212 degrees is the Boiling Point. This movie hovers at about 194...
Added 2/10/2009
Boiling Point (1993) Like the title says, more like Simmering Point. Wesley Snipes and Dennis Hopper star in this cop thriller, and they're up to the game as always. But the script never really takes off, and it leaves this movie at best mediocre. Snipes is the Federal agent in pursuit of killer Hopper and his partner, but everybody spends more time shmoozing with their respective girlfriends than they do with the action scenes. It's really too bad, because Snipes has the stuff to be a Big Time Action Hero; he's just got to pick better scripts than this or Passenger 57. The movie gets a big boost from Hopper, whose energy just draws you in whenever he is on screen. It just has no direction in this case, so this one is merely okay. Great supporting cast though: Lolita Davidovich (Raising Cain), Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings), James Tolkan (Back to the Future 1-3), Paul Gleason (The Breakfast Club) Seymour Cassel (Dick Tracy), Tobin Bell (Saws 1-Infinity), Jonathan Banks (Beverly Hills Cop), and Dan Hedaya (Fair Game).
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Simmer Me Timbers, Lad
Added 1/8/2007
This film picks up more of a cult interest, due to the Viggo Mortenson factor and a couple of other interesting things going on. The scriptwriter should have waited until "Heat" came out before offering this up as a tension builder.The way the scenes went back and forth from crook to cop was interesting in a satirical way.Pulling Valerie Perrine out of retirement was another surprse cameo.The noir attempt did not work on anyone who knew Newark from LA. Dennis Hopper was too wrapped up in the 40's, making you think he was going "Back to Future" on us here. The explosion expected, the one where Viggo outwits Hopper, does not happen, or vice versa. Instead they stop the action and shut down with a lame ending to a promising caper flick.The dangerous charm of Viggo burns into your memory. A Michael Mann would take this flat script to greater heights.
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Great Potential - Poor Dialogue
Added 6/15/2006
Boiling Point is an intriguing cop drama starring Wesley Snipes as the police officer, and Dennis Hopper with Viggo Mortensen as the pair of ex-cons that he's after. It's set up to be a film noir style story with an elegance - many references and scenes involving big band music, the tough-but-gentle prostitute, the cynical-but-caring girlfriend, even the slain partner who needs to be revenged.
There was a lot of potential here. The story starts with Wesley's character watching an undercover agent get shot. He then only has seven days to track down the killer before he's taken off the case. In the meantime, Dennis' character is fresh out of jail and only has 7 days to pay back a loan he owes. The movie deliberately sets up a lot of parallels like this. The scene where all three men are trying to 'win back' their exs is literally overlaid one on top of the other, showing how each man handles the situation. Dennis sweetly, gently talks his girlfriend into letting him stay. Viggo literally hits his girlfriend across the face before passionately kissing her. Wesley takes the arrogant approach with his ex-wife, telling her he's staying and that's that. The men's lives keep crossing and re-crossing without them realizing it, up until the final act.
I'm not quite sure, then, exactly why the movie seems so low in impact. These are all certainly fine actors. Dennis seemed to be playing out a cardboard stereotype, however, with far less acting power than pretty much any other role I'd seen him. His overzealous constant hand movements seem forced; his dialogue is strained. At least his character was given a back story that seems relatively believable, though. Poor Viggo has to put up with a character that was 2 dimensional from the start. All Viggo does is follow orders. He hits his girlfriend, he shoots men in the face and laughs about the blood. We never know why he's this callous, and the plot never gets us to care, either.
Wesley Snipes has really shown great talent in other films, but again it just feels like he's wasted here. He gets perhaps the most cliched lines of the group. He's worried about losing his son to a new 'father' when his ex-wife finds someone else to be with. He wants to run off with the prostitute. He wants to revenge his fallen cop friend no matter what it takes. And yet - it is amazing how many very obvious clues he misses.
I'd rent this one first to see how you like it. Maybe the big band scenes will appeal to you, or maybe watching so many good actors in unusual roles will give you different insights into their acting skills. It's not a movie I personally would own for repeated re-watchings, though.
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Boiling Point (1993)
Added 1/1/2006
Director: John B. Harris
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Dennis Hopper, Lolita Davidovich, Viggo Mortensen, Seymour Cassel, Jonathan Banks, Christine Elise, Tony Lo Bianco, Dan Hedaya.
Running Time: 92 minutes
Rated R for langauge and violence.
"Boiling Point is too pithy to be a successful thriller; too low profile to be a successful action caper. If the plot had thrown more twists, offered more insight on the characters psyche, or had a much more involving story, the film could have sufficed even as a decent thriller. Had there been explosives, chase scenes, and other good action ploys, this movie could've made a decent action film; however, it is not much of either category, thus suffering from mediocrity. Police detective, Jimmy Mercer (Wesley Snipes) and his partner, Brady (Dan Hedaya), are investigating the shooting death of an undercover U.S. Treasury agent who investigating a counterfeit ring. The two guys who he was dealing with, gunned him down and fled the scene, before Mercer and Brady could intervene and save their partner. Turns out the murderers are fast-talking Red Diamond (Dennis Hopper), so named because of his red hair, who owes fifty grand to another gangster within seven days and his partner, Ronnie (Viggo Mortensen), an eerie kind of guy who is never sure if Red is just handing him a line of garbage with all the schemes he involves him in. In order to make it through the next week alive, these two crooks need a get rich quick counterfeit scheme.
Meanwhile, Mercer and Brady are going from one informant to another, trying to get them to give up information about Red and Ronnie, a description, their location, anything. Sometimes they're successful and sometimes not. The movie goes on and on like as the two trail one person after another trying to get close on the trail of Red and Ronnie. It is wholly uninteresting, offering no real suspense and even less action to fill the time. The movie fails to deliver any real substance in between, which is sad when you consider the possibility of your characters, and especially, the potential of the actors. At points this is an enjoyable cop thriller but for the majority it is a misjudged affair that lacks either an emotionally involving depth or a fast paced tension that holds you. The problem is that it cannot decide which of these it wants to do and it is not good enough to manage to both in the way. Snipes does try hard but he can't get a human face that we buy into, specifically his "running away with hooker" thing is just laughably unconvincing. Hopper seems to be in another film and enjoys just wining and dining women but he only serves to slow the film down and distract from the main thread. Mortensen plays a standard role but does it pretty well, likewise Davidovich does well with what little she has. Support from familiar faces such as Cassel, Banks and Gleason all give the impression of a film deep in quality but sadly this is only an impression. Overall, this is a fairly poor film that tried to be better than the genre but failed to achieve its goals. In a plot that resembles the later "Heat", the threads don't work, with no emotional involvement in the characters and no thrills or tension to really speak of. The cast deserved better and so do the audience; there are several cop thrillers that try the same thing as Boiling Point, it would be to your advantage to watch one of the ones that actually does it well.
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Slow moving!!
Added 3/21/2005
This film is much like a 1940's film noir. This is not one of Wesley Snipes best. I found the dialogue to be unbelievable. The story is slow moving, which does the film no favors. It winds up to be a disappointing venture for Snipes & Dennis Hopper, who was wasted in his role.
2 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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Always bet on Snipes
Added 5/27/2006
Wesley Snipes is an underrated actor, simply put. Want proof? Just watch these two movies. Snipes pretty much carries both movies and makes them what they are - which are classic Snipes action movies. With such classic lines as "Always bet on Black," roundhouse kicks, and overall badassness, Snipes shows why he is the black Chuck Norris.
You can but other movie combos of Snipes movies, but these are two of this best and some of my favorites. The only thing that prevented me from giving this 5 stars are the other actors. If you're looking for great action movies, classic 90s movies, or something along the lines of "Die Hard," "Lethal Weapon," or possibly "48 Hours" then you need to get his DVD now.
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212 degrees is the Boiling Point. This movie hovers at about 194...
Added 2/10/2009
Boiling Point (1993) Like the title says, more like Simmering Point. Wesley Snipes and Dennis Hopper star in this cop thriller, and they're up to the game as always. But the script never really takes off, and it leaves this movie at best mediocre. Snipes is the Federal agent in pursuit of killer Hopper and his partner, but everybody spends more time shmoozing with their respective girlfriends than they do with the action scenes. It's really too bad, because Snipes has the stuff to be a Big Time Action Hero; he's just got to pick better scripts than this or Passenger 57. The movie gets a big boost from Hopper, whose energy just draws you in whenever he is on screen. It just has no direction in this case, so this one is merely okay. Great supporting cast though: Lolita Davidovich (Raising Cain), Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings), James Tolkan (Back to the Future 1-3), Paul Gleason (The Breakfast Club) Seymour Cassel (Dick Tracy), Tobin Bell (Saws 1-Infinity), Jonathan Banks (Beverly Hills Cop), and Dan Hedaya (Fair Game).
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Simmer Me Timbers, Lad
Added 1/8/2007
This film picks up more of a cult interest, due to the Viggo Mortenson factor and a couple of other interesting things going on. The scriptwriter should have waited until "Heat" came out before offering this up as a tension builder.The way the scenes went back and forth from crook to cop was interesting in a satirical way.Pulling Valerie Perrine out of retirement was another surprse cameo.The noir attempt did not work on anyone who knew Newark from LA. Dennis Hopper was too wrapped up in the 40's, making you think he was going "Back to Future" on us here. The explosion expected, the one where Viggo outwits Hopper, does not happen, or vice versa. Instead they stop the action and shut down with a lame ending to a promising caper flick.The dangerous charm of Viggo burns into your memory. A Michael Mann would take this flat script to greater heights.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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