Tue 8 Dec 2020
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: RAW DEAL (1986).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[9] Comments
RAW DEAL. De Laurentiis Entertainment, 1986. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrold, Sam Wanamaker, Paul Shenar, Robert Davi, Ed Lauter, Darren McGavin, Joe Regalbuto, Steven Hill. Director: John Irvin. Available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
I know this is almost certainly an outlier opinion, but here it is: Raw Deal is actually a pretty good action movie. Although it was a box office disappointment and generally scoffed at by critics, this Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle has been unfairly maligned. One would almost say that the movie itself got a raw deal. And that it now deserves critical reappraisal.
Years ago, Mark Kaminski (Schwarzenegger) was an FBI Agent living in New York with a bright future ahead of him. All that changed when ambitious prosecutor Marvin Baxter (Joe Regalbuto), upon seeing how badly Kaminski roughed up a child abuse suspect, gave Kaminski a choice: resign or be prosecuted. Kaminski chose the former and ended up in exile, working as a small-town sheriff where one of his biggest collars is that of a local thief impersonating a motorcycle cop.
Enter FBI Agent Harry Shannon (Darren McGavin). He’s angry and grieving. His son, also an agent, was murdered in cold blood while working witness protection. Shannon knows that somewhere in law enforcement there is a leak, one that cost his dear son his life. He gives Kaminski an offer: work undercover, infiltrate the Chicago mob, and find out who is leaking vital information about the witness protection program. It would all be off the books, of course. No one other than he would know about it.
It is, of course, a completely familiar plot line. One that has been used time and again. But this doesn’t stop Raw Deal from being good trashy fun. The fact that movie refuses to take itself too seriously works to its benefit. The Untouchables (1987), also a Chicago mob movie, this is not.
What also makes the movie worth a look is the great character actor talent on display. Steven Hill, decades after he departed Mission: Impossible, is a most welcome screen presence. He portrays Martin Lamanski, a synagogue-attending Jewish gangster in a fierce rivalry with Italian mob boss Luigi Patrovita (Sam Wanamaker). Both men seem to be having a lot – and I do mean a lot – of fun with their roles. To me, this counts for a lot.
Also look for Robert Davi, known for portraying both cops and heavies, in a supporting role as a mob enforcer. Ed Lauter, who appeared in many 1970s action films, portrays a tough nosed Chicago cop. Both actors add grit and substance to the proceedings and satisfactorily counterbalance the inevitably goofy Schwarzenegger moments.
I think a lot of attention has been given to the final sequence, which admittedly, is excessively violent. It’s something you’d associate more with a 1970s Italian poliziotteschi than with Hollywood moviemaking. But then again this was a Dino De Laurentiis production. Make of that what you will.
December 8th, 2020 at 10:09 am
I haven’t seen this since it was new, but I remember liking it and thinking it was one of Schwarzenegger’s better films.
December 8th, 2020 at 11:35 am
I always think, anything with Kathryn Harrold, and the hell with these old and ugly guys.
December 8th, 2020 at 2:04 pm
In terms of screen time, I think she’s well outnumbered in this one, Barry,
December 8th, 2020 at 2:36 pm
I know.
December 8th, 2020 at 7:06 pm
I’ve never heard of this one (though there’s nothing startling about that). Too ‘newish’ a release for me. But that’s a classic 1970s supporting cast and that alone makes it interesting. Darren McGavin and the great Ed Lauter? Plus Sam Wanamaker? Ore-Ida!
December 8th, 2020 at 9:23 pm
John Irwin was a fine director of this sort of thing and with that cast it should have done better, but I suspect it just felt too familiar to audiences who wanted to see Arnold in something bigger.
I remember liking it, but finding it a bit tired in retelling an oft told tale however much energy went into telling it.
December 27th, 2020 at 10:19 pm
Would like to put in a word of praise for Kathleen Harrold. Always solid and reliable, and co-starred in a goodly number of decent modern flicks. ‘Heartbreakers’ (though not crime or mystery-related) yes, but more memorably alongside Steve McQueen in ‘The Hunter’. Harrold had a quintessential good-girl-next-door appeal. It’s getting increasingly hard to find that in an America where every female lately seems to sport full-neck tattoos, green hair, and a bull’s nose-ring through their dang middle nostril like a deliberate wad of splooge dangling down.
December 27th, 2020 at 10:52 pm
I’m glad I’m reading this tonight instead of tomorrow morning. This doesn’t pass the breakfast test.
December 30th, 2020 at 11:51 am
FYI:
Kathryn Harrold has long since left the acting business.
She’s now a practicing psychologist in Los Angeles.
She was also married for a time to Lawrence O’Donnell (yes, that Lawrence O’Donnell) – but that’s another story …