Movie Name: Raw Deal
Director: John Irvin
Producer: Martha Schumacher
Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrold, Darren McGavin, Sam Wanamaker, Paul Shenar, Steven Hill and Ed Lauter
Release Date: June 6, 1986
Budget: 11–12 million
Box Office: $7.3–16.2 million
Introduction
I found this movie on Amazon Prime Video and I said, what the heck. I had not seen this movie in a very long time and I wondered how I would like it today.
I used to love this movie. In fact, anything with the Great Arnold, I would love as a kid. Let us see how it is.
Story
As with most action movies, the story is pretty thin and has been done numerous times. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the character of Mark Kaminski. Mark is a former FBI agent that was got a Raw Deal. Now, he is a sheriff in a small town. HIs former colleague FBI Agent Harry Shannon (played by Darren McGavin) thinks that there is a mole in the agency, He wants Mark to work for him and infiltrate the Chicago crime family to see who the mole is. In exchange, Harry promises that Mark can be reinstated at the FBI and get back his old job back.
Raw Deal Trailer
Bottomline
I have to admit, this movie is not as good as I remember. This is a stereotypical action movie from the 1980's.
The movie did not really break the bank at the box office. In fact, depending on the source, either they lost money with the movie or they barely broke even. This movie came out right after Commando and preceded Predator. A lot of people love Commando but seem to have forgotten about this particular movie.
Let us discuss the plot. The story is not that interesting. It has been done numerous times with the Italian Mafia, trying to get someone on the inside. This was done on TV and movies. However, Schwarzenegger is what makes the movie what it is. Without him, the movie would not even be in the discussion.
Schwarzenegger trying to infiltrate an Italian mob is funny in its own right. He tries to play it cool, but there always seems to be an awkwardness about him. I cannot put my finger on it. No matter how he tries to play it, when the guns come out, he seems right at home.
The bad guys are not really memorable. In fact, it is cookie cutter type of mafia criminals. Unless you have just watched the movie, you would be hard pressed to remember who played the bad guys. You only remember the movie for Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger has two love interests. One of them is his actual wife who resents Schwarzenegger from taking the Raw Deal at the FBI. She wanted to live the big life but she is stuck in this small town. She has very little screen time but Schwarzenegger does have a few funny lines in there.
Then he has the love interest when he infiltrates the crime family. She is not memorable by any means. She is the typical blond that blows the whistle on him and then falls in love with him. She was played by Kathryn Harrold.
In the end, I think this is a very average movie, when you look at other movies that Schwarzenegger starred in. I would go for Commando or True Lies over this one. It has its moments but in some parts I found that it dragged on. I just wanted to get to the action parts. This only happens for the last 20 minutes or so of the movie. The rest of it, it building up the story to that climax. However, the build up got boring for me.
If you are an Arnold Schwarzenegger fan, then you should watch it. It is free on Amazon Video as of the writing of this review. So, you have nothing to choose. However, I would not spend money on this and he has many other great action movies that trumps this one.
What do you think? Did you like this movie or not? Let us know below.
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