some Sunstorm Bonus Bullet Point.
- Familiar Name – If the character name Packard Walsh sounds familiar it is the same name as Nick Cassavetes character in The Wraith. Both were directed by Mike Marvin and even though there are at least two posts about The Wraith on this site there is no mention of Mr. Marvin. I got your back, Mike.
- If You Ever… – Wanted to see Bo Derek slap Wyatt from the television Weird Science while she was atop a horse then Sunstorm is for you.
- Location, Location, Location – I have never seen so many on screen location identifiers in a movie. Do we really need to know Dave is in the Gangster Quarter?
- Safety First – Why does one of the bad guys use a pair of novelty nerd glasses when attempting to kill Kelly and her sisters?
- Best Minor Character – It would either be hotel employee Jazz, not because of his strong name but because he had a multi-dimensional erotic dream or Loco, the local shutterbug who reminded me of Snaps from Suicide Squad.
