Lightning Jack [VHS]

run time 98 mins.

Paul Hogan, better known as Crocodile Dundee from the popular film series, takes on a new character. He's an outlaw named Lightning Jack Kane who's quick on the draw but not terribly bright. Jack's gang gets wiped out, leaving him to continue his bank robbing career alone... until, by chance, he takes hostage a young mute (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who decides he'd rather team up with Jack than be a put-upon store clerk for the rest of his life. Against his better judgment, Jack agrees, and they embark on a series of criminal escapades, bonding over bank heists, bar fights, jailbreaks, and women. The always lovely and charming Beverly D'Angelo plays Lana, a dance hall girl who's madly in love with Jack. Gooding is his usual exuberant self, even without words, and Paul Hogan is Paul Hogan. If you're a fan of his, you'll enjoy this movie, and if you're not, you probably aren't reading this review in the first place. Lightning Jack doesn't offer much in the way of historical recreation; this is a Disney-style old West, with women's underclothes that look like they came out of a Victoria's Secret catalog and some pretty 1990's haircuts. But the movie rambles along amiably. --Bret Fetzer