CUTTER'S WAY

year: 1981

cast: Jeff Bridges, John Heard

rating: *1/2

John Heard, who'll either play a really nice guy or a complete jerk, is miscast as a crippled Vietnam war Vet named "Cutter," who'd have fared better with Frederic Forrest or Nick Nolte donning an eye patch and long hair. Heard seems to have a lotta fun spouting tons (and I mean, TONS) of drunken devil-may-care dialog, but still seems like he's being a pirate for Halloween. Jeff Bridges as "Bone" is a bit more natural as Cutter's yacht-selling playboy buddy who, one night after a one-night stand, witnesses a rich, powerful man (this we find out later) throwing away a dead woman's body into a trash can. And then, as fate (or really bad writing) would have it, the next day he JUST HAPPENS to see the same man as the head of a parade. Then it's up to Cutter to talk the reluctant Bone into doing the underdog thing... to turn in this powerful, greedy killer... after which our grungy heroes, with the moral badge of hippiedom screaming from their shoulders, fight to survive. Rarely have I seen so many actors trying to outdo each other: And all lose the race.