Against All Odds (DVD, 1999, Special Edition)

Jeff Bridges wasted in a lazy remake of the classic Film Noir "Out of the Past." Bridges plays a football player for the Los Angeles Outlaws (a stand-in for the Raiders) who is cut by the team and down on his luck. He accepts a job as a would-be private eye, tracking down a friend's ex-girlfriend who has skipped town to Cozumel, Mexico, a coastal paradise on the Yucatan Peninsula. Note: I've actually been to Cozumel myself and the hotel where Bridges' character stays looks awfully similar to where my family and I stayed on our vacation there.

Bridges ends up finding his target -- and as played by Rachel Ward, she's quite a temptress (and provides plenty motivation for Bridges to risk his life in order to have her).

James Woods appears in the movie as a slimy bookie, the quintessential bad guy who gets on everybody's nerves. Swoosie Kurtz and Alex Karras (famous footballer from the Detroit Lions...featured prominently in George Plimpton's memoir Paper Lion) also appear in the film.

The director is Taylor Hackford, who has alternated over the years between trite movies like Against All Odds and The Devil's Advocate and more elevate fare like An Officer and a Gentleman. In this film, he goes through the motions and shoots a rather forgettable film from a rather forgettable screenplay.

Now, you must be asking yourself -- I thought he said "guilty pleasure," where's the pleasure here? Well, the pleasure lies in the Bridges-Ward romance and the exotic locales (how they got the OK to film a steamy/violent scene at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, I have no idea).

Is this movie worth buying on DVD? I bought the movie online myself and I would say that the film delivers enough entertainment value to merit its selling price.

This film isn't Oscar-quality, but it's a fun few hours on the couch.