David Heavener's PRIME TARGET is an almost unbelievably bad movie in every respect, as are most low-budget movies whose writer-producer-director-star is on an extended ego trip.
Sporting a belt with "Cowboy" embossed on it, no- nonsense cop John Bloodstone (Heavener) is suspended from the force for having roasted a gang of bank robbers with a blow torch. Corrupt local officials, in conjunction with some no-good FBI agents decide that Bloodstone is becoming too much of a
liability, so they set up a plan whereby he will suffer a convenient, fatal accident. His bosses order Bloodstone to transport arch criminal Marrietta Copella (Tony Curtis) to another prison. The idea is that both Bloodstone and Copella will meet disaster during the trip. Predictably, the pair get
through and justice is achieved--Bloodstone-style.
Obviously a Clint Eastwood fan, Heavener has penned a screenplay that is nothing more than a tired rehash of such Eastwood epics as DIRTY HARRY, MAGNUM FORCE and THE GAUNTLET. He almost steals Eastwood's lines verbatim, such as having Bloodstone utter "Have a nice trip," when dispatching some
villains. Unfortunately, Heavener doesn't read lines as well as Eastwood and he comes across, not as tough-as-nails, but just boring and dull. Faring somewhat better are Isaac Hayes as Thompkins, a desk-bound police captain, Jenilee Harrison as Heavener's ever-patient wife Kathy and Andrew
Robinson, Don Stroud, Robert Reed and Michael Gregory. Tony Curtis has the best role and does the best by it as the old-style Mafioso. Curtis at least succeeds in giving his character more than a single dimension, no thanks to Heavener's lackluster direction. (Violence, profanity.) leave a comment
