Bullet Points: Diplomatic Immunity
1991’s Diplomatic Immunity had a lot going for it… First off, it was streaming on Screen Pix so I was once again able to justify my $3 monthly subscription… Second, the synopsis told me Diplomatic Immunity was a revenge tale and I’m always up for a revenge tale, especially when they have a runtime of 95 minutes or less… Third, IMDb told me Diplomatic Immunity had a cast filled with familiar faces… Lastly, Diplomatic Immunity has a title that I could hear. #IYKYK
- In Too Deep: Marine Cole Hickel (Bruce Boxleitner, Sixpack Annie) is teaching his daughter Sharon a valuable scuba diving lesson as the movie begins, but the father/daughter time is going to come to an end when the two are back on the beach and Sharon’s new boyfriend, Klaus Hermann, an artist from Paraguay visiting the States comes to pick her up. Cole has a bad feeling about Klaus, believing he may come from a family of former Nazis who fled to Paraguay after WWII. Sharon thinks her dad is being overprotective, something she has grown accustomed to since losing her mother years earlier to cancer.
- Father Knows Best: Klaus plays up the whole artist thing to the hilt and a flattered Sharon buys it hook, line and sinker. Klaus tells Sharon he wants to photograph her, then drives her up to a nice secluded spot, perfect for taking in the Los Angeles skyline and for committing a heinous crime. When the handcuffs come out Sharon knows she’s in trouble and to her credit fights back. Her resistance would soon lead to her untimely demise. Klaus then makes a call to the fixer that his mother has on retainer, Stefan Noll (Christopher Neame, Hellbound), to help him dispose of the body. What neither Klaus or Stefan was expecting was that a utility worker would be in the area and witness them attempting to move the body, causing them to flee the scene. With an eye witness on the scene, this should be a slam dunk case, except Klaus has a little something called DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY on his side.
- And So It Begins: Cole Hickel goes downtown to identify his daughter’s body and speak to the police. While at the police station Cole sees Klaus being escorted out of the police station. One of the uniformed officers tells Cole about Klaus’ diplomatic immunity and that he is being sent back to Paraguay… not if Cole can get to him first! Cole races to his car, crashes the gate and is in hot pursuit mode trying his best to catch Klaus and company before they board their private plane to Paraguay… but Klaus’ security detail (that includes Matthias Hues of Fists of Iron fame) earn their money and get Klaus on the plane and away from Cole.
- O Captain! My Captain!: After the airport incident Cole’s commanding officer, Captain Joe Ferguson (Robert DoQui, RoboCop). The Captain tells Cole officially he can’t tell him to go to Paraguay and find the little bastard that killed his daughter and kill him, but unofficially that’s exactly what he would do. Cole picks up what the Captain is laying down and then the Captain gives him Del Roy Gaines’ name, a guy who can get Cole a fake ID/Passport and allow him to enter Paraguay without the Hermann family knowing about it. Gaines was played by Ken Foree of Joshua Tree and Hangfire fame. Normally Gaines services are quite costly, but when he hears about what happened to Cole’s daughter, he does this one free of charge and even gives Cole a point of contact in Paraguay that can hook him up with the weapons he will need to get the revenge job done.
- Do You Know the Way to Paraguay?: Cole almost makes into Paraguay without incident, but some customs agents recognize him and the chase is on. Cole gets outside the airport commandeers a taxi and that starts a high speed chase through the streets of Paraguay. Once he successfully evades the authorities, Cole tracks down the guy that Gaines told him about… a guy named Cowboy (Billy Drago, Hero and the Terror). Cowboy has the weapons Cole needs and plenty of info… including the Hermann’s almost impenetrable fortress, Klaus’ Oedipal relationship with his own mother Gerta Hermann (Meg Foster, They Live) and the address of Klaus’ mistress Teresa Escobal (Fabiana Udenio, who will always be Alotta Fagina to me).
- Vengeance is Mine: Cole ends up needing both the help of Cowboy and Teresa before it is all said and done. The climax of the movie is where Diplomatic Immunity really shines, first with the swerve where it appears that Klaus is going to get away with the murder of Sharon and then Cole getting to turn the tables on the Paraguay government!
The only negative thing I really have to say about Diplomatic Immunity is that I can never quite buy Billy Drago in a good guy role, other than that Diplomatic Immunity lived up to my expectations and proved Meg Foster could be creepier than usual. Diplomatic Immunity is another great example of a good action movie that likely slipped through the cracks because it came out at a time where good to great action movies were the norm.
Ending a review with some Bonus Bullet Points is the norm for me, so let’s get to it…
- Familiar Faces: I’ve already mentioned many of the familiar faces in Diplomatic Immunity, but there were a few more like Robert Forster (The Delta Force), who played a dirty American bureaucrat who butts heads with Cole…Robert Miano (Out for Blood) plays a member of Paraguay internal security… And last but not least a name that may not be familiar to most, Santos Morales, who played one of the customs officers who interacts with Cole when he arrives in Paraguay. I’ll always remember him as Ramon the bartender from Back to School.
- Based On: Diplomatic Immunity was based on the Theodore Taylor novel, The Stalker. In fact, the working title of the movie was actually The Stalker.
- Directed By: Peter Maris was the director of Diplomatic Immunity. Maris also directed Ministry of Vengeance, Land of Doom and Terror Squad.
