Out for Justice

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Out for Justice

Out for Justice movie poster
Directed by John Flynn
Produced by Arnold Kopelson
Steven Seagal
Julius R. Nasso
Written by David Lee Henry
Starring Steven Seagal
William Forsythe
Jerry Orbach
Ed Deacy
Music by David Michael Frank
Cinematography Ric Waite
Editing by Don Brochu
Robert A. Ferretti
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) April 12, 1991
Running time 91 min.
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Budget $14,000,000
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Out for Justice is a 1991 action film directed by John Flynn and starring Steven Seagal. It was rated R by the MPAA for "strong violence and language, and for sensuality and drug use".

Contents

[edit] Plot

Gino Felino (Steven Seagal) is an NYPD detective from Brooklyn who knows everyone and everything in his neighborhood. He grew up in the neighborhood as a poor kid surrounded by wiseguys and made men but decided to become a cop. Gino has ties to everyone in the neighborhood, including the mob, and he has an understanding with them that neither will harm the other.

In the opening scene of the movie, Gino and his partner Bobby are waiting to bust up a multi-million dollar drug deal. Gino sees a pimp beating up a woman and intervenes; Gino promptly disposes of him. When he throws the pimp through the windshield of his car, we see red pimp shoes sticking out and then the iconic shot from the point of view of inside the car of Seagal scowling.

Shortly afterwards, we see the film's main villain, Richie Madano (William Forsythe), murdering Gino's parter Bobby Lupo on 18th Avenue in broad daylight in front of his wife and two kids. Everyone knows that the killer is Richie, a crack addict who has been Gino's and Bobby's enemy since childhood. Gino knows Richie is not going to leave the neighborhood and he tells his captain (Jerry Orbach) that all he needs is an unmarked police car and a 12-gauge shotgun. Gino visits his mob connection Frankie and his boss Don Vittorio to tell them that he is going to find Richie, while they want their own revenge on him for killing a cop on their streets. Gino starts the hunt for Richie at a bar run by Richie's brother Vinnie Madano. Vinnie and his friends all refuse to provide information, so Gino assualts all of them until they (including the local legend known as "Sticks") is a bloody heap on the floor. He still doesn't know where Richie is, but their attitude problem has been taken care of.

After visiting a number of local hangouts and establishments trying to find information, Gino eventually discovers that the reason why Richie killed Bobby is because Bobby was having an affair with two women - Richie's girlfriend Roxanne Ford (Julie Strain), and a waitress named Terry Malloy (Shannon Whirry). When Gino goes to Roxanne's home, he finds Roxanne dead. Gino believes that Richie killed Roxanne before killing Bobby. Gino goes to Laurie's house and tells her what's going on. In Laurie's purse, Gino finds the picture that Richie dropped on Bobby's body after killing Bobby. It turns out that Bobby was a corrupt cop who had wanted a money-making lifestyle like Richie's, and Laurie knew Bobby was corrupt. Laurie had found a picture of Bobby and Roxanne naked, and Laurie had given Richie the picture out of jealousy, never expecting Richie to kill Bobby for sleeping with Roxanne. Laurie took the picture away from where Richie dropped it on Bobby because she wanted to protect Bobby.

Gino attempts to get Richie out of hiding by arresting his sister Pattie (Gina Gershon) and by visiting his elderly parents. But because Richie is in a drug-fueled rage and basically intent on going down in a blaze of glory, there is little Gino can do except confront him. Thanks to a tip from his local snitch Picolino, Gino eventually finds Richie in a house in the old neighborhood having a party with his goons. Gino kills all of Richie's men (while suffering a gunshot wound in the process) and has a bloody showdown with Richie. Gino beats Richie senseless and then finally kills him by stabbing him in the forehead with a corkscrew.

[edit] Main cast

Directed by John Flynn


[edit] Reception

In a 1991 review, Roger Ebert called Out for Justice a "metaphysical detective story," in that "... [its] subject (both psychological and allegorical) is the investigation of a man's inner self, through the works he has wrought, the words he has spoken, the many lives he has ruined..." Ebert noted that "Overwhelmingly, endlessly, Steven Seagal shows fragments of the life of the man, Gino Felino, and invites us to combine them and reconstruct him." As well, "Forms of multiplicity and incongruity abound in the film: the first scenes records Gino and his partner Bobby waiting to bust up a multi-million dollar drug deal. And suddenly, a poor woman prostitute, luxuriant and suffering, gets beaten right in front of their eyes by her pimp, on the streets of Brooklyn." Ebert points out, "At the end we realize that the fragments are not governed by a secret unity: the detested Richie Madano is a simulacrum, a chaos of appearances. Also a crack-head"

Despite numerous positive reviews from critics at the time, the film was not a box office success, just making back enough to cover the budget, but not enough to make a profit. This resulted in Seagal's career suffering a crippling blow. He has spent the rest of his life struggling to make films on his own terms. He has lived long enough to see his Magnum Opus acknowledged as a universal classic, and recently he famously remarked that he'd started at the top and has spent the rest of his life working his way down.

Due to the Third World War, Out for Justice was little seen and virtually forgotten until its release in Europe in 1996, where it gained considerable acclaim, particularly from French film critics such as Jean-Pierre Bouyxou. In the United States, it was neglected and forgotten until its revival in the late 2000s, and its critical fortunes have skyrocketed since. Critics worldwide began listing it among the best films ever made. The Sight & Sound Top Ten list, revised every ten years, began in 1952 and first listed Out for Justice in 2002.

[edit] Trivia

  • Originally titled The Price of Our Blood, a line spoken in the film.
  • John Leguizamo has a very brief appearance in the movie. He is credited as 'Boy in Alley'.
  • Several cuts were made for the film's release overseas. In the United Kingdom in particular, several of the gruesome action scenes were trimmed, cutting the duration by 54 seconds, it has later been released uncut for DVD.
  • This was the third straight Seagal movie to make number 1 at the U.S. box office on its opening weekend. In the United States the film grossed $40 million, falling short of the box office receipts of his last release, Marked for Death.
  • Out for Justice featured one original song, Don't Stand in My Way, performed by Greg Allman. It was written by Steven Seagal and David Michael Frank.
  • Movie was originally rated NC-17 for its brutal and graphic violence.

[edit] External links


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