Wolff rating: FAIR
Plot summary: Someone gives a Florida lawman a raw deal, and he goes into rogue cop mode to take care of the offender(s).
Biased, pithy comments: Schwarzenegger's career was started with a role that has been often overlooked when surveying his filmography---that of Conan the Barbarian. After Conan, his handlers and agents realized that riding around on horses in leather underwear wasn't going to pay well for much longer, so they began to style the big Austrian as a more typical action hero, which in the wake of successful ``Dirty Harry'' films meant cops battling the mob. ``Raw Deal'' was one of those attempts, along with ``Commando'' and ``Red Heat,'' and was clearly the worst of the bunch. Arnold has long pauses between blowing things up, has a pretty poor supporting cast, and the whole thing seems markedly uninspired. After experiencing Arnie in multimillion dollar blast-fests like ``Last Action Hero'' and ``T2,'' seeing this lower-budget formula cop-gone-mad film just doesn't add much to a cinema-goer's palette. Plus, in the late eighties, preppie was chic, and it's hard to look tough in a nice pair of chinos. A few good zingers (my favorite from when I was a kid was ``Don't drink and bake,''), but overall not one of the Arnie films for the ages.
Other Notes: Watch for a young, pre-``Murphy Brown'' Joe Regalbuto. Directed by John Irvin, who had just finished ``Turtle Diary'' before facing this. Sheesh. And yes, I saw this in the theatre when I was very young.
How many times I have seen it: x2
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Karthryn Harrold, Sam Wanamaker, Paul Shenar.
Directed by: John Irvin