cult film freak: TIMOTHY HUTTON WITH SEAN PENN AND TOM CRUISE IN 'TAPS'

Written by James M. Tate / 7/15/2024 / No comments / action , eighties , evan handler , gary mccleery , george c. scott , giancarlo esposito , harold becker , john p. navin jr. , military academy , ronny cox , sean penn , teen , thriller , timothy hutton , tom cruise

TIMOTHY HUTTON WITH SEAN PENN AND TOM CRUISE IN 'TAPS'

7/15/2024 | No comment

Sean Penn and Giancarlo Esposito in TAPS Year: 1981 Rating: ****

Harold Becker's TAPS is perhaps the only movie where Tom Cruise isn't cheered at the end... in fact he's downright despised for what he causes, underlining how well this involving, thoroughly compelling yet somewhat farfetched military-academy drama fleshes out the characters, and there are many... but four really matter...

Cruise is the extreme military-minded David Shawn, fervently following orders of Timothy Hutton's Brian Moreland, whose initial catapulting mentor is first-billed George C. Scott, sharing first-act experience-filled monologues about the honorary tradition of the central location: an academy that's soon to be turned into condominiums...

Timothy Hutton and Tom Cruise in TAPS

After Scott's taken out, the movie's handed off to Hutton... torn between traditional values and more modern thinking... the latter underlined by passive, well-read sidekick Sean Penn as Alex Dwyer, provoking the most intense scenes either in reflective collaboration with or emotionally charged arguments (and one fist-fight) against both Hutton and Cruise during the academy's intensely-plotted takeover...

An edgy template playing-out similar to a bank robbery hostage thriller (with Ronny Cox the lawman negotiator), without hostages, yet the suspense relies on which of the other students... including Giancarlo Esposito, Billy Van Zandt and Evan Handler... will follow Hutton's idealistically-burdened/emotionally-charged plight that, whether in bursts of intense action or slow-building tension, keeps the audience guessing until the end — where Tom Cruise proved he could play a worthy antagonist before rocketing into heroic superstardom.

Timothy Hutton in TAPS

Tom Cruise in TAPS

John P. Navin Jr. and Donald Kimmil in TAPS

Tom Cruise in TAPS

Sean Penn in TAPS

Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton in TAPS

Timothy Hutton in TAPS

Timothy Hutton in TAPS with George C. Scott

Tom Cruise in TAPS

Evan Handler in TAPS

Former Sean Penn co-star Gary McCleery in TAPS

Timothy Hutton in TAPS

Billy Van Zandt and Donald Kimmil in TAPS

Timothy Hutton in TAPS

Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton in TAPS

Tom Cruise in TAPS

Giancarlo Esposito in TAPS

Tom Cruise in TAPS

Timothy Hutton in TAPS

Timothy Hutton in TAPS with Tom Cruise and Sean Penn

Timothy Hutton in TAPS with Sean Penn

Share This Post :

Tags : action , eighties , evan handler , gary mccleery , george c. scott , giancarlo esposito , harold becker , john p. navin jr. , military academy , ronny cox , sean penn , teen , thriller , timothy hutton , tom cruise

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)WHITE LIGHTNING 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)CHARLES BRONSON1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER