Review: 'No Looking Back' proves third time's a charm

April 9, 1998
Web posted at: 11:56 p.m. EDT (0356 GMT)

From Reviewer Paul Tatara

(CNN) -- I'll tell you what, it does my heart good to know that I'm out of step with half the critics in America, even when I like a movie. Take, for example, the strange case of actor/writer/director Edward Burns.

Burns established himself in my eyes as a formidable triple non-threat back in 1995 when he released his first film, the forcefully mediocre "The Brothers McMullen," to something resembling auteur anointment by most of the people who saw it. Never mind that it consisted of shoddy acting, poor camera work, and dialogue that sounded like it was being made up on the spot by not very smart people, a large chunk of the nation jumped out of its collective skin over it.

Then, in 1997, Burns released "She's the One," which impressed me so much I literally can't recall its plot. I do remember that somebody was driving a taxi, there was a sexy girl, and it was lousy. Most of the critics, of course, stood up and did the mashed potato over its burning intelligence and comic insight.

So now Burns pops up with his third film, "No Looking Back," starring Burns himself, Lauren Holly, and Jon Bon Jovi. Having already noticed that the pundits (quite surprisingly) pretty much hate it across the board, I brought a bullet with me to the theater so that I could bite on it while I watched ... and this one turns out to be a solidly constructed, if not particularly ambitious, little movie.

Not that Burns is totally responsible for concocting the Jersey shore atmosphere of the film, mind you. This story wouldn't exist if it weren't for the basic milieu of Bruce Springsteen's impressive body of work, and I know whereof I speak.

I can recite every breath and power chord of Springsteen's music, and can spot a fellow Bruce nut a mile away. Burns has got the great man's working-class-strife tone nailed ("She's the One," not coincidentally, is the title of a song on "Born to Run"), and my suspicions about its origins were verified when, halfway through the movie, I started hearing Boss tunes on a Laundromat radio, the better to complement the earlier ones that came courtesy of his singer/songwriter wife, Patti Scialfa. But what the hell. If you're gonna steal, you might as well start at the top.

Holly plays Claudia, a waitress in a sleepy little seaside town who's "sort of" engaged to her boyfriend, Michael, played by Jon Bon Jovi. As long as we're on the subject of music, I'd just like to say that anything that keeps Bon Jovi out of a recording studio deserves accolades, and he delivers a very respectable performance as a working class Joe, a night shift laborer who lives as much for his beer and poker sessions as for his long-suffering girl.

There's nothing idyllic about this couple's near-penniless existence, but they've got each other and they try not to talk too much about what's missing in their humdrum lives. Very Bruce (see "The River.")

"No Looking Back" movie trailer 2 minute, 21 second VXtreme video

2.5 M / 45 sec. / 240x180 1.6 M / 45 sec. / 160x120 QuickTime movie

Then Claudia's no good ex-boyfriend, Charlie (Burns), materializes after a three year absence. Michael is his best friend, and Charlie, although he states otherwise, is none too pleased to see this guy making lovey-dovey with his ex-girl.

After a while, Charlie flat-out ignores the couple's faltering relationship and decides to lay his smoothest moves on Claudia. Claudia, who doesn't know what she wants but knows it's not life in this dead-end town (see the first 30 or 40 songs Springsteen ever wrote), starts dabbling in her long-dormant feelings towards Charlie.

For most of the movie, that's really about all there is to it, but Burns establishes a quietly forlorn tone early on and manages to sustain it throughout. The dialogue isn't excessively snappy, just plausible and heartfelt, and nobody's staring out at the sunset philosophizing.

Holly, of course, flaunts quite a bit more reconstructive surgery than your average greasy spoon waitress, and even Bon Jovi looks more like a model than a manual laborer, but everyone's head is in the game and there's a real sense of commitment to the proceedings. You slowly begin to feel for everyone, even Burns' character, who, much to his credit, is a readily identifiable jerk.

Special mention should also be made of Therese Deprez's first-rate production design and, especially, Frank Prinzi's evocative photography, which creates the illusion that the entire story is unfolding at sunrise as a big storm rolls in across the Atlantic ocean.

Yes, it's derivative, but the opportunity to experience such unbridled, sure-footed emotionalism is a welcome respite from the usual Hollywood boom-bang-and-burn. Go see the movie, then go out and buy a couple of the albums that it's based on. You could do much worse, and will again, I'm sure.

"No Looking Back" contains sexual situations and bad language. It's also a great chance to ponder how cool a bunch of rust can make an old Chevy look. Rated R. 96 minutes.

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