Bullet Points: Black Cat Run
Have you ever said to yourself “I am in the mood for an action movie starring Patrick Muldoon” while sitting on your couch one night? Has anyone in history said that? I know Bulletproof Action’s own Chris DePetrillo has never said that… he is still holding a grudge for Muldoon’s part in breaking up Zack and Kelly on Saved by the Bell. Personally, I know that I have never yearned for a Patrick Muldoon movie in my entire life. But unlike my esteemed colleague Mr. DePetrillo, I hold no grudge against Mr. Muldoon, so if I happened upon a Patrick Muldoon starring action flick, I would give it a chance.
Case in point… when I recently came across Patrick Muldoon’s 1998 film, Black Cat Run, I gave it a chance and now I give you my review…
- Explosive Intro: The movie begins with a prison road crew doing some back breaking labor out in the hot Oklahoma sun, but for some of the prisoners this will be their final round of road work. D.J. Wheeler (Peter Greene) and three of his fellow convicts have hatched a daring escape plan that results in dead prison guards, dead prisoners, an exploding prison bus and a deadly car jacking. Wheeler and his convict compatriots hop in their newly acquired vehicle and head towards the Texas state line as they begin making their way to Mexico.
- Building Bridges: Johnny Del Grissom (Patrick Muldoon) works at his father’s gas station and is stock car racer on the local circuit. Johnny has been saving the prize money from the races he has won to help with his dreams of leaving the small Texas town he calls home and going off to college with a focus on engineering and architecture so he can one day build a bridge. Johnny loves bridges, he even has a schematic of the famous Golden Gate Bridge in his bedroom. Johnny also loves Sara Jane (Amelia Heinle), the daughter of the local sheriff. Sara Jane’s father Ben Bronte (Rex Linn, Cliffhanger) is not a fan of her daughter dating Johnny, this is in part because Sheriff Bronte thinks the Del Grissoms are poor white trash and because Johnny’s daddy is an ex-con. The Sheriff has not kept his feelings of displeasure about the Sara Jane/Johnny relationship quiet either… but it has not deterred the young lovers, who still manage to sneak around and see one another when they can.
- Burning Bridges: Deputy Norm Babbitt (Jake Busey) is Johnny’s rival on the race track and for the affections of Sara Jane. Norm is more than happy to rat out the fact that he saw Sara Jane at the last race with Johnny and that intel combined with the fact that Sheriff Bronte catches Sara Jane sneaking back into the house late one night after spending time with Johnny pushes Bronte to the limit… the next morning he drives down to the Del Grissom’s gas station with Sara Jane in the passenger seat and he confronts Johnny and makes it clear that he does not want Johnny seeing his daughter EVER AGAIN. The hard nosed sheriff won’t even let Johnny speak before he and Sara Jane peel out of the gas station and drive off. Johnny’s father then gets on Johnny’s case for a few minutes telling Johnny he needs to heed the word of the sheriff but eventually the frustrated Johnny hops in the tow truck and takes off after the Sheriff and Sara Jane. Moments later Deputy Norm shows up to get some gas, hears about the nasty things Sheriff Bronte said to Johnny and how Johnny chased after the Sheriff and Sara Jane, which prompts Norm to head in that direction too thinking he is about to see the Sheriff tear Johnny a new asshole.
- Out of the Norm: As Sheriff Bronte is driving Sara Jane back home he makes what probably seemed at the time to be nothing more than a routine traffic stop… but unfortunately for Bronte the car he pulled over was carrying our four escaped convicts. When the sheriff asks Wheeler for his license and registration, Wheeler shoots the sheriff at point blank range with a shotgun instead… Sara Jane witnesses the whole thing and obviously freaks out. The other cons grab her and plan to take her hostage… and that is when Johnny shows up. He tries to save Sara Jane, but is lucky to save himself as Wheeler and his trio of convict friends open fire on Johnny before taking off and continuing to make their way to Mexico. Once the convicts are out of sight, Deputy Norm shows up, sees Johnny’s tow truck, sees the sheriff lying dead in the road and immediately jumps to the conclusion that Johnny killed Ben Bronte… Norm will not even listen to what Johnny has to say and things get physical between the two. Johnny manages to knock Norm out and get back to the gas station to get his stock car and begin his pursuit of Wheeler in an attempt to save Sara Jane… this is of course happening all while Johnny himself is on the run from Deputy Norm and the authorities. The action really goes into overdrive at this point as we are treated to some quality high speed chase action as the determined Johnny puts his stock car racing skills to good use.
- Explosive Finale: Black Cat Run reminded me a lot of the Dolph Lundgren film Joshua Tree, because like Joshua Tree, Black Cat Run was an overachiever. Black Cat Run was one of HBO’s made for tv movies, but it seemed much bigger than that and that was thanks in large part to big action finale where Johnny and Sara are now face to face with Wheeler. The Wheeler character was an easy one to hate and as the movie progressed Wheeler became more and more evil, Wheeler even eliminated his co-conspirators one by one so he would not have to share any of his ill gotten gains with them. So by the time we get to the end of the movie, it is clear that Wheeler needs to go and to Black Cat Run’s credit they do a fantastic job of wrapping up the story in an enjoyable and explosive way.
To call Black Cat Run a pleasant surprise would be an understatement. There were strong performances up and down the cast list. Peter Greene’s portrayal of Wheeler was sinisterly good. Patrick Muldoon made for a great hero and maybe more people (myself included) should have been hankering for more Patrick Muldoon action movies back in the day. But the real show stealer for me had to be Jake Busey as Norm. Norm has the most interesting character arc in the film and Busey seemed motivated and was giving it his all in every scene he was in… there are times Norm will piss you off, there are times Norm will make you laugh and there are times Norm will make you cheer. Like I said earlier… Black Cat Run is an overachiever.
Now I’d like to do some overachieving of my own with these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Familiar Faces: Russell Means played Reed one of Wheeler’s fellow convicts on the run. Means is probably most known for his work as Chingachgook in The Last of the Mohicans… Another one of Wheeler’s men, Hobbs, was played by Kevin J. O’Connor. I will always remember O’Connor as Beni from The Mummy (1999), the weaselly character who is eaten alive by scarab beetles. O’Connor’s Hobbs has a pretty memorable death scene in Black Cat Run as well… Fans of the series NCIS: Los Angeles will also spot a young Eric Christian Olsen as a gas station attendant who has an unfortunate run in with Wheeler.
- Questionable Quote: “Does she piss champagne and crap caviar?” – Bill Grissom
- Reunited: Patrick Muldoon and Jake Busey worked together one year earlier in Starship Troopers.
- Disturbing Quote: “I’ll chew all the skin off your ass!” – Norm
