Chasers

Thoroughly entertaining road movie with Tom Berenger and Erika Eleniak

A young sailor involved in inventory scams (William McNamara) is assigned SP duty to escort a prisoner from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, back to his base in Charleston, South Carolina. The catch is that the Chief Petty Officer in charge is a curmudgeon (Berenger) and the prisoner is a beautiful woman (Eleniak), not to mention this all happens on his last day before being discharged. Crispin Glover, Gary Busey, Dean Stockwell, Bitty Schram and Marilu Henner have bit parts.

“Chasers” (1994) is the last of seven movies directed by Dennis Hopper and, like his most popular flick “Easy Rider” (1969), it’s a road movie, except that this one has a sense of humor, which is mostly low-key and droll. I can’t believe it’s so obscure because this is easily one of the best road flicks ever made.

Comparable films include “The Last Detail” (1973), “Three for the Road” (1987) and “The Lucky Ones” (2007). This is just as entertaining or better than any of ’em. There’s a great story element that’s reminiscent of the soon-to-come “Pulp Fiction” (1994).

The story captivates right from the get-go and never goes wrong. It has everything: drama, comedy, human interest, romance, action, redemption and beautiful woman. Speaking of the latter, Hopper knows how to shoot women without getting overly sleazy (no pun intended), although there is one steamy sex scene with some nudity (just a heads up for those who might be offended).

The movie runs 1 hour, 41 minutes, and was shot in South Carolina as follows: Patriots Point in Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Mount Pleasant and Yemassee; with some stuff done in North Carolina, such as Wilmington.

GRADE: A