If Looks Could Kill (film)
| If Looks Could Kill | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | William Dear |
| Produced by | Neil Meron Craig Zadan |
| Screenplay by | Darren Star |
| Story by | Fred Dekker |
| Starring | Richard Grieco Linda Hunt Roger Rees Gabrielle Anwar Roger Daltrey |
| Music by | David Foster |
| Cinematography | Douglas Milsome |
| Editing by | John F. Link |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | March 15, 1991 |
| Running time | 88 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $12 million |
| Box office | $7,788,597 |
If Looks Could Kill (released in the UK as Teen Agent) is an action-comedy feature film. The film is a spoof of the James Bond films.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Eighteen year-old Michael Corben (Richard Grieco) of Detroit, Michigan is a slacker. Rather than attending his high school French class, he spends all of his time drinking and partying, until come graduation when all of his debauchery catches up to him and he learns that he cannot graduate without a French credit. He has only one more chance to obtain the credit: the French teacher, Mrs. Grober (Robin Bartlett), and the French Club are headed to France for summer school, and Michael must accompany them and participate if he wants to graduate next summer.
However at the airport, a CIA agent also named Michael Corben on his way to France as well, is killed by the assassin Ilsa Grunt (Linda Hunt), henchwoman and surrogate mother of the villainous Augustus Steranko (Roger Rees) who seeks to steal all of the gold in Europe and use it to mint his own coins under the guise of a common currency. Because important details about the agent's identity (including his actual age) had been kept too secret, Michael is mistaken for the CIA agent. He is inexplicably boarded first class on his flight to Paris, and upon arrival is whisked away by British Intelligence.
The late Agent Corben's mission had been to protect Augustus Steranko, who (being not suspected to be evil) has been murdering European finance ministers as part of his plan, which includes the late Jacques Lefevre. Despite his efforts to explain that he isn't the Corben they think he is, Michael relents and agrees to play along once it becomes apparent that he will be allowed to utilize high-tech gadgets, including X-ray glasses, exploding chewing gum and LA Gear sneakers with suction cups, as well as a Lotus Esprit. At first, he enjoys the thrilling adventures the life of a spy provides, but begins to rethink his decision once his life begins being endangered by Steranko's deadly assassins, including Zigesfeld (Tom Rack), a henchman with a robotic gold hand, and Areola Canasta (Carole Davis), who kills her victims using her poisonous pet scorpion.
Steranko however captures Michael's teacher and classmates and holds them all hostage at his remote castle stronghold, and now Michael teams up with a girl his own age named Mariska (Gabrielle Anwar), the daughter of Agent Blade (Roger Daltrey) whom Steranko and his gang murdered, to bring the villains down and save his friends as well as all of Europe's gold. Despite being briefly captured and imprisoned by Steranko's men, Michael escapes, rescues Mrs. Grober and his friends, and battles and defeats Zigesfeld in the film's climax.
Steranko, his duplicit nature exposed by Michael, kidnaps Mariska and attempts to escape with his gold in his Eurocopter Ecureuil helicopter. Michael manages to rescue Mariska, and Steranko is subsequently killed when he falls out of the helicopter, and it and the onboard gold supply both drop on him. Afterwards, Mrs. Grober agrees to give Michael the French credit.
[edit] Cast
- Richard Grieco – Michael Corben
- Roger Rees – Augustus Steranko, a leader of European Economic Community.
- Linda Hunt – Ilsa Grunt
- Robin Bartlett – Patricia Grober
- Gabrielle Anwar – Mariska
- Geraldine James – Vendetta Galante
- Michael Siberry – Derek Richardson
- Tom Rack – Zigesfeld
- Carole Davis – Areola Canasta
- Frederick Coffin – Lieutenant Colonel Larabee
- Roger Daltrey – Blade
- Oliver Dear – Kent
- Cynthia Preston – Melissa Tyler
- Michael Sinelnikoff – Haywood
- Travis Swords – Kelly
- Gerry Mendicino – Herb Corben
- Fiona Reid – Marge Corben
- Michael Vinokur – Brad Corben
- Gene Mack – Agent Kramer
- Jacques Tourangeau – Jacques Lefevre
[edit] Soundtrack
| If Looks Could Kill | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by various artists | |
| Released | March 15, 1991 |
| Recorded | 1990 |
- If Looks Could Kill (No Turning Back) - Glenn Medeiros
- One Hot Country - The Outfield
- Loud Guitars, Fast Cars And Wild, Wild Women - Contraband
- One Mo' Time - Trixter
- Better The Devil You Know - Kylie Minogue
- Teach Me How To Dream - Robin McAuley
- All Is Fair - The fixx
- Maybe This Time - The Stabilizers
- My Saltine - Bang Tango
- Michael Corben's Adventure - Bill Ross
[edit] Reception
The film was panned by most critics, although some enjoyed the film, such as Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times, who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars.[1][2][3]
[edit] References
- ^ "If Looks Could Kill". Variety. 1990-12-31. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117791876.html?categoryid=31&cs=1. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "If Looks Could Kill". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19910315/REVIEWS/103150303. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- ^ Kensley, Rita (1991-03-15). "'If Looks Could Kill'". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/iflookscouldkillpg13kempley_a0a164.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
[edit] External links
- If Looks Could Kill at the Internet Movie Database
- If Looks Could Kill at AllRovi
- If Looks Could Kill at Box Office Mojo
- If Looks Could Kill at Rotten Tomatoes
|
|||||||||||||||||
