Dir: Alan J. Levi
"Boomer Hayes, football's hottest quarterback, is in for the night of his life. Because tonight, Beverly Hills is up for grabs, and it's up to Boomer to stop the biggest heist in history."
Hey, I'm back. No fanfare, but I'm hoping it's going to be long-term. Let's launch right into it:
Robert Davi (Die Hard, Maniac Cop 2) and Lee Ving (Clue, Dudes) lead a group of corrupt ex-cops who plan to loot Beverly Hills after a phony poison gas leak causes the city to be evacuated. Past-his-prime football quarterback Ken Wahl (The Soldier, TV's Wiseguy) teams up with good cop Matt Frewer (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, TV's Max Headroom) to stop them. Our heroes have to fight a tank and outrun a flamethrower in this silly action flick from the director of The Ipcress File and Iron Eagle. Wahl makes lots of football puns and makes good use of his throwing arm with some impromptu Moletav cocktails, Frewer is a standout as the comic relief sidekick, and it's disconcerting to see Ving, frontman for the anarchic punk band Fear, wearing a cop's uniform. This light, breezy action flick is a lot of fun, and coasts on the natural chemistry between Wahl and Frewer. The Taking of Beverly Hills should have been a hit and turned Wahl into a bankable action star, but it got tied up in distributor Orion's bankruptcy, sat in the can for two years, and eventually got dumped on home video after an extremely limited theatrical release. Also with Harley Jane Kozak (The House on Sorority Row, Necessary Roughness), Lyman Ward (Creature, Ferris Bueller's Day Off), and Michael Bowen (Forbidden World, Kill Bill Volume 1). The various artists soundtrack includes Sheena Easton, Keith Sweat, Tony! Toni! Tone!, EMF, and Faith No More's "Epic." In 1992, Wahl suffered a debilitating spinal injury that required him to retire from acting. It's a damn shame; I found him to be an affable, engaging screen presence who deserved to be better known.
