Chasers Reviews

Dennis Hopper's knockabout direction makes CHASERS an engaging action farce; his intelligence and sensitivity make this modest military comedy more memorable than most. It's the Fourth of July in Charleston, South Carolina. Navy supply officer Devane (William McNamara) is one day away from discharge; with $150,000 of skimmed money stashed away, he anticipates a leisurely civilian life. Then he's recruited for "chaser" duty: teamed with hard-bitten career officer Rock (Tom Berenger), he's ordered to retrieve a prisoner from the marine brig at Camp Lejeune and escort the inmate back to Charleston. But Rock's old nemesis, a Camp Lejeune officer (Gary Busey), has withheld the fact that the prisoner is drop-dead knockout blonde Toni Johnson (Erika Eleniak). Johnson, who was serving a seven-to 10-year stretch for desertion, is determined to escape; after a failed first attempt at a truck stop, she sabotages the prisoner transport van, forcing the three to bivouac in sleepy Yemassee, S.C. Calling back to Charleston, Devane discovers that his partner in larceny (Crispin Glover) has stolen his money. Later that night Devane is seduced by Johnson, who takes advantage of Devane's dropped pants and dropped guard to make another escape attempt the next day, stealing a Cadillac from a women's wear sales rep (Hopper) whose wares include an inflatable sex doll. After a wild chase through the town's Independence Day parade, Rock and Devane recapture Johnson. However, seeing that Johnson and Devane have fallen in love, Rock helps Devane spring her from the Charleston brig, and all live happily ever after--Devane and Johnson in Mexico and Rock in retirement with a sexy waitress (Marilu Henner) he met during the misadventures. Though Hopper proved he could work a tightly-plotted narrative as well as anyone with THE HOT SPOT (1990), this amiable ramble shows the actor-director at his best. While navigating the highways and byways of redneck roadside America, Hopper treats abundant natural beauty and hilariously tacky man-made roadside clutter with equal aesthetic respect; moreover, unlike most big-studio directors, he treats his working-class characters without condescension. The whole film has the feeling of a boisterous roadshow, improvising its plot to take advantage of settings found along the way. At its core, the film is a surprisingly eloquent tale of two cynical men rediscovering their humanity under the influence of a woman whose extraordinary beauty is matched only by her extraordinary toughness. Under her influence, Devane lets go of his greed, and Rock lets go of his bitterness over a military career that has led nowhere and has cost him a happy marriage. The cast works well together, and Hopper drops in some sly self-referential humor along the way, bringing in his RIVER'S EDGE co-star Glover and reprising the sex-doll shtick from the same film. In addition, CHASERS treats the post-Cold War redundancy of American soldiers with unusual sympathy and respect. (Profanity, sexual situations, nudity.)