Against All Odds

Against All Odds
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Taylor Hackford
Produced by	William S. Gilmore Taylor Hackford
Written by	Daniel Mainwaring (1947 Out of the Past screenplay) Eric Hughes
Starring	Rachel Ward Jeff Bridges James Woods
Music by	Larry Carlton
Cinematography	Donald E. Thorin
Editing by	Fredric Steinkamp William Steinkamp
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	March 2, 1984 (U.S. release)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$13,000,000
Box office	$21,689,062 US

Against All Odds is a neo-noir 1984 film, a remake of Out of the Past. The movie was directed by Taylor Hackford and features Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges, and James Woods. Supporting players include Jane Greer (who had starred in Out of the Past), Alex Karras, Richard Widmark, and Dorian Harewood.

The movie's soundtrack, nominated for a Grammy Award, featured songs from Big Country, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Stevie Nicks, and Genesis breakout stars Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, and Phil Collins. Collins sang the title song, which was nominated for an Academy Award and was one of the top-selling singles of 1984.

Plot

Professional football player Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges) is released by his team, the (fictitious) Los Angeles Outlaws. Aging, injured and in need of money, he agrees to help an old acquaintance, the shady gambler and nightclub owner Jake Wise (James Woods), find girlfriend Jessie Wyler (Rachel Ward), daughter of the Outlaws' owner.

Jake claims that Jessie assaulted him, stole money and fled. Terry gets in touch with Jessie's mother (Jane Greer), ostensibly to find out where Jessie can be found but mainly to convince Mrs. Wyler and her business partner Ben Caxton (Richard Widmark) to reinstate him on the team.

Kirsch (Saul Rubinek), an agent who represents Terry and other Outlaw players, has told Terry he won't be paid even though he was fired while injured. Kirsch's secretary Edie (Swoosie Kurtz) confides in Terry not to trust him. Sully, the team's trainer, offers to find Terry a coaching job, but Terry doesn't feel he's finished as a player yet.

Jake Wise, meanwhile, is implying that he could destroy Terry's future due to his knowledge of something in Terry's past. Having few options, Terry reluctantly takes Jake's job offer, receiving $10,000 immediately and promised $20,000 more when he finds Jessie.

Terry tracks down Jessie living in Cozumel. She knows perfectly well that Terry is not here by chance. She resists his efforts to get acquainted because she knows either Jake or her mother sent him.

Terry tires of pursuing a spoiled brat and packs to leave, but Jessie appreciates his not revealing her whereabouts and invites him to see where she is staying. The two unexpectedly fall in love. Terry confides that he had fallen in debt and agreed to "shave points" in a game for Jake's sports gambling syndicate. Terry lies to Jake and says he still hasn't found her.

Sully is sent by Jake to locate them. He catches the lovers alone at the ruins of Chichen Itza. Wielding a gun, Sully demands that Terry turn over the girl and warns him she's "no good." He, too, has been involved in corruption with Jake's sports syndicate.

A struggle between the men ensues and Jessie fatally shoots Sully. Mexico's officials could charge them with murder, so they decide to dispose of the body. Jessie runs away, leaving Terry inside the ruins with Sully's corpse.

Terry returns to Los Angeles and finds to his astonishment that Jessie has returned to Jake. He is bitter toward her but Jake maintains a hold over him with the point-shaving incident, not to mention Sully's sudden disappearance. Terry is sent to break into Kirsch's office to retrieve detailed files on his clients that Jake badly wants for gambling purposes. Jake gives him instructions during a party at Jake's popular club, The Palace.

Terry breaks into the office only to find Kirsch dead. A security guard has been hired to kill Terry and make it look like he has murdered the agent. Terry fights off and escapes the security guard, then hides Kitsch's body. Terry then leaves for The Ginger Man, a local bar frequented by the secretary. There he finds the secretary, telling her what has happened and that she too is in danger, she reveals a secret box that contains the information to bring down the entire syndicate and local politicians. The secretary and Terry return to the office to retrieve the box, where a fight occurs with another two guards, and again Terry escapes, this time with the secretary and the files.

Jessie remains at Jake's side but is still in love with Terry and wants him back. She knows that Jake is behind Kirsch's murder and informs Ben Caxton, telling him that Jake has been handling bets on the Outlaws using information he's been given by Sully, the trainer, and Kirsch, the agent. What she doesn't know is that Caxton is actually Jake's boss at the syndicate.

Caxton wants those files. He arranges to meet Terry at the site of a new construction project that he and Mrs. Wyler are backing, bringing Jake and accomplice Tommy (Dorian Harewood) along with him. Tommy draws a gun but Jessie shouts a warning to Terry to look out. Jake ultimately lures him out by holding a gun to Jessie's head. For the second time, a confrontation between Terry and another man leads to Jessie's resolving it and she shoots Jake.

Guilty of murder, Jessie must agree to terms set by Caxton to avoid going to jail. They include returning to her estranged mother's side and ending her relationship with Terry.

Weeks later, Terry stays in the background while attending a publicity function for Caxton's and Mrs. Wyler's construction project. He just wants a last look at Jessie before leaving LA to play for the Miami Dolphins. All he can do is stare at her from a distance.

Cast

• Rachel Ward as Jessie Wyler
• Jeff Bridges as Terry Brogan
• James Woods as Jake Wise
• Alex Karras as Hank Sully
• Jane Greer as Mrs. Grace Wyler
• Richard Widmark as Ben Caxton
• Dorian Harewood as Tommy
• Swoosie Kurtz as Edie
• Saul Rubinek as Steve Kirsch
• Pat Corley as Ed Phillips

Soundtrack

Production notes

• The film featured cameo appearances by stars of Out of the Past on which the film is based. Jane Greer, who was the star of Out of the Past, plays Rachel Ward's mother. Paul Valentine, who played hood Joe Stephanos in the first film, played a councilman in Against All Odds.

• The movie includes extensive footage of the Mayan city Chichen Itza as well as Tulum but the exteriors and interiors don't match the actual location. The movie was shot in Manhattan Beach, California, the Yucatán peninsula, Isla Mujeres, and Cozumel, Mexico, and various locations around Los Angeles and Hollywood.

• The end of the movie takes place at the Wylers' real-estate function above downtown Los Angeles. The spot was already selected as the future home of the new Getty Center Art Museum and some grading had begun. However, because of permits, construction did not start until 1989 and continued until the 1997 opening of the Richard Meier-designed museum.

• Jeff Bridges played the Robert Mitchum role from the original version while James Woods portrayed the equivalent of Kirk Douglas' character, although the scripts are quite different.

• Jeff Bridges' age and appearance in this film is used as a reference to recreate a 35-year-old version of him for the characters of Kevin Flynn and CLU in the film Tron: Legacy, released in December 2010.^[1]

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Against All Odds (film)

• Against All Odds at the Internet Movie Database
• Against All Odds at Rotten Tomatoes
• Against All Odds at AllRovi