Emilio Estevez made his directorial debut with this story of young lovers on the run. The story finds Estevez unable to get work because he stole a car in high school and has a criminal record, so fed up he decides to stick it to the man by robbing banks not of money, but by stealing loan and mortgage records to help farmers and working class folks. Estevez and girlfriend Demi Moore go on a cross country crime spree ALA Bonnie & Clyde, with the FBI hot on their trail. Unfortunately, the characters and story are not all that interesting or engaging, and the plot seems overly contrived, but the cast is likable, which besides Estevez and Moore includes Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright and Emilio's parents (Charlie Sheen has a cameo as the manager of a burger joint). As weak as this film was, I do want to give it credit for trying to be about something. There is a clear political agenda to the film, about the "little guy" being held down by rich and powerful interests, so I do want to comment Estevez for trying to make something beyond simple entertainment (even though it wasn't all that entertaining). It's kind of like when Steven Seagal threw in pro-environmental messages in "On Deadly Ground" and "Fire Down Below" and was able to reach audiences not commonly exposed to films espousing lefty politics. Danny Elfman composted the film's score (only his fourth film) and it sounds quite different from most of his scores, sounding much more like something by Stewart Copeland, which is actually kind fo cool. Overall, "Wisdom" is a weak film, but gets points for effort.
Wisdom
(1986)
Misfire modern day Robin Hood tale gets points for effort and likable cast
24 December 2017