Next Of Kin Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1989

Next of Kin is a somewhat obscure 80's action/vigilante film that depicts the bloody results when a young Kentuckian is brutally murdered by a mobster, sparking a gang war between the Chicago mob and a band of roughneck mountain men. The film explores topics such as the bonds between family and the struggle against upholding the law and succumbing to vigilantism.

Featuring a cast consisting recognizable stars such as Patrick Swayze, Liam Neeson, Helen Hunt, Ben Stiller, Bill Paxton and Michael Pollard, Next of Kin certainly appears to have the credentials to dish out a fantastic movie, but does it succeed in achieving that goal? Find out in the Feature Attraction…

One tragic evening Gerald Gates (Bill Paxton), a peaceful yet proud Kentuckian, finds his truck being hijacked by a mob family led by John Isabella (Andreas Katsulas), but Gates refuses to just give up the contents of his truck and leads the mob on a chase. Eventually Gates is cornered, at which time the leader of the hijacking, Joey Rosselini (Adam Baldwin), decides to show off to John Isabella's son, Lawrence (Ben Stiller), by murdering the truck's owner in cold blood.

Unbeknownst to Rosselini and his pack of thugs, this wasn't just another ordinary night and/or murder, for Gerald was part of a large family of toughened mountain men. One of his brothers, Truman (Patrick Swayze), left the Kentucky life long ago to become a Chicago police officer, and after returning his brother's body to his native home he swears to his kin that he will do everything in his power to bring him to justice through the legal system.

The eldest brother, Briar (Liam Neeson) cannot accept Truman's form of justice and thoroughly believes in an eye for an eye. This should come as no surprise for he's a redneck through and through; he's scruffy, wears suspenders and a trucker's cap, and even stores a deer's head in the refrigerator of his mobile home. The whole nine yards.

Truman and Briar have always had a strained relationship, and it becomes even more stressed when they both return to Chicago with completely different agendas. Truman is determined to stop his brother from inflicting vigilante justice while Briar bitterly feels that Truman is betraying his family and roots: "You ain't one of us no more. You might talk mountain. And fight mountain. But in your heart you ain't mountain no more. You're just a cop that came from the hills."

Don't worry movie fans, after a full-throttle brawl with each other and a night in jail, the two begin to patch up their relationship when during a night ride they begin to reminisce and laugh about old times; namely, beating the tar out of each other repeatedly as they grew up. Ahh yes, sweet memories.

Meanwhile, Rosselini sniffs out opportunity in this tenuous situation and decides to execute John's son and frame it on Briar in order to spark a full-fledged war between the mob and the Gates' brothers.

Up to this point Next of Kin has been a serious, thought provoking and fairly well acted film, but during the final fifth of the movie things start to get a bit silly. How so? I'm glad you asked…

An event eventually takes place that prompts seemingly the entire Kentuckian clan to arm themselves and head to Chicago to take down the mob, so naturally we see a group of hillbillies arming themselves as their wives dutifully pack enough sandwiches and picnic baskets to feed an army battalion! But hey, before I become too quick to criticize I'll admit it just ain't right to kill on an empty stomach, so as odd as the scene appeared I'll let it slip by.

But soon thereafter my raised eyebrow turned into an outright laugh as the scene transported back to the dark city streets of Chicago, where mountain men prepared an ambush for a mobster walking the streets alone. They lured the mobster into a dark alley by… now brace yourself… clucking like chickens! So let this be a word to the wise city dwellers – if you're walking along the city street and suddenly hear a posse of clucking chickens, be afraid. Be very afraid.

I'm afraid from this point on any pretense of a serious movie becomes overwhelmed by cheesy fun as we watch nutty rednecks fill the night with animal sounds as they hunt the mobsters down with the typical good ole boy arsenal: bows, bear traps, hunting dogs, hatchets, shotguns and even snakes!

One of the other minor things that drove me a little batty was how some within the Isabella family referred to their mob boss: Papa John. Now it sounds a little quirky for toughened mobsters to be calling an unrelated man "papa" to begin with, but the problem was compounded by the fact every time I heard his name I was tempted to pick up the phone and dial me a pizza! (For those unaware of the connection, there's a sizeable pizza chain called Papa John.)

All of the actors performed adequately, though Liam Neeson stole the show with his passionate and thoroughly convincing performance. Neeson is a true actor and chameleon; he never fails to impress me as he handles widely varying roles in his various movies with ease. Fans of Ben Stiller might also find it interesting to see how the young starting actor played a mobster – a decidedly different type of role than we're accustomed to seeing from him.

When push comes to shove, although the movie wasn't without its flaws and seemed to change course completely in the final moments, Next of Kin was a solid film that provided a thoughtful story, interesting characters and some satisfying action.

Movie rating: 7 stars

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