Backfire

• Director: Gilbert Cates
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Thriller
• Movie Type: Crime Thriller
• Themes: Down on Their Luck, Inheritance at Stake
• Main Cast: Karen Allen, Keith Carradine, Jeff Fahey, Bernie Casey, Dean Paul Martin
• Release Year: 1987
• Country: US/CA
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Wealthy-but-troubled Vietnam vet Jeff Fahey, his trailer-trash wife Karen Allen, and drifter Keith Carradine are the characters essential to the action in Backfire. Fahey's horrific flashbacks to his days in Nam plunge him into a catatonic state. Though he has previously drawn up a document granting his wife power of attorney in case this should happen, Fahey's protective sister Dinah Manoff keeps this fact secret, hoping to cut off the mercenary Allen--and her lover Dean Paul Martin--without a penny. Drowning her problems at a local bar, Allen makes the acquaintance of Carradine, who shortly afterwards moves into the family mansion, bag and baggage. Fed up with being treated like garbage, and equally fed up with her noncommunicative husband, Allen enmeshes Carradine in an insidious plan that will regain her the riches she feels she deserves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Karen Allen - Mara
• Keith Carradine - Reed
• Jeff Fahey - Donnie
• Bernie Casey - Clinton James
• Dean Paul Martin - Jake

Dinah Manoff - Jill; Jay Brazeau - Junior; Virginia Capers - Maxine; Leslie Ewen - Dispatcher; Frances Flanagan - Claire; Kim Kondrashoff - Searcher; Tom McBeath - Man in Bar; Robert Metcalfe - Deputy No. 2; Wendy Van Riesen - Alice; Enid Saunders - Aunt Elizabeth; Philip Sterling - Dr. Creason; Brian Linds - Bob; Dwight McFee - Searcher; Gordon McIntosh - Big George; Dwight Ross - Deputy "Buzz"; Eric Schneider - Dr. Cooper; Antony Holland - Judge Hardin

Credit

Mike Fenton - Casting, Jane Feinberg - Casting, Anna Hill Johnstone - Costume Designer, Andrew Brown - Costume Designer, Gilbert Cates - Director, Melvin Shapiro - Editor, David Shire - Composer (Music Score), John Inzerella - Makeup, Michael Westmore - Makeup, John Loggia - Production Designer, Daniel Lomino - Production Designer, Tak Fujimoto - Cinematographer, Danton Rissner - Producer, Sandy Arthur - Set Designer, Roy Arbogast - Special Effects, Larry Sutton - Sound/Sound Designer, Jacob Rupp - Stunts, Larry Brand - Screenwriter, Rebecca Reynolds - Screenwriter

Similar Movies

Vanishing Act; The Rich Man's Wife; Detour; Double Indemnity; Body Heat; Woman of Straw; Die Sister, Die!

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