Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 18, 1992 TAG: 9201180326
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
JAGGER ONLY ATTRACTION OF `FREEJACK'
The most interesting aspect of "Freejack" is the presence of Mick Jagger and his wife, Jerry Hall.We don't often get to see the head Stone when he's not rockin'. Not that Jagger turns in an interesting performance; he's just on hand to boost the curiosity quotient.
Emilio Estevez is the hero in this clumsily directed, crash-bang action picture set in 2009.
The premise is interesting at the beginning, but it falls victim to inept direction and hopeless prop and wardrobe departments.
It almost looks as if most of the budget went for star salaries and the blow-out special effects near the end. Much of the vehicular hardware looks like it was purchased at an Army surplus store and gussied up with paint from a warehouse clearance sale. The costumes are cheesy by any standards.
Estevez plays Alex, a race-car driver who is whisked into the future seconds before a fatal crash. In the polluted, ozone-depleted 21st century, body snatchers look to the past for people to sell to dying rich folks, who buy healthy bodies and mind transplants.
Alex escapes from the body snatchers and begins a search for his old girlfriend (Rene Russo). She hasn't aged a minute in 18 years and she's now an executive with a big corporation, headed by Anthony Hopkins. Jagger plays the top body snatcher, and he and everyone else in the movie are after Alex.
There are a lot of car crashes, foot chases and shoot-em-ups in a decaying urban environment, and the movie makes some references to the economic polarization that's already taking root in our society. But any irony, satire or humor is completely incidental.
`Freejack': A Warner Brothers picture at Valley View Mall 6 (362-8219) and Salem Valley 8 (389-0444). Rated R for violence and language; 120 minutes.