Crimewave (1985)

Crimewave (PG-13)

A ridiculously disappointing farce from Director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and his writing buddies the Coen Brothers (Blood Simple).  Fraught with financial problems, Raimi's second feature was edited without his approval leading to a film where you don't know where to lay the blame.  There are moments of delight, but the rest is a sloppy, cartoonish mess with bizarre noir-sensibilities (think Three Stooges meet Miller's Crossing).  Raimi's peanut butter to the Coen's chocolate frankly tastes like garbage, whereas a script made solely by the Coens could have been something watchable, or a totally wacky Raimi affair without the subtle quirkiness embedded in the script may have succeeded as the slapstick romp (at least for Raimi, others probably still wouldn't have liked it much).  Instead, and after heavy studio interference, we get a madcap rampage of two strangely over-dubbed murderous exterminators who happen into the path of a luckless milquetoast and his newly found "independent woman"  love interest, one of whom gets mistakenly sent to death row in an unwise wrap around segment.  The action is relentless, the comedy lackluster and childish, the set pieces interesting, and Bruce Campbell hams up his bit part as only he can.  The only true reason to see the film is the brilliant acting by the two villains, played by the late-great Paul Smith (Dune) and Brion James (Bladerunner).  Even with their odd Looney Tunes voices and constant howling fat men closeups, they bring a black energy to the proceedings that rises above the putrid frustration of the production.

3 Oldsmobile Delta 88s out of 10 (BAD)