No Man's Land is like Point Break with cars, where D.B. Sweeney (where you can just picture Paul Walker in this role, check out the matching hairstyle) plays an undercover cop, out to pinpoint the killer hand, responsible for gunning down a detective, who was obviously undercover himself. Operating out of an auto repair shop, a front, Sweeney's character is also an ace mechanic. Fancy that? No, that's why he was chosen, but also being a rookie, he, as his hardarse cop boss (Quaid) says "doesn't act like a cop, but act is something Sweeney does well. It's a pity we didn't see more of him, in stuff, as only a score of films he did, spring to mind. He's befriended by cool dressing, rich kid/thief, Ted Varrick (Sheen) who's hot Porsche breaks down on Mulholland, and from here, it's like another Point Break scenario (this came out three and a half years earlier, but who's counting). Sheen really impresses here, with just the right measure of cool and suave cockiness. This actor, despite his bad habits, can really surprise you. He did with me, after coming to view it again. He owns thw role, and works it wonderfully. Of course, there's rival competitor thieves that push the story forward, where we seem to have a few bad apple cops around. Lara Harris as Sheen's sister who doesn't know of his illegal doings, and who apparently can whip out killer crepes, is just a utterly gorgeous picture of beauty. This is one of those real cool movie treats I like, but it's not without it's faults, and I feel that, every time I see it. For instance, revenge driven Sheen, can apparently take out a rival competitor on a dance floor with strobing lights, and no one notices, not even the competitor's much younger date. They just keep dancing. Fault. But this is a movie, you can forgive these kind of things. There's some good chases, and a humbly tragic climax, a shootout, that is inevitable, where at the end, we aren't quite sure if Quaid's character was dirty. Ironically both him and Sheen did another car movie, The Wraith, exactly nine months earlier, on release date here, this of course a better movie. Too, we learn a lot about our three characters, Sheen, I almost feel sorry for. Him and Sweeney, it's a mutual friendship, you don't want to end. For some reason, a thinner George Dzundza, appears unbilled as Sweeney's Uncle. Seriously though, Sweeney needs to change professions, regarding car stealing, and stop hesitating for one here. Cool hip movie, with well utilized locations, one of course, used so many times in night shots. One surprising attribute: Sheen's top geared performance, and a wonderful line including following dialogue, "lifestyles of the rich and aimless".
Review of No Man's Land
