Andrew Sipes directed his debut feature film Fair Game, an American action-thriller, in 1995. It features actors William Baldwin and Cindy Crawford, as the plot attempts to intertwine high-stakes action, romantic elements, as well as the chaos of South Florida. The movie, seemingly a commercial success, was critically touted for having exhilarating explosion set pieces and high production value. Strangely enough, Fair Game did not resonate with audiences or critics upon release.
The film was intended to be a vehicle for supermodel Cindy Crawford’s entrance into the acting scene, but served as an archetype example for flims where a narrative devoid of plot, combined with powerful stars, dull the viewing experience.
Plot Summary
The story follows the sunny Miami view; with the story focused on Kate McQuean. She is a civil attorney and the prospective target of a group of sinister ex-KGB operatives. In taking pursued the legal claim with the shipping freighter, Kate on accident makes herself a target of a money laundering scheme by former intelligence officer turned colonel Ilya Pavel Kazak.
When the attention Kate draws to herself becomes too much, Kazak orders her hit to safeguard his underground empire. Protecting her is Detective Max Kirkpatrick, a tough and resourceful Miami cop. Their partnership is characterized by discord at first, but both are soon swept up in a high-octane chase featuring assassins, shifty undercover agents, and incessant gun fights.
While the two try to evade danger, their never-ending cat and mouse chase across the state draws them closer together. Romance is sizzling beneath the surface, poised to erupt at any moment while they strategically navigate through the chaos. The story captures their attempts to outwit Kazak’s relentless team as they simultaneously work on cracking the conspiracy.
Main Cast
William Baldwin as Detective Max Kirkpatrick: Baldwin gives life to a complex character with a dark intensity, combining a tough-guy persona with flashes of deadpan humor.
Cindy Crawford as Kate McQuean: The film’s wrested Crawford from her modeling activities to assume the character of a smart, targeted attorney who gains strength as the story unfolds.
Steven Berkoff as Colonel Kazak: Berkoff loosely bases the film’s primary antagonist on himself by infusing the role with his menacing demeanor and typecasting as a cold-blooded villain.
Christopher McDonald as Lieutenant Meyerson
Miguel Sandoval as Emilio Juantorena
Olek Krupa as Zhukov
Salma Hayek appears briefly in a supporting role as Rita, elevating the film’s appeal with her unexpected star power.
Production Background:
Like the Stallone vehicle Cobra from 1986, Fair Game draws inspiration from Paula Gosling’s novel A Running Duck. Acclaimed by the screenwriting community, Charlie Fletcher pioneered the adaptation with an emphasis on strong lead pair interactions fused with 90s style: copious violence, flirty banter, and palpable lead chemistry.
With a budget surpassing $50 million, the film was produced by action veteran Joel Silver from the renowned Lethal Weapon and Die Hard franchises. Richard Bowen, the movie’s accompanying cinematographer, is noticed greatly in the action sequences for the stunning aerial shots of Miami. With his trademark rhythmical electronic scores powered by heavy synths, Mark Mancina maintained the unremitting adrenaline rush the film set out to deliver.
Critical Reception and Box Office Performance:
By Fletcher’s standards, Fair Game was an immediate disaster. The film was received poorly upon release, labelled as suffering from a weak structure, bland character arcs, and an overrelience on tropes. Ridiculous and laughable dialogue, especially the unconvincing romantic tension between Max and Kate, proved to be the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
Cindy Crawford, in particular, received criticism for her performance. Reviewers thought she was visually commanding and confident, yet lacked emotional expression with her lines. More experienced Baldwin also struggled to singlehandedly bear the film’s weight. The romance intended to compliment the explosive action served to undermine sentiment instead, feeling forced and underwhelming.
From a financial standpoint Fair Game was a box office failure, only bringing in just over $11 million in the U.S, falling woefully short from recouping its production budget. The film proved to be a dead end for Crawford’s acting career and turned into a cautionary tale of her casting elsewhere.
Cult status soon became Fair Game’s one redeemable attributes, earning a spot among cult action films. Far from its original praise critics now celebrate its absurdly over-the-top chase scenes, explosions, and melodramatic tone as deserving a spot among action movies that are so bad they’re good. For those with nostalgia for 90s tropes exploding cars, warehouse shootouts and one liners delivered with a smirk the film comes off as a delightfully ironic masterpiece.
Moreover, the film highlights a very particular style of mid-90s action primed for gloss, high-octane fashion, foreign tourism, and militaristic villains: multi-million dollar location scouts with military grade mercenaries. It encapsulates the era’s breathtaking style, albeit with narrative misjudgments.
Conclusion
While it offers little to drama enthusiasts seeking a critically renowned cinematic masterpiece, action buffs will find merit in the Fair Game’s attempt at fusing fashion and film, not to mention its captivating background and cast. The film had the perfect recipe for a surefire blockbuster with one of the beloved Baldwin brothers, a supermodel making her acting debut, and a veteran action film producer.
Even when the film unfortunately suffers from the imbalance of execution and ambition in storytelling, it’s an entertaining flick for 90s action-obsessed like myself. Though, the film is not celebrated for its storytelling, Fair Game proves to the be the perfect example of bold and beauty, capturing viewer’s visceral reaction over explosions and fluke action sequences.
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