Midnight Heat (TV Movie 1996)

Midnight Heat: Directed by Allan A. Goldstein. With Brian Bosworth, Brad Dourif, Claire Yarlett, Marta DuBois. John Gray, a mild-mannered banker, gets hit by a car and loses most of his memory. When he gets out of the hospital, he has flashbacks which do not fit with his current life. After a strange telephone call and a murder attempt on his wife, Gray’s wife is murdered which he is forced to go to L.A. in order to solve the crime and piece together his mysterious past.

“u0026quot;Huh?u0026quot; Brian Bosworth stars as John Gray, a successful banker. When walking to his car one day, while jamminu0026#39; out to his Walkman, he gets run over in a funny way (which is worth a rewind). He wakes up in the hospital and remembers virtually nothing but has black and white flashbacks to his former life. (Which are shot in the manner of 30u0026#39;s style gangster films).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOnce out of the hospital, he goes back to his wealthy life which he doesnu0026#39;t remember. His wife looks like Kathie Lee Gifford and he seems strangely unsatisfied. As his flashbacks become more prevalent, he goes on a quest for truth and you can always tell because he wears a trench coat throughout the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMeanwhile, local dandy villain Thomas Payne (Dourif) is the leader of a gang of multiracial baddies and after a prison break at the beginning of the movie, they start working out of a sleazy dive in L.A. (is any other kind of dive?) There is a grudge between the gang and u0026quot;Da Bozu0026quot; revolving around a past life in jail and a secret tattoo. With the help of a spunky cocktail waitress, Gray fights to take back his life! Bosworth is perfectly cast as Gray, because it allows him to, throughout the whole movie, seem like a confused dunderhead, constantly making statements such as: u0026quot;Huh?u0026quot;, u0026quot;Oh Man!u0026quot;, u0026quot;aaaaahhh!u0026quot; and the classic u0026quot;Nooooooo!u0026quot; One of its many alternate titles could be u0026quot;Huh?u0026quot;: The Movieu0026quot;. One of the best lines in the movie is when Gray sees a crucifix on the wall and starts to remember something and says u0026quot;Christian? That means something…u0026quot; Depending on the angle, he alternately looks like Dolph Lundgren, Aaron Eckhart and Neil Patrick Harris. As a banker, he looks like a meathead stuffed in a suit with funny suspenders.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBrad Dourif seemed to relish his role as the hat lovinu0026#39; baddie. (u0026quot;You should wear the hat, the hat shouldnu0026#39;t wear you.u0026quot;) Letu0026#39;s not forget about one of Payneu0026#39;s minions who looks just like Sonic The Hedgehogu0026#39;s nemesis u0026quot;Dr. Robotniku0026quot;. Also when Payne threatens a Mexican bad guy at gunpoint he pleads for his u0026quot;Bambinosu0026quot; which is clearly Italian.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSeeing as the movie takes liberally from u0026quot;Robocopu0026quot; and u0026quot;Total Recallu0026quot;, it is safe to assume the writers were influenced by Paul Verhoeven. On a bizarre note, there are a lot of allusions to the songs u0026quot;Y.M.C.A.u0026quot;, u0026quot;In The Navyu0026quot;, and u0026quot;Macho Manu0026quot;. It is also safe to assume they were clearly influenced by The Village People.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAt the end of the day, u0026quot;Blackoutu0026quot; is better than average Direct-To-Video fare. Bosworth and the rest put in enjoyable performances.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDonu0026#39;t forget: He hates menthol.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eComeuppance Review by: Ty u0026amp; Brett For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com”