Films Outside the Loop Jeanne Chappé

Remember the warnings that your mother gave you about hitchhikers and the people who pick them up? As usual, your mother was right. Don't you hate it? This movie is a taut thriller and the performances are excellent.

The movie starts with two pieces of news on the radio. The dismembered body of a 19 year-old man was found in the trunk of his car on the California-Nevada border (details too grisly to report) and over one million dollars has been stolen from a Las Vegas casino.

This is essentially a two man movie with Eric Roberts playing Adrian (called 'Dusty' by his friends) and Lance Henriksen playing Jack. Adrian is a drifter and Jack is a middle-aged travelling salesman who has a wife he calls 'Mommy'. While Jack is travelling through the desert, he does not stop to pick Adrian up. They then meet in the bathroom of a roadside cafe. This is actually the biggest bathroom that I have ever seen at a roadside cafe! Because he neglected to pick Adrian up (in the hot desert sun on a deserted highway), Jack offers to buy Adrian a meal. Really bad move! Adrian has the ability to make everyone around him uncomfortable, including the waitress at the roadside cafe that he calls 'Jingle Bells'. Jack has an aluminum briefcase that never leaves his side.

Jack tries to ditch Adrian at the cafe but has to turn back because the highway is closed by a tanker mishap and a chemical spill. Jack returns to the cafe and the adjacent motel where he rents a room for much needed sleep. He wakes during the night and goes out to see Jingle Bells' body being removed from the trunk of a car. Adrian reappears and becomes a part of Jack's life. At least for a few days.

The words HATCHET MAN are written on the trunk of each car where the bodies are found. So, you have a man who has stolen over one million dollars from the mob and a serial killer (who chops people into itty-bitty pieces). Are they one and the same or is one a thief and the other a serial killer?

I have this fascination with crazy people and it may take one to know one. I believe that these two men knew each other immediately. They could see the dark secrets in each other's eyes. Jack eventually takes Adrian to his isolated mountain cabin and they play poker with immense amounts of money. Whose money is it? They finally seem very relaxed with each other until they get into a discussion about their addictions. Jack is an alcoholic and Adrian is a drug addict. Hey..."Every boy needs a hobby!"

Along this journey, you have the 'Creepy Crawler Zoo', a dwarf, a deadly gila monster, a couple of hippie drug pushers and a premature burial. What more could you want?

Runtime: 1:31

This film is available on VHS, cable or satellite.

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This column is dedicated to those films that most of the world missed!