Viewers who wait breathlessly for each re-teaming of the Coreys Haim and Feldman may enjoy this kamikaze lampooning. Others won't.
Virtual reality jockeys Sam (Corey Feldman) and Dave (Corey Haim) think they may have found their fortune when Sam's uncle, Rex Carver (Geoffrey Lewis), asks the boys to save his Treasure Island theme park, which is about to go into receivership. Laboring under the impression that the two
buddies are CIA agents, Rex needs them to run interference against his archenemy Hemlock (Robert Mandan). (Years ago in Hollywood, the two former actors played hero and villain in a series of swashbuckling classics. Now, unscrupulous Hemlock is trying to wrest the island--where, legend has it,
real treasure is buried--away from his former co-star so he can sell it as an A-bomb test site.)
After failing to impress Uncle Rex's comely assistant Sonja (Maureen Flannigan) with their secret agent masquerade, Sam and Dave run afoul of Hemlock's lackeys. Bewitched by Hemlock's seductive lawyer Alex (Demetra Hampton), Sam inadvertently betrays his uncle by persuading him to sign a dubious
document with an investment protection clause that could give Hemlock control of the island. (Fortunately, the contract has a buy-back option which could save Rex's property.)
Hemlock discovers Rex's plan to dig up the treasure (worth $3.5 million) with the help of a pirate map, leading to a showdown involving three tests of valor at the island's Rock of Wisdom. Rex wins the contest and bests his longtime foe by offering Hemlock the only copy of ACE OF THE SKIES, the
sole movie in which Hemlock played the hero, in exchange for the paid-up mortgage to the island. Treasure Island is now owned by Rex Carver in perpetuity; the happy settlement of Rex's dilemma leaves Sam and Dave free to pursue babes Alex and Sonja.
Scattershot humor that misses its targets, exaggerated principal performances bad enough to erase pleasant memories of some of the supporting players, and a self-destructive drive to avoid returning to the central plot at all costs sum up the modus operandi of this coarse concoction. What's most
depressing is that the basic idea--two retired swashbucklers feuding into the present as they replay their movie-inspired enmity--is a sound one; Mandan and Lewis do milk some laughter out of it, but it's buried beneath mountains of unfunny parody and crude breast jokes. Look for President
Clinton's brother Roger in the tiny role of Gino. (Violence, nudity, profanity.) leave a comment
