Cohen and Tate (1988)

Synopsis:

A pair of mysterious hit-men (Roy Scheider, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, and Adam Baldwin, My Bodyguard) viciously kill a couple and kidnap their kid. The paid assassins take the child on a long, long road trip to meet the mafioso who ordered the hit.

Reaction & Thoughts:

“I’m warning you. I should’ve painted the seat with your brains, boy.”

Eric Red’s rabid thriller Cohen and Tate begins with a bang: two hired assassins walk into an isolated farmhouse and savagely kill everyone in sight. From then on, this mean-spirited, no-holds-barred neo-noir doesn’t let viewers take a breath as it takes them on a wild journey through the dark underbelly of society.

Screenwriter Red (Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark), who made his directorial debut here, seems to be paying tribute to the minimalist noirs of yesterday, a sort of homage to movies like Detour (1945), Impact (1949), The Narrow Margin (1952) and The Hitch-Hiker (1953). It also anticipates Quentin Tarantino’s crime movies.

Despite its many brutal sequences, the film is funny, albeit in a sly kind of way. I do have to warn viewers: some “jokes” are cruel and tasteless. Writer-director Red also uses the child-in-peril plot device in a devilishly smart manner. The movie generates enormous suspense because you are convinced that the innocent kid could be killed at any given moment, and without any provocation — the child is in real danger!

Adam Baldwin is the impulsive young killer and Roy Scheider is his partner, a seasoned hit-man. This ain’t yin vs. yang, it’s young yin vs. old yin. The film resisted the temptation of redeeming the main characters. You won’t see sudden changes of heart — the two killers remain bad people from beginning to end.

Scheider is wonderful as the world-weary killer. This is perhaps his last great performance. It’s a welcome return to his pre-Jaws career — Scheider started out playing morally dubious characters in films like Stiletto (1969) and Klute (1971). Baldwin’s cockiness contrasts perfectly with Scheider’s “old-school” thinking. Harley Cross (Mrs. Soffel and The Believers), who plays the kid, is very good too.

Conclusions & Final Thoughts:

Cohen and Tate isn’t as polished as Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992) or Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993), but it is quite compelling and engaging. The dialogue is razor-sharp, and the situations are very suspenseful. The actors are great too. Highly recommended to (neo)noir fans! Color, 86 minutes, Rated R.

Theatrical Trailer: