The Chase (Film Review)

1994 20th Century Fox
Written and Directed by: Adam Rifkin
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Kristy Swanson, Henry Rollins, Josh Mostel, Ray Wise
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 97 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 5/10

Jack Hammond didn't do it--it was some other clown! No, literally, Jack Hammond is a party clown falsely accused of robbing a bank some other guy dressed up as a clown actually robbed. A DNA-test proves Jack's innocence, but the evidence was incorrectly collected, and Jack's still got to go to prison. Fortunately, he's able to escape on the trip to the big house. Unfortunately, the police are hot on Jack's trail, and he's got to take a hostage. Even more unfortunately, Jack's hostage turns out to be Natalie Voss, the daughter of a multi-millionaire businessman with political aspirations...and the chase is on!
You'd expect a movie with this title and this plot to be a car chase movie, but The Chase doesn't really follow that line of thought. Yes, nearly the entirety of the film takes place inside a car that's being chased by other cars, but The Chase features few crashes or great stunt work. The cars don't even appear to be moving that quickly. With that said, though, The Chase is about as stereotypically "THIS IS THE IN YOUR FACE 90's!" as a film can get. Hammond, played with an annoyed scowl by Charlie Sheen, kidnaps the Kristy Swanson-portrayed Natalie in the hub of all 1990's civilization, the gas station. Short on a gun, Jack holds Natalie hostage with the most 90's of all candy bars, the Butterfinger. Once in the car, Jack and Natalie immediately bicker like embittered siblings, culminating in Natalie burning her kidnapper on the neck with a cigarette lighter. My car doesn't have one of those anymore. The lighter leaves a mark on Sheen's neck that looks conspicuously like a "POWER" button.
From there, the relationship between the two thankfully begins to mellow, allowing the film to focus on the media's ridiculous fetishization of the kidnapping and chase. Breathless and possibly brainless TV reporters hang from news vans and helicopters to get that perfect shot, and a documentary crew rides along with one of the pursuing cop cars. It's almost like writer/director, Adam Rifkin, could see 25-years into the future, where everyone's got a 4K video-recorder that can also make phone calls waiting right in their pockets for just such a moment.
The Chase is best taken as dumb fun, and not on any serious level. Rifkin essentially keeps the movie working in real time, and seems to be having a ball poking fun at the media, though there's little depth beyond "Those folks with the cameras sure are shameless vultures." Sheen and Swanson are just fine in their roles, but no one is relishing their part more than Henry Rollins. The punk musician who famously railed against police brutality seems to be having the time of his life playing an overeager cop who's just itching for the opportunity to crack Sheen's skull like a coconut. Rollins' presence adds an even thicker cheese layer of in-your-face 90's-ness that's even more amplified by the film's punk rock-heavy soundtrack, featuring 90's stalwarts like The Offspring and NOFX. I've had better gas station pizza, but The Chase pairs with a Surge and a Butterfinger just fine.