NEXT OF KIN

 

 

Next Of Kin is one of the late Patrick Swayze's lesser-known action flicks. Released in 1989 (and was released after his megahit "classic" flick Ghost), it co-stars Liam Neeson (yes, THAT Liam Neeson!). In the film, Patrick and Liam play--wait for it!--hillbilly brothers straight from the hills of Kentucky. Patrick's character has left said hillbilly hills of Kentucky to become a big city cop in--gasp!--Chicago while Liam's character stays behind in Kentucky to do whatever the hell hillbillies tend to do. Anyway, Patrick's character is estranged from said hillbilly family because they're apparently offended that he left the hillbilly clan and dared went to the big city. Anyway, the family is brought back together when their brother is murdered while working in Chicago at Patrick's character's request after he loses his job at--where else!--Kentucky coal mines by some crazed mobster. To make a long story short, after Liam's character is killed while pulling a Batman--or the hillbilly version thereof!--on the mobsters who killed his brother, Patrick's character quits his job as a big city cop and exacts revenge with his hillbilly clan against the mobsters in--again, wait for it!--a darkened cemetery. I, of course, won't tell you how the "battle" ends--though, of course, you could probably already figure it out for yourself--but, as Roger Ebert himself once noted about this flick during his initial review of this film, how in the world could a major "battle" in a Chicago cemetery NOT draw the attention of the police? Anyway, while Next Of Kin is certainly not the greatest Patrick Swayze flick ever (he even won a "Razzie" for Worst Actor for this role along with his role as a "freelance bouncer" in his arguably better action flick Road House), it is still an entertaining enough of a film--in spite of its B-movie schlocky-type feel and its hilarious caricatures of not only hillbillies but of Italians as well!--to pass the time if you don't have anything better to do. Not only that, but watching otherwise proper Irish actor Liam Neeson trying to tackle a hillbilly accent is a hoot! Oh yeah, this movie also stars Helen Hunt as Patrick's character's non-hillbilly wife, for anyone who is interested!