Western Courier

Issue date: 8/21/06 Section: The Edge

Tango and Cash (1989)
Directed by Randy Feldman
Rating: R
Runtime: 98 minutes


It was and still is a classic action flick with a barrel of laughs to boot. Tango & Cash will go down as one of the highlights of both Sylvester Stallone's and Kurt Russell's career. This movie is for all those fans of cheesy, one liner action-flicks, in which Stallone and Russell definitely deliver.

Ray Tango (Stallone) is the law. He embodies the law to a T, and dresses in Armani Suits. Gabe Cash (Russell) is a hard-ass with a sleeveless shirt and will toy with your inhibitions until he gets what he wants, but they have something in common. They're both the top narcotics cops in Los Angeles. Although they've never worked together, they're about to be in a whole heap of trouble together.

When the hot cops are at the top of their game, Yves Perret (Jack Palance), the drug kingpin of L.A., realizes that his operations are going to hit rock bottom if he doesn't stop Tango and Cash from interfering. While Tango and Cash are busting drug deliveries, Perret devises a highly elaborate setup to get rid of them once and for all.

After we see Tango prove to the LAPD that he is not an idiot by busting a gas truck with a load of cocaine, we see Cash arriving at his home and a "visitor" is waiting for him. He is a decoy, a ploy to lure Cash into a giant setup. Cash catches him and brings him to headquarters and does his good cop routine and then tortures the guy until he hears what he wants to hear: an address and a name. At the same time, Tango receives a tip about a drug deal about to take place at the same address. They both meet there and find only each other. Seems a little farfetched, but exquisitely entertaining.

The cops come in and bust the destructive duo. The evidence? A recording of both Tango and Cash's voices on a tape recorder depicting an incident of murder. Both are put to trial and sentenced to 18 months in a minimum-security prison.

That's when all the laughs come in. One liner after one liner, it's great.

While in prison, they make a reputation for themselves, and this gets them in trouble. Believe it or not, Perret has some guys on the inside working for him. So Tango and Cash are captured by the thugs and hung up for display of electrocution in the prison basement. And guess who shows up? That's right, Perret. He's there to send them a message: don't mess with Yves Perret.

They manage to escape in a ridiculously easy manner, and discover where to find Perret. Of course, Stallone and Russell always get their man and they save the day, as well as their names. You know, the typical thing that happens in all action movies.

You can't expect much from writer Randy Feldman, whom before writing the script for this film only had written one script, for a movie called "Hell Night," a horror movie starring "The Exorcist" star Linda Blair. But in the end, the cheesy one-liners, convenient plot turns and big time action film actors make the movie the classic that it is. Let's all give a big thanks to Randy Feldman for an awesomely bad movie.

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