| Next Of Kin (1989) Cast:Patrick Swayze, Liam Neeson, Helen Hunt, Adam Baldwin, Bill Paxton, Michael J. Pollard, Ben Stiller Swayze stars as a redneck cop who takes on the mobster who offed his brother, at first he tries to do it by the book but when his older brother (Neeson) starts gunning for revenge, Swayze finds himself taking a stance with his older brother in this quite effective actioner. Patrick Swayze in my opinion has always been a capable action star and with Next Of Kin, he more than proves his worth. Indeed Next Of Kin has so much "good-oldboy" charm that one quite enjoys the overall fight between the big city mobsters and the backwoods red necks who know how to set a few traps that would make Rambo blush.This confrontation is truly pumped up as far as it can be. However what really makes Next Of Kin work is the chemistry between Liam Neeson and Patrick Swayze, they not only look a little alike but also sell the concept of being rival brothers, this adds more texture to the role and for the most part makes this far more enjoyable then one would expect. However that being said both Hunt, Paxton and Stiller are completely wasted in their parts, as the script moves too fast to develop any of their characters. Still Next Of Kin works as a fun throwaway actioner, the pace is swift, the action exciting and the movie itself emerges as pretty enjoyable. D.John Irvin*** |