Bullet Points: Pure Danger

C. Thomas Howell found a home at PM Entertainment in the 1990’s… not only did he star in movies like The Sweeper and To Protect and Serve, he pulled double duty starring in and directing PM Entertainment’s The Big Fall and the subject of this edition of Bullet Points, 1996’s Pure Danger…

• Not So Happy Days: Johnie Dean (C. Thomas Howell, The Sweeper) is meeting with his parole officer (played by Don Most aka Ralph Malph) as the movie begins and gets some less than stellar news. Johnie finds out his parole is being extended another six months, which sucks for Johnie because he is ready to move on with his life and quit his short order cook job at a nothing happening diner. What is even worse is the only reason Johnie was in prison to begin with and now finds himself in the position that he is in is because he took the fall for his buddy in Los Angeles.
• The Diamond Exchange: From there we meet Freethrow (Marcus Chong, Street Justice). Freethrow has been tasked with delivering some diamonds to mob boss, Mr. DePalma (Michael Russo, The Toxic Avenger). The exchange was set… $700,000 for the satchel of diamonds, but that doesn’t go as planned since Freethrow shows up hours late. The tardiness does not sit well with DePalma and he charges Freethrow a huge late fee and by huge I mean the $699,999. Freethrow is not about to go back to his boss with only $1 and violence erupts in the form of a shootout… Freethrow takes a bullet, but still manages to get away with the satchel full of diamonds and he drives off… setting up car chase #1.

• When Worlds Collide: We cut to Johnie at his short order cook job, singing along to the radio much to the dismay of his coworker Becky (Teri Ann Linn, Fallout). The diner is dead… nobody is in it until a wounded Freethrow shows up and asks to use the phone. Freethrow calls his boss Felix, tells him where he is and tells Felix he needs to get there to pick up the diamonds. Freethrow has one last cup of coffee and entrusts the satchel to Becky and instructs her to give it to Felix when he shows up… Freethrow dies, Becky freaks out and that finally brings Johnie out of the kitchen. Johnie can’t help but look inside the satchel and when he sees the diamonds he realizes his life is about to change… but there’s no time to celebrate since DePalma’s guys who were chasing Freethrow show up, followed by Felix (Leon, Cliffhanger). Amidst the chaos between the warring crime factions…. Johnie, Becky and the satchel full of diamonds take off, setting up car chase #2.
• Roll the Dice: Johnie and Becky manage to evade their pursuers as they make their way from Reno to L.A. Johnie decides it is time to cash in a favor with Dice, the buddy from Los Angeles that Johnie took the fall for. Johnie believes if anybody could move these diamonds for Johnie and Becky, it would be Dice. Dice is played by Rick Shapiro and for me he was near unwatchable levels of annoying. At this point, I was already dealing with C. Thomas Howell doing what I guess was his take on a New York accent and sporting a distracting mustache (it looked fake, but why would he wear a fake mustache when I have seen him in roles with actual facial hair!?!). So throwing in a character like Dice, who the kids today would probably say was so extra, was really testing my patience… I get he was supposed to be an annoying slimeball, but I can’t recall the last time a single character in a movie made me want to shut the movie off.

• Things Get Dicey: Dice decides to kill two birds with one stone (or a bunch of shiny expensive stones in a satchel) and help his buddy Johnie out but also help himself out since he is in it up to his ears with a casino owner, Mr. Farmentero. Dice figures he could pay off his debt to Farmentero and get Johnie a nice pay day in the process. What Dice doesn’t realize is Farmentero is an associate of both DePalma and Felix, so DePalma tips both men off about the deal that is going to go down in a junkyard later that night. All interested parties show up at the junkyard and we get more bullets flying… one of those flying bullets hits Dice, who jumped in front of it to save his friend Johnie… all I can say is Dice even died in annoying fashion. This is also where we get car chase #3 and we aren’t even done yet…

Pure Danger was saved by the magic of stunt coordinator Spiro Razatos. The multiple car chases, especially the junkyard chase and the big final chase which included Carrot Top of all people, make Pure Danger watchable and gave PM Entertainment fans what they’ve come to expect… all while C. Thomas Howell gave the world his version of True Romance.

I will now give the world the Pure Danger version of Bonus Bullet Points…

• If You Ever: …wanted to watch C. Thomas Howell make an omelette, then Pure Danger is the movie for you.
• Familiar Faces: Irwin Keyes (Exterminator 2 and Death Wish 4: The Crackdown) did what Irwin Keyes does best and played Killjoy, a heavy for DePalma… PM Entertainment fans will also recognize Mike Toney as one the mobsters playing poker when Freethrow shows up late for the diamond exchange. Toney has had small roles in numerous PM Entertainment movies including To Be the Best and Final Impact.
• Nice Names: Casino owner Farmentero had twin bodyguards named Tick and Tock played by Mark and Max Holman (who you may remember as Action and Jackson in Prototype X29A).
• If You Ever: …wanted to hear a satchel full of diamonds shoved up a dead man’s ass, then Pure Danger is the movie for you.