Name: Blowback
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 h 45 min
Rating: 8
Cast: Bruce McCarty, Jane Hamper, Eddie Figueroa

My review was written in July 1991 after watching the film in a Times Square screening room.

Marc Levin's "Blowback" is a timely political satire about American covert operations. Primitive fim technique will limit its exposure mainly to midnight and fringe situations. But subject matter could attract European interest.

Title refers to a mission that backfires, and that's exactly what happens to straight-arrow agent Bruce McCarty, a broad pastiche of Oliver North. He's in Miami speaking at a fundraiser for aid to Central American rebels while planning a communist-terrorist raide there that will be used as the excuse for repression.

Despite his sexual abstinence theories and other squareness, the agent falls for a beautiful recovering addict (Jane Hamper) who coincidentally is the daughter of a retired general (Don Cairns) assisting in the fundraising.

Here also is attempting to get a stolen "blowback file" back from another addict (Eddie Figueroa) enrolled in the girlfriend's rehab class. That file could blow the lid off of illegal CIA operations.

Film's strange, tongue-in-cheek incidents climax in the explosion of an "O-bomb), utilizing orgone energy that's been fabricated by a nutty scientist (Craig Smith). End credits are accompanied by a darkly amusing voice-over of the government's reactionary plans to round up drug abusers, HIV positives, pornographers and rap musicians.

Filmmaker Levn, debuting here after extensive documentary work, succumbs to the first film-itis in packing in too many stray plot threads and gimmicks. However, his shotgun approach often hits the target, notably in a wacked-out lecture by Figueroa covering Uncle Sam's connections with the drug trade, dating back to Lucky Luciano after WW II.

McCarty is a bit stiff in his Dudley Doright role opposite the uninhibited Hamper, who at times resembles Susan St. James. Craig Smith resembles Lou Castel playing Dr. Strangelove as he portrays the quietly nutty doctor. Scene stealer is Figueroa (who died last year), playing with the right intensity as the most obvious "conscience" character.

Erratic sound mix and sub-standard production values are the film's chief limitations.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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