REVEIW: TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES NM (1997)

[Ben Hoffman]

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES NM
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman

I cannot recall how many "thrillers" I have seen these past several
months whose premise is that an ex-con vows never again to get in
trouble and again end up in the slammer . . . but who will do just one
more heist so he will have enough money to start anew and live happily
ever after. Two that come immediately to mind are Absolute Power with
the jewel thief played by Clint Eastwood and City of Industry with
Timothy Hutton wanting one more robbery before he quits for good...
something invariably goes awry as it does in TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES NM.

It could be forgiven if the story then takes off on a new tack that is
both entertaining and original. This one is neither because much of
the writing is bad and the actors have to do and say some pretty
ridiculous things. Even as a thriller, it is full of holes. When
Raymond (Vincent Gallo) hides out at his brother's house his brother
throws an object from the living room through a window into the yard.
When asked why he did that, he says "So if the cops come I can show
them the smashed window and say someone broke in." When someone breaks
IN, the shattered glass will be INSIDE the house as will be whatever is
thrown from the outside to break the window. I'm hardly a Sherlock
Holmes but even a rank amateur knows that much . . . or so one would
imagine.

Ray is a small-time crook who took a rap for a friend. When he is
released from jail after having served his time he is met by Addy (Kim
Dickens), the woman he loves. Ray gets a job with the one for whom he
went to jail but it is a rotten job certainly not commensurate with
what Ray thinks is his due for serving time when he was innocent. With
no money Ray is determined to do one more job so he and Addy can live
happily ever after. Sound familiar?

Ray connects with Curtis (Kiefer Sutherland), a former cell mate who is
a trigger-happy cold fish who kills with slight or no provocation.
There is a third partner, Marcus (Mykelti Williamson . . . the crab
fisherman in FORREST GUMP). The plan is to rob the shop where Ray had
been working, take the cash he now feels is rightfully his, and then
make their getaway. No one will be at the shop when they break in.
Addy will be the driver; if he says it is safe, she tells Ray, she
knows it is safe. In and out of the shop quickly and then freedom for
Ray and Addy. Here comes the "awry" part.

When they break into the shop there is the owner and another man.
Neither was supposed to be there. At the first balking by the owner,
Curtis takes out his guns and kills both him and the other man who just
happens to be an undercover cop. All of this is recorded on the hidden
camera and on the tape recorder the cop was wearing under his jacket.
Ray is furious. "No killing!" but Curtis explains that all that was
before they found the two in the shop. Now they have to make a getaway
before the whole police force gets after them for having shot a fellow
officer.

When their car begins to smoke and smoke being bad for your health,
they decide they have to change cars and when they see a couple sitting
on a grassy spot off the road, they take them hostage while using the
couple's motor home and ditch their old car. Curtis was going to kill
the man and woman, Gordon and Donna (Kevin Pollack and Grace Phillips)
but cooler heads prevail and they are merely taken hostage.

This is when the film gets rather silly. While riding in the camper,
Gordon is watching Jeopardy on TV and he is pretty close in his answers
but Ray is exactly right. Two very bright guys; the hostage and the
hood. Little by little (if you can believe this) Gordon, despite
Donna's amazed protests, is beginning to take a liking to the hoods and
even their guns and their lifestyle. Kind of stretches things a bit I
would say.

Rod Steiger has a cameo as a Las Vegas casino owner and drug dealer
while Martin Sheen is some kind of hit man (who wants to be called
"Sir.") who knows no mercy so no one will ever want to thwart him.

The title refers to the quaint name of a real town in New Mexico.

Directed by Kiefer Sutherland

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Ben Hoffman