Powerful

Fresh and Exciting

A Masterpiece!

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Two professional assassins are sent to kidnap a 9 year old boy named Travis Knight (Harley Cross), who is under the United States Federal Witness Protection Program after witnessing a mob killing in Texas. Cohen (Roy Scheider) is the older, jaded assassin with a little bit of humanity still in him. Tate (Adam Baldwin) is the younger, hotheaded and psychopathic killer.The film is a cinematic version of O. Henry's short story "The Ransom of Red Chief", which partially influenced both "Ruthless People" and "The Ref". The version here is significantly different than the original (as it involves no ransom and is much more violent) but has the general underlying concept intact.Is it time for this film to be re-examined and re-evaluated as a lost 1980s action classic? Perhaps. While Harley Cross is a bit annoying (especially that accent) and Adam Baldwin pushes his role too far... this is still a fine piece of entertainment.

This film turned out to be a wonderful surprise! Since most of the action occurs in the tight space of a car, it might seem limited to those who haven't seen it but it actually appears limitless. The trio (or perhaps the duo) play off each other naturally yet unpredictablly and there's little to second guess in the plot. The little hostage is less a participant than a true antagonist who manages to pit Scheider and Baldwin against each other rather masterfully although we know from the beginning that the two characters are miles apart. There have been great plays in the past with only one scene. This is the film counterpart but with plenty of action, a very effective musical score and a tight and efficient script. Despite the ever-present suspense, some of the scenes are actually rather funny - on purpose. Bravo everyone!Curtis Stotlar

When nihilism is the prime component running through your movie, the end result becomes a tricky tightrope-act: some films take their alleged pointlessness and weave it into something artistic and transcendent (having a visionary director helps); others just wallow in their excesses and, by the end, nothing has been imparted or conveyed. "Cohen and Tate" falls into the latter category. For 86 minutes, the film plays out like a first-year screen writing exercise (two mismatched mob hit men in a moving car with a kid who's witnessed a murder). Unfortunately, even the fair pairing of Roy Scheider (fantastic as the jaded old-timer) and Adam Baldwin (as a young, kill-crazy psycho) cannot raise writer-director Eric Red's clunky, motivation-weak, and outright contrived script to transcendent heights. What we have here is a fair crime thriller with some decent action and suspense, but a go-nowhere plot that, by the end, feels maddeningly unfinished. It also doesn't help that our child-in-peril (Harley Cross) gives one of the worst performances in screen history (nor does it make much sense that our bickering hit men would put tape over his mouth until the film is almost over).4.5 out of 10

I cannot understand why this movie has not been given better reviews. One of those films which surprises you with its originality and which having seen it you cannot understand why it has not been given more screen time. Brilliant professional acting between Baldwin and Scheider keeps you guessing till the end as to who is going to win the battle of wills between the two men and the boy. A terrific black comedy of errors which makes you feel almost sorry for the two hit men. It would be a mistake not to watch this movie simply because you have read the bad reviews of it on this site. It deserves to be released worldwide on DVD.