BORN AGAIN (1978)

Part Watergate political-historical biopic but mostly Christian propaganda that includes veteran actor (and our personal favorite) Dana Andrews quoting C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity to a somewhat selfish, partially greedy and supposedly only-coincidentally guilty Richard Nixon lawyer Chuck Coulson thrown into jail; and that's where the good stuff occurs, especially thanks to the always-intense blaxploitation ace Raymond St. Jacques, the tough guy in the federal prison...

Who initially bullies and then protects Coulsin, played by Dean Jones, usually cast in Disney flicks as their then-modern-day Jimmy Stewart; thus that kind of man-next-door quality keeps this character-study down-home and intriguing albeit one-sided and self-promoting yet never boring but not altogether great either but, for what can be called a 2-hour cinematic Alter Call (resembling a Television Movie-of-the-Week), BORN AGAIN fits both the title and purpose, nicely enough to pass the time since these kind of preachy melodramas can often feel like eternity. Rates: ***/12

GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK

title: GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK

year: 1978

cast: Chuck Norris

rating: **1/2

After enjoying THE OCTAGON and really enjoying LONE WOLF McQUADE, I finally hit a Chuck Norris snag with this semi-clunker about a Vietnam commando abandoned with his troops on a top secret mission to rescue MIAs and then, five years later, is a car racer who teaches college. Sexy Ann Archer plays a reporter uncovering the secret mission while Norris's troops are being picked off by... someone. Perhaps it's the North Vietnamese or the CIA. Who knows, and who cares? Not even Chuck seems to. Meanwhile, the pacing and acting is too low-key (except veteran actor Dana Andrews providing an 11th hour monologue). The action has eclectic James Bond-like moments but plot isn't very strong to corral the overall motion. Hit or miss (a hit being "Magnum Force") director Ted Post keeps things rolling: but like a car with a deflating front tire.