Provoked (1989) Poster

(1989)

User Reviews

Review this title
5 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
3/10
Tonight it is time to get your McKeiver Jones III on!
tarbosh2200030 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Have you ever been walking down the street, minding your own business, when an interracial gang pulls up in a car and asks you to join them? Well that's exactly what happens to Randy (Von Ornsteiner) when a vicious group of thugs comprised of Loverboy (whose shirt is perpetually open revealing his beer gut, and happily smiling, proclaims, "I was charged with rape!"), his mother Big Momma (whose character predates Big Momma's House (2000) by eleven years and predates Big Momma's House 2 by a whopping seventeen years - and is one of the best characters in "Provoked"), Slick, the token Asian, and Mad Dog, a white guy who wears a Members Only jacket and headband, and inexplicably carries a Tommy-Gun). They recruit Randy (now dubbed "Nick The Knife") to steal some money from the payroll office of the Sun Meadow Wines Building.

The heist goes awry when after shouting "gimme money!" repeatedly yields no results, they take four hostages. One of which looks like Estelle Getty and makings ear-piercing but funny noises. Unfortunately for them, the husband of a woman named Casey Kennedy (Maranne) is inside. She had plans to go on her honeymoon (Don't be alarmed when you see her showing off her new house on a homemade video, no one taped over this movie), but her newlywed husband Michael (Bob Fall) is inside.

Captain Rader (Jones III) is called in to handle the situation. Casey believes the police are moving too slow but Rader is having his own squabbles with Mayor Bender (Nick Roberts). Will Casey take the law into her own hands and save her husband or will McKeiver Jones III stand in her way as the gang is getting angrier and angrier? First a note about the name McKeiver Jones III. It is AWESOME. His first name is MCKEIVER. His last name is JONES. He is not the first, or the second. There have been at least three people in history named McKeiver Jones. Hopefully he had a son and his name is McKeiver Jones IV. His legacy should live on. In all seriousness, he is like a cross between Robert Townsend and Carl Weathers.

One of the flaws of the movie is that MJ-III should have done more. He doesn't show up until 29 minutes in. Yes, we had a McKeiver Watch. He just stands around and barks into a megaphone. It would've been nice to see him participate in some action scenes.

Then again, maybe not. The whole movie is amateurish and clumsy. The technical aspects of the film are inept. Most of the movie takes place in an unfurnished room in an office. The keyboard music score sounds like a drunk four-year old picking keys at random. However it did have a good message about cutting through all the bureaucratic red tape and just killing the baddies yourself. Predating 15 Minutes (2001) by twelve years, "Provoked" tries to make a comment about the media and crime. Most humorously when reporter Carla McKenzie (Porn star Zee) insensitively asks Casey in an on-camera interview "When do you think they will kill your husband?".

The tagline on the front of the VHS box is: "When Enough IS Enough." It is puzzling why the word "IS" is concentrated on so much. On the back of the box, it claims that the action scenes invoke Sam Peckinpah. Having choppy slow-mo in every action scene is not the same thing as his classic works.

On the bright side, the character of Machine-Gun Joe (Sprosty) livens things up in the latter part of the film. But even he should have done more.

Supposedly shot in eight days for $130,000 and released on Rae Don Home Video, We think it is time to get your McKeiver Jones III on.

For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
4 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Pretty, pretty bad
minicinema10 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Wow - this is truly one of the worst films ever made. I'm not sure this even rises to the level of "grindhouse fare" or "exploitation trash."

I've seen better looking stuff on Youtube filmed with someone's cellphone. Really. I may be ripping off Chris Rock, but if someone told me this cost $100 to produce, I'd respond that someone must be walking around with $90 in his pocket.

That said, I have to admit that I laughed out loud when **SPOILER ALERT** (should there be ANYONE out there who could possibly care) the gunman went on live television threatening to kill a hostage if his demands aren't met, and then, at the end of his countdown... shoots the cameraman. Hilarious!
3 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
The funniest movie ever
saradawn8 June 2002
I thought "Showgirls" was the best bad movie ever, but "Provoked" gives it a run for its money. The next morning my stomach still hurt from laughing so hard. Run to the action/adventure section of your local video store and rent it today.
6 out of 12 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
WOW
klbrake24 September 2001
A cinematic triumph. The mob scene may be one of the most terrifying ever captured on film. The tension is almost too much to bear as this gripping tale based on a TRUE story is unfolded. Don't watch this one alone!! Don't let another day go by without being PROVOKED.
2 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Flattering 'Die Hard' imitation
lor_3 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
My review was written in November 1989 after watching the movie on Raedon video cassette.

A low-budget variation on "Die Hard"'s hostage format, "Provoked" is an okay video feature that makes up in pace what it lacks in production values.

Cindy Maranne, who previously toplined in the video film "Slash Dance", stars as a bride whose husband (Bob Fall) is taken hostage when hey visi her ofice tgo pick up their honeymoon plane tickets. A gang of bumbling ex-cons, led by Big Mama (Phyllis Duran camping it up), cold-bloodedly kill the prisoners one by one while Maranne and police chief McKeiver Jones III are helpless to act because of he intransigence of the mayor.

Though several plot details recall the hit Bruce Willis film (Fall is an ex-N. Y. cop, a fact unknown to his captors, for example), pic is constraine by budget to rely on exploitation situations rather than large-scale production numbers. Poor sound effectgs hurt the shootouts, however.

Maranne is okay as the lead, finally acquiringan automatic weapon and cleaning up the baddies almost single-handedly. Best performance is by sexy Ona Simms, who plays an overly aggressive tv newscaster (and mistress to he mayor). Her untimely end at the hands of the captors is an exciting plot twist.

Besides he subpar sound effects, other tech credits are average.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed