Cahoots
By Mal Simons, Blockbuster.co.uk
“She’s in cahoots with us now… she’s on the good guys’ side”
Keith Carradine and
David Keith star in this dark but touching ‘dromedy’ written and directed by
Dirk Benedict (The A-Team). Gritty and realistic, and described by Benedict as a ‘hardcore version of Sideways’; this is a buddy movie with a difference.
Ever since they were ten years old and playing football at school, Matt and Harley have been best friends. As kids, Matt was always a loud-mouthed, arrogant and womanising bully while Harley was quieter, softer, more thoughtful and easily led. They both found something in each other that they themselves lack and that created a bond that could not be broken.
“So you come to see your daughter? -
Hurley
"No I came to see you” - Matt
When Matt arrives back in Los Angeles after living in Alaska for ten years, he reconnects with his buddy Harley; although the two have stayed in touch, they haven’t seen each other in quite a while. While Matt is still the loud-mouthed womaniser he has always been, except by now divorced and a neglectful father; Harley on the other hand, has settled down with a wife (
Janet Gunn) and has a promising career. His wife Rita wants to have a baby (“I’m sick of being a couple…I want us to be a family”) however Harley is more reluctant, making excuses to avoid his wife’s ‘ovulation periods’. With Matt back in his life, Harley starts drinking, fighting and shooting the breeze with his old friend.
As a result of Matt’s influence, Harley’s relationship with his wife falls apart; he is fired from his job by his previously supportive boss (played by Jim Hanks) and the two of them manage to rub seedy mobsters up the wrong way.
“What? You going to shoot me? I don’t think so… you see I know you… You can hold the gun, you can point it but you can’t pull the trigger. It’s the story of your life”
More than twenty years in the making, Dirk Benedict’s ‘twisted Butch and Sundance’ story stands out from the crowd with exceptionally witty dialogue, a great cast and excellent characterisation. Matt is very much of an anti-hero - an absent father, an abuser of women and a man incapable of growing old gracefully or adapting to changing times and the changing role of women in society; but because of all this, he also expresses an honesty that is refreshingly raw.
“Honey, your Daddy’s just like that big old bear”
Benedict has done a good job at creating a compelling buddy movie with realistic characters nearly everyone will recognise at least some of the character traits exhibited by the film’s main protagonists in both themselves and others. Add to this the witty dialogue and the excellent acting, and you get a film superior to others of the same genre. I’d definitely have to agree with Benedict when he calls this a ‘hardcore Sideways’. Highly recommended to rent. Add to your list and we’ll send it to you when it is released.
For more information on Cahoots, click
here to read Dirk Benedict’s Blockbuster.co.uk blog.