Bullet Points: Target of Opportunity
Last month as part of Bulletproof Action’s 9th Actionversary celebration, we counted down the best of the best action flicks from Nu Image.
The list was well received but as always when you narrow down a huge catalog of movies like Nu Image produced down to a Top 15, there are plenty of movies that are going to get left out. So I thought I would review one of Nu Image’s unsung movies, 2005’s Target of Opportunity…
- BFF: CIA operatives, Jim Jacobs (Dean Cochran, Air Marshal) and Nick Carlton (played by Mr. Nu Image himself, Todd Jensen) are leading a covert mission in Chechnya that goes terribly wrong. In fact, the only positive of the mission is when Nick Carlton says “target of opportunity” …all of their men die after they walk right into a trap. The opening action piece does establish the unbreakable bond that Jim and Nick have that started when they were just kids. After Jim takes a bullet to the leg, Nick carries him to their rendezvous point. The Jim/Nick friendship is a beautiful thing, much like the frozen waterfall setting we are treated to as they make their escape from Chechnya.
- WTF: Five years later and Jim is now living in Las Vegas, where he is preparing for his upcoming nuptials and working as a therapist for veterans with PTSD. Nick rolls into town after being out of the country on “business” for the past few years. Nick has a beautiful woman on his arm (her name is Mona, although Nick wasn’t sure of that… which is so Nick). After some pleasantries are exchanged Nick asks Jim if he can hold on to a briefcase for him for a couple of days, Jim seems unsure of this request but Nick pulls his “best man” card and Jim can’t help but help his boy out…. the next day Jim gets a call from Mona that Nick has been arrested!?!
- CIA: Jim opens up the mysterious briefcase and finds a CD-Rom inside, he pops it into his computer and sure enough there’s a “If you are seeing this” video from Nick explaining the other contents of the briefcase that include a tracker that Jim can use to find him, a card that Jim should only give up if Nick requests it and a bunch of cash. Nick also shares the name of his CIA contact, Matt Bergin. You better believe Jim wastes no time getting a meeting with Bergin, who proceeds to tell Jim that his best friend in the world has been implicated in dealing arms and drugs and selling state secrets. Bergin also tells Jim that Nick is a prisoner somewhere in The Balkans and last but not least, Bergin tells Jim “Don’t go over there! It’s not worth it!” …if Bergin’s last statement was reverse psychology it worked like a charm, because Jim is off to The Balkans!
- SOS: Once Jim arrives in his cool leather jacket, he uses the cash that was in the briefcase to pay for information and help to bust Nick out of prison… Elena is assigned to this task by her boss Lenkov, although we quickly learn that this is more than business for Elena. Elena comes through big time for Jim, dropping him off at the start of a tunnel that leads to the prison and gives him the gate he should exit at (the one with the paid off guard) and the location of the truck that will be waiting for him and Nick to escape in… When Jim gets inside, he finds a tortured Nick strapped to a gurney and about to be injected with a serum… Jim springs into action getting there in the nick of time, injecting the doctor with the serum he was about to administer to Nick and then rolling his best friend out of the room where they will have to deal with the guards, other prisoners and fire! After plenty of ducking and dodging Jim fireman carries Nick out the gate and to the truck and then they are off… but to where?!?! Nick’s mental state is not good and Jim has no idea where he is going.
- OMG: After they run out out of gas, Jim and Nick find themselves at a restaurant… Nick is still not himself and is suffering from amnesia… he doesn’t know who Jim is or even his own name. When Nick realizes what day it is, that triggers a memory and he knows the has to make his way to Pleven. Jim attempts to stop Nick since he is really in no condition to travel and the two scuffle briefly before getting on the same page. If Nick needs to get to Pleven, then Jim needs to get to Pleven, but getting there isn’t going to be easy. Jim and Nick are the target of a man hunt with the hunters being Major Belov (the man who had Nick locked up in prison) and more specifically Belov’s men, led by Ivan (Bashar Rahal, Death Train)… Jim and Nick try to flee by bus, on a motorcycle and even on foot… There’s a bridge fight… A narrow escape from Nick’s not-so safe house… and a big action finale (I am talking a locomotive smashing through walls big!) before we figure out exactly what Nick was up to the past few years and who he really works for.
Not only is Target of Opportunity one of Nu Image’s more unsung movies, I’d classify the star of the movie, Dean Cochran, as an unsung hero. Cochran had a good mix of charm, physicality and wit and who couldn’t root for a guy who was risking life and limb for a best friend… even if that best friend may have messed up big time. And Cochran and co-star Todd Jensen (in what was really one of his best roles) come across as long time best friends, displaying strong chemistry throughout… in fact, if you told me that Todd Jensen was the best man at Dean Cochran’s actual wedding, I’d be inclined to believe it.
Check out these Bonus Bullet Points if you are so inclined…
- Teaser: My enquiring mind wants to know what happened when Jim and Nick went out with the Barton Twins back in high school.
- AKA: Target of Opportunity was released on DVD in Germany as Mission Undercover.
- Directed By: The late Danny Lerner was the director of Target of Opportunity. Anytime Danny got in the director’s chair for Nu Image, it was like Menahem Golan directing a Cannon film. Some of Lerner’s other Nu Image directorial efforts included Traitor’s Heart and Direct Contact.
