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Just Cause is a film that relies on phony plot twists and steals openly from any other thriller that it can remember. If there was a drinking game requiring players to drink during every cinematic "homage," you'd be tanked after Just Cause's first 45 minutes. Take one case of racial injustice, place it in an exotic, exquisitely photographed location (the Florida Everglades), and bring in an outsider, played by a bankable star, to save the day. Make sure nothing appears as it seems. Add a couple of plot twists, some over-the-top character actors (Ed Harris, shamelessly riffing on Hannibal Lecter), stir, and serve. The big name in this case is Sean Connery, who plays a Harvard law professor summoned to the swamps by an apparently innocent death row inmate (Blair Underwood), who swears he didn't rape and kill that 11-year-old girl. He says he confessed because maverick psycho-cop Tanny Brown (Laurence Fishburne) made him play a solo game of Russian roulette. He says his Serial-killer neighbor on death row (Harris) committed the crime. Connery buys it, the audience buys it, and how could they not? Director Arne Glimcher (who made the lackluster Mambo Kings) coerces everyone with simplistic plot manipulations. Characters are given no depth, and the actors are pawns moved about like pieces on a Clue gameboard. --Dave McCoy ... Read more

Reviews (15)

What Evil Lurks
There's more than the alligators lurking in the swamplands of the Everglades in this thriller. It's hard to know who to trust as a Harvard law proffessor(Sean Connery) who hasn't even had a case in 25 years, reopens one of a convicted killer(Blair Underwood) in Florida. There is evidence to support that his confession was beat out of him, and the proffessor intends to prove it.
Don't take anything for granted in this chilling mystery as the list of suspects grows. There's the tough lawman(Laurence Fishburne),the psychotic serial killer(Ed Harris) over in the next cell,and you may even suspect the alligators in the swamps for a while. There are many twists and turns that will have you wondering who done it? The prof's wife (Kate Capshaw)is even invovled. Lots of action, lots of gripping suspense to keep you glued to your seat. You wont want to miss a minute of it.
The cast listed above all do marvelous work in this film. But I must also mention that the legendary Ruby Dee makes a superb appearance, as well as Kevin Mccarthy and Hope Lang.
So let's talk about the DVD. Fabulous! Wonderful widescreen picture. The swamps never looked so clear. Colors looked perfect.Nighttime scenes were all perfectly visable. The sound in the Dolby Surround 2.0 was actually very good, probably could have been perfect in the 5.1 with all the action though. Don't look for any special features,this DVD has only the language selection of French.It's a great film to add to the thriller section of you DVD library(even without the extras) So Look out for those alligators and enjoy.......Laurie

A Team of Great Actors Try.. Yet Ultimately Fail.
Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburn, Blair Underwood, Kate Capshaw and Ed Harris make the Best of Bad Material in "Just Cause", a Thriller that Too closely resembles a whole bunch of Better Thrillers.

Sean Connery stars as Paul Armstrong, a Harvard Law Professor, who is very Anti-Capital Punishment. When a Women comes to him, claiming her Son has been falsely sent to Death Row for Murder, Paul can't help but get involved. He heads to the Little Southern Town were it all took place, and begins his Own Investigation. He Inevitably runs into local resistance, namely the town sheriff, Tanny Brown. (Lawrence Fishburn) When Others also start to believe Armstrong may be right, Tanny is never swayed.

"Just Cause" never really gets Boring, but it doesn't get to Exciting either. Ed Harris' Hannibal Lector-ish performance is a High point and Lawrence Fishburn brings Welcome Tension to the Proceedings. Connery is as good as ever, though he isn't given much to do, Acting wise. Blair Underwood is Very Convincing as the man on Death Row, he convinces the audience as Easy as he convinces Connery. Kate Capshaw is the Weak Link in the Acting Department, and it's Not Really Her Fault. She plays Connery's wife... The Age difference isn't as extreme as Some ("A Perfect Murder" or "Entrapment") but they are Just Not Convincing together. They Actually sound like a Divorced couple when they speak to each other.

The Thrills are Pretty Tired, but they serve their Purpose. The Ending looked Hacked, Changed and Rushed all in one. You Get the Feel it has been Tampered with due to Test Screenings. Arne Glimcher's Directing is Utterly Average, everything happens like Clockwork, leaving Little opportunity to Surprise. It's as if he was watching Dozen's of Better Thrillers and yelling to the crew, "Ok, A Body has to Appear Now... Followed by a... A Shadow in the Bushes."

In Conclusion, Some Great performances, Good Thrills, Average Directing and a Tired old plot. If you don't mind these kind of Short-Cummings, you'll Probably enjoy yourself. Genre fans will probably enjoy it Even More.

No thrill thriller
A flat by-the-numbers who-do-it kind of mystery movie. The actors gave fine performances, given the script they had to work with. But the story lacks intrigues. Characters are not memorable. The action sequences are perfunctory. The major mystery this movie offers is why apparently the director was OK with all these shortcomings.

Don't bother to try to guess ahead of the movie, as many would like to do with a mystery. This movie just isn't worth your effort. Otherwise in the end you might have the frustrating feeling that you've given the movie more thought than the filmmakers appeared to have done.

just a waste of time cause it is
you'd think that Laurence and Seanny would be more careful on what they do know a days., though Fishburne 4 years later did The Matrix, that helped out, but otherwise this is a stink pot thriller with bad acting. Blair Underwood is the killer in this pic and he gets killed by an alligator, hmmmmm and also shot. theres also a skinheaded Ed Harris who's really gay. dont be fooled, I wasnt. its pure ...garbage

Do not rent this movie
One of the worst movies(with a budget)which I've ever seen. The movie is all over the place for fear of offending any segment of the viewing audience. It's supposedly anti-death penalty and police brutality, and yet Sean Connery's character, a crusading Harvard Law School professor and death penalty opponent, winds up siding with a policeman who sticks a .38 in a murder suspect's mouth and plays Russian roulette with it. The death row inmate, played by L.A. Law's Blair Underwood, is freed, only to be eaten by an alligator. The plot is based on a coincidence stemming from Connery's character's marriage to Kate Capshaw's character which is wildly improbable. The best thing about "Just Cause" is Ed Harris' portrayal of a psychotic death row inmate, although even that is a bit over-the-top. ... Read more

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In White River, Bob Hoskins (of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Mona Lisa) plays Brother Edgar, a con man in monastic garb, who pretends to be the spiritual leader of the Little Brothers of St. Mortimer, a Christian association devoted to blind youths. These boys supposedly make the brown and blue socks Edgar sells at assorted lumberjack and hog-calling festivals around Arkansas, accompanied by his illegal immigrant assistant, Morales (Antonio Banderas of The Mask of Zorro and Spy Kids). Their modest but comfortable scam is interrupted when they are hijacked by a young psychopath called the White River Kid (Wes Bentley of American Beauty) and his girlfriend Apple Lisa Weed (Kim Dickens of Hollow Man), who force Brother Edgar to drive them to Apple Lisa's home town to meet her parents. Before long, Edgar is reluctantly caught up in a web of political corruption and misguided good intentions as he hopes to redeem himself in the arms of a blind prostitute named Eva Nell (Ellen Barkin of The Big Easy and Drop Dead Gorgeous). White River was adapted from a book and suffers from trying to squeeze too much of a novel into the tighter confines of a film, but the remarkable cast (which also includes Beau Bridges, Swoozie Kurtz, and Randy Travis) make the most of their outrageously comic Southern gothic characters. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (20)

CUANDO SALI DE CUBA...
I really enjoyed this film, based upon the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love" by Oscar Hijuelos. With its sexy, pulsating, and rhythmic soundtrack, as well as the strong performances by the entire cast, this film is highly entertaining.

The events in this sharply stylized period film take place in the nineteen fifties, at the height of the mambo dance craze. Two young Cuban musicians, brothers Cesar (Armand Assante) and Nestor Castillo (Antonio Banderas), flee Cuba after a love triangle takes a potentially deadly twist. The love sick Nestor leaves behind the love of his life, the beautiful Maria Rivera (Talisa Soto), now married to his romantic rival.

The brothers arrive in New York, where Cesar meets the lushly sensuous, blonde bombshell, Lana Lake (Cathy Moriarty). They eventually marry, while Nestor, still carrying a torch for Maria, meets the sedate and quietly pretty Delores Fuentes (Maruschka Detmers), whom he eventually marries. Given a helping hand by fellow Cuban, Desi Arnaz, Sr. (Desi Arnaz, Jr.), Cesar and Nestor shortly become stars of the dance halls and clubs they play, where they are christened the "Mambo Kings".

Unfortunately, Cesar's dreams are not necessarily Nestor's dreams and conflicts arise. The brothers also run into trouble when Cesar's arrogance pits him against a musical syndicate that rules the clubs and dance halls with an iron hand, derailing their careers for a time. Moreover, Nestor's marriage is seriously troubled, because of his obsession with his lost love. Still, no matter what, there is always the music.

Armand Assante gives an over-the-top, manic performance as Cesar, the older brother whose arrogance and single-minded ambition nearly alienates his brother. He over-acts the part, making his character almost cartoonish, at times. It is as if he were drowning in his own machismo. Still, he infuses the role with a certain energy that makes him strangely compelling. Moreover, the guy can really dance!

It is the bittersweet performance by Antonio Banderas, however, that takes one's breath away. Antonio Banderas infuses the role of the artistic, younger brother, Nestor, with a poignancy, sensitivity, and sensuousness that is remarkable. He handles the role with a delicacy that nearly brought tears to my eyes. Banderas makes the viewer feel Nestor's pain, so palpable is his anguish over his lost love, Maria. When he sings his ode to her, ""Beautiful Maria of My Soul", the viewer is transfixed, so beautifully does he sing it.

Look for a cameo by the late Tito Puente. The late Celia Cruz also appears in this film, cast as Evalina Montoya, a popular club singer. The viewer is in for a treat with these two salsa greats doing what they do best. It was also somewhat eerie to see the role of Desi Arnaz, Sr. played by his real life son, Desi Arnaz, Jr., as the resemblance is so remarkable, right down to the accent. Special note should also be taken of Roscoe Lee Brown's silky performance as club impresario Fernando Perez.

The film captures the flavor of the nineteen fifties, when night clubs were synonymous with night life, and big bands still held sway. I particularly enjoyed this film, because my parents emigrated from Cuba. Having grown up in New York City during the nineteen fifties, this film holds a certain amount of nostalgia for me.

Great Movie that transports you to another time and place
Definitely on my top 10. The Mambo Kings has several things that make it an all time favorite. First, it uses the medium to pull you in an give you the feeling you are part of the moment. The sets, costumes, cars, and music are detailed to perfection. Especially the music! Cameo's by the great singers of Cuban music make it real. Celia Cruz and the late Tito Puente are awesome! The theme song is beautiful and nothing less than haunting. Check out fantastic soundtrack.

Second, the plot takes some unique twists and turns. The relationship between two brother seems formulaic at the beginning and then both characters acquire unexpected depth and traits. I believe that both Antonio Banderas (this was his first Hollywood film) and Armand Assante give their best performances to date.

I had to go buy a copy
This film is quite stylized tho some of the performances are naturalistic. The way the band, club, and dance sequences are filmed heightens the glamor and excitement, which is perfectly appropriate and well done - especially all that fierce color. American films of the period seem very black-n-white, as well as white, and perhaps the color used here was a corrective.

I agree that it's melodramatic. One hopes the plot will continue the initially triumphant story of the brothers as they take Manhattan and America, but that wasn't what Hijuelos wrote. Assante was as over-the-top as his character - I thought it was a wonderful performance - and one can feel the ultimately fatal difference between the brothers right from the start.

One thing I appreciated about this film (besides the music) was that the sex was presented as goofy. Films so often present sex as fraught with tension or guilt or some such, and here, two sex scenes have people giggling like fools. Much closer to my experience.

The soundtrack has the signature song sung in Spanish and IMO is better than the version used in the film.

One of the Best Period Dramas
This is one of the best and most entertaining dramas depicting immigrants in America and one of the few featuring Cuban immigrants. Armand Assante is phenomenal as the older brother. Reviewers have written about Antonio Banderas in this movie, and his performance is noteworthy, particularly because it was his first English-speaking role, and he did a great job. But Assante's acting, his dancing, his excitement and his ENERGY have rarely been equaled on the screen. He worked his heart out in this movie. Assante's performance in "Mambo Kings" was Oscar-worthy, and I think he is a totally underrated actor who has never really been given his due. This film is a must see, and you won't be sorry you spent the time.

Hot Cha Cha
I can't say that I'm a big fan of either Armand Assante or Antonio Banderas, but this movie was touching, poignant and very, very sexy. Assante just bowls you over with his portrayal of "Cesar." He oozes old fashioned animal magnetism. Banderas is is touching as the weaker younger brother who is pining for a love he left back in Cuba and cannot appreciate Delores, the gem of a girl me meets and marries in New York. Kathy Moriarity is perfect as Cesar's big, blowsy but beautiful girlfriend. The music is irresistable. Tito Puente's duet with Assante is way too short. If Assante and Banderas did their own singing, they're surprisingly good. But it's Assante who fills the screen. Sexy, swaggering, full of bravado. His character is in love with his brother's underappreciated wife and Assante's scenes with her are subtle and compelling. I have to say, in this movie, the man is fabulous. "Mambo Kings" inspired me to hunt down some other Assante films but nothing comes close in terms of script, acting or quality. It's a shame, too. This man is too gorgeous and too sexy not to have at least a few vehicles that show him off to better effect. ... Read more