Movie Reviews

Rob’s Car Movie Review: Double Nickels (1977)

Published

1 year ago

August 15, 2024

Rob’s Car Movie Review: Double Nickels (1977)

From the 1980s through to today, the majority of car movies tend to be comfortably budgeted and widely released productions from major studios or distribution entities. Films like The Cannonball Run, Need for Speed, John Wick, and Ford v. Ferrari relied on big-money stars and massive advertising campaigns to spread awareness of the movie and bring in those box office dollars.

In the 1970s, however, the opposite was more commonly true.

Low-budget films produced through the efforts of independent companies were churned out by the dozen, often aimed at the drive-in movie crowd. They usually relied on an easy-to-digest high concept, rarely featured an actor you had ever heard of, and were less than stellar in terms of storytelling and technical proficiency. Falling into this category were such pictures as Bobby Jo and the Outlaw, Moonshine County Express, King of the Mountain, and Van Nuys Blvd.

While I have watched a number of these types of movies in the past, one that I had never heard of before recently came to my attention, and I thought for this month’s episode of Rob’s Car Movie Review, I’d give it a review.

So, without further delay, I present to you Double Nickels (1977)!

The theatrical, one-sheet movie poster for Double Nickels. (Image courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

Double Nickels was produced and distributed in the United States by Smokey Productions. Having worked on H.B. Halicki’s prior low-budget movies, the original 1974 version of Gone in 60 Seconds and he Junkman, a relative unknown, Jack Vacek, took it upon himself to try his hand at being an auteur filmmaker. He wrote, directed, produced, edited, acted, and performed stunts in the picture.

Performing alongside of Vacek was an ensemble of totally unknown actors, including Trice Schubert, Edward Abrahms, Heidi Schubert, George Cole, Tex Taylor, and Mick Brennan.

Shot in my current place of residence, Malibu, California, and other locations in the Los Angeles area on a micro-budget of $150,000, Double Nickels tells the story of a pair of California Highway Patrolmen, Smokey (Vacek) and Ed (Abrahms), who monitor a strip of the US1 Pacific Coast Highway.

Jack Vacek as the main protagonist, California Highway Patrolman, Smokey. (Photo courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

A chance encounter with a speeder, George (Cole) who purports to be in the auto repossession business, leads Smokey and Ed to moonlight for George, ostensibly taking back sports and luxury cars that the owners have failed to make payments on.

The two lawmen prove highly adept at boosting cars, successfully outwitting the owners, and on a couple of occasions, the police, whom they must stay clear of, since moonlighting is against Highway Patrol policy.

All is going well as the two rake in the extra dollars to supplement their Highway Patrol paychecks, until Smokey and Ed discover that the cars they have been reclaiming were not, in fact, being financed by any financial institution. They confront George with this information, who promises to question the man who has been bankrolling his repossession business.

Edward Abrahms as Highway Patrolman, Ed. (Photo courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

George delivers a car personally to his backer, Lewis Sloan (Taylor), and queries the man about the nature of his business. Sloan, in a not-so-veiled threat, tells George to mind his own business, prompting George to tell Smokey and Ed that he believes they have all unwittingly gotten themselves mixed up in an auto theft ring.

Realizing their jobs and their very freedom is in Jeopardy, Smokey, Ed, and George go to Sloan’s home and take back one of the cars they had previously boosted. Subsequently, a high-speed pursuit develops between our protagonists and Sloan, setting up a climactic final act that will decide who prevails.

Double Nickels is perhaps the quintessential 1970s B-movie, as it contains all the aforementioned technical deficiencies of the species and much more.

George the repo man, portrayed by George Cole. (Photo courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

For starters, to my eye, the film was likely shot on Super-16mm and blown up to 35mm for distribution to reduce film stock costs. As a result, the movie is left with a squarish aspect-ratio and huge globs of grain in the image. The version I watched was probably transferred from a very old print that had color-shifted over the years, as the color palate leans heavily towards magenta. I actually didn’t mind this so much, as it lends the film a seedy, 1970s look that films like Boogie Nights strived to recreate decades later.

The other technical aspects, such as the live sound recordings and editing, are also quite poor. Sometimes, you simply cannot hear the dialogue or follow the action. Sloppy jump cuts and abrupt scene exits are scattered throughout.

As was the case in the previously mentioned 1974 incarnation of Gone in 60 Seconds, the acting is pretty much abysmal, with the often laughable and ludicrous written words from the screenplay not doing the thespians any favors.

Tex Taylor as auto theft kingpin, Lewis Sloan. (Photo courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

Likewise, the story itself is nothing to write home about, either. The idea that a pair of cops could not see what they were getting themselves into with the repossession scheme is fairly ridiculous and fails to suspend disbelief. The tone of the story also shifts incongruously from drama to over-the-top slapstick comedy at times.

Having just trashed the film, you might find it incredible that I managed to enjoy it to a degree.

The movie’s running time is a mere 88 minutes, so it doesn’t represent a major ask for your time. On a personal level, it was fun for me to see how Malibu’s scenery and landmarks had changed over the decades before I moved here.

The movie aptly captures the halcyon lifestyle of 1970s Southern California. (Photo courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

The movie also acts as a snapshot of 1970s Southern California in the laconic, beach-and-sun-and-chicks-in-bikinis lifestyle that it presents. Hillarious and kitschy are the hairstyles, mustaches, and wide-lapeled, open shirts and bell-bottomed jeans throughout. Gen-Xers like me just love that stuff as it reminds us of our childhoods.

What’s more, the movie delivers in spades in terms of the automotive action.

While we are not presented with multitudes of raucous, high-end muscle cars from the era, likely because the film’s miniscule budget didn’t permit procuring them, we are treated to a few icons of the period.

Smokey drives this awesome 1968 Chevy Chevelle SS in the film’s climactic chase sequence. (Photo courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

The two best cars are the ones that are used in the 17-minute car chase that ends the movie: a 1968 Chevy Chevelle SS and a ‘73 Chevrolet Corvette C3.

The Chevelle, driven by Smokey, is unusual in that it is painted in code MM Burnished Saddle Metallic, a rare medium brown color, with white over-the-top stripes. It features aftermarket mag wheels, a black interior, and, as we see multiple times, is equipped with a manual transmission, which Smokey aggressively rows.

The C3 is driven by Sloan, who consistently chomps on a cigar while sawing at the steering wheel, with his henchman in the passenger seat occasionally leaning out of the window to fire off rounds at Smokey’s car with his .45.

Lewis Sloan uses this Bright Orange ’73 Corvette to pursue Smokey. (Photo courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

The ‘Vette looks fantastic in code 86 Bright Orange with a black interior, and is an automatic transmission car. Sadly, we never get a look under the hood of either car, but do hear their V8s roar throughout the spectacular pursuit.

Another car that features prominently in the film is Smokey’s dilapidated 1957 Chevrolet Task-Force 3100 series pick-up.

Smokey’s 1957 Chevrolet Task-Force 3100 series pick-up is used in a chase sequence in the Los Angeles River. (Photo courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

Seemingly ancient and covered in peeling paint and primer, the truck features a manual transmission and is involved in multiple chase sequences, including one in the Los Angeles River.

Other vehicles in the movie include multiple Cadillacs, a wild dune buggy, 1970s-style custom vans, super-cool 1974 Dodge Monaco and ’72 Plymouth Satellite police cars, George’s gorgeous 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL, a 1966 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors, and Smokey’s 1975 Norton Commando 750 for motorcycle fans.

Though far from being a hot car, I’d be remiss in not mentioning the 1971 Ford Pinto that Ed escapes from the cops in by driving it down several flights of stairs. Quite a stunt!

Even the movie’s police cars, like this 1972 Plymouth Satellite are cool. (Photo courtesy of Smokey Productions.)

If you go into Double Nickels forewarned that it is no Citizen Kane and that it possesses some of the worst technical and storytelling facets of 1970s low-budget filmmaking, it’s not impossible to enjoy the movie.

I tend to liken it to something you might watch if it was the only thing on TV at 3 am or if you were sick in bed. For all its bad acting and implausible plot machinations, it does nostalgically capture a Southern California that once existed and has some enviable cars and superb pursuits in it.

As such, I give Jack Vacek’s magnum opus five out of ten pistons.

Movie Reviews

‘Greenland 2: Migration’ Review: Gerard Butler in a Post-Apocalyptic Sequel That’s Exactly What You Expect

Published

11 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

‘Greenland 2: Migration’ Review: Gerard Butler in a Post-Apocalyptic Sequel That’s Exactly What You Expect

Desperate migrants are forced to leave Greenland after a malevolent force makes their island uninhabitable. No, it’s not tomorrow’s headline about Donald Trump, but rather the sequel to Ric Roman Waugh’s 2020 post-apocalyptic survival thriller. That film starring Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin had the misfortune of opening during the pandemic and going straight to VOD. Greenland 2: Migration (now there’s a catchy title) has the benefit of opening in theaters, but it truly feels like an unnecessary follow-up. After all, how many travails can one poor family take?

That family consists of John Garrity (Butler), whose structural engineering skills designated him a governmental candidate for survival in the wake of an interstellar comet dubbed “Clarke” wreaking worldwide destruction; his wife Allison (Baccarin); and their son Nathan (now played by Roman Griffin Davis). At the end of the first film, the clan had endured numerous life-threatening crises as they made their way to the underground bunker in Greenland where survivors will attempt to make a new life.

Greenland 2: Migration

The Bottom Line

It’s the end of the world as we know it…again.

Release date: Friday, January 9
Cast: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, Roman Griffin Davis, Amber Rose Revah, Sophie Thompson, Trond Fausa Aurvag, William Abadie
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Screenwriters: Mitchell LaFortune, Chris Sparling

Rated PG-13,
1 hour 38 minutes

Five years later, things aren’t going so well. Fragments of the comet continue to rain down on the planet, causing catastrophic destruction. The contaminated air prevents people from going outside, and resources are becoming increasingly scarce. But there are some plus sides, such as the bunker’s inhabitants still being able to dance to yacht rock.

When their safe haven in Greenland is destroyed, the Garritys, along with a few other survivors, are forced to flee. Their destination is France, where there are rumors of an oasis at the comet’s original crash site. And at the very least, the food is bound to be better.

It’s a perilous journey, but anyone who saw the first film knows what to expect. The Garritys, along with the bunker’s Dr. Casey (Amber Rose Revah), run into some very bad people, undergoing a series of life-threatening trials and tribulations.

Unfortunately, while the thriller mechanics are reasonably well orchestrated by director Waugh (Angel Has Fallen, Kandahar) in his fourth collaboration with Butler, Greenland 2: Migration feels as redundant as its title. While the first film featured a relatively original premise and some genuine emotional dynamics in its suspenseful situations, this one just feels rote. And while it’s made clear that the crisis has resulted in people resorting to cutthroat, deadly means to ensure their survival, the Garritys have it relatively easy. All John has to do is adopt a puppy-dog look, put a pleading tone in his voice, beg for his family’s help, and people inevitably comply.

To be fair, the film contains some genuinely arresting scenes, including one set in a practically submerged Liverpool and another in a dried-up English Channel. The latter provides the opportunity for a harrowing sequence in which the family is forced to cross a giant ravine on a treacherously fragile rope ladder.

Butler remains a sturdy screen presence, his Everyman quality lending gravitas to his character. Baccarin, whose character serves as the story’s moral conscience (early in the proceedings she spearheads a fight to open the shelter to more refugees despite the lack of resources, delivering a not-so-subtle message), more than matches his impact. William Abadie (of Emily in Paris) also makes a strong impression as a Frenchman who briefly takes the family in and begs them to take his daughter Camille (Nelia Valery de Costa) along with them.

Resembling the sort of B-movie fantasy adventure, with serviceable but unremarkable special effects, that used to populate multiplexes in the early ‘70s, Greenland 2: Migration is adequate January filler programming. The only thing it’s missing is dinosaurs.

Movie Reviews

Movie Review: A real-life ’70s hostage drama crackles in Gus Van Sant’s ‘Dead Man’s Wire’

Published

23 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Movie Review: A real-life ’70s hostage drama crackles in Gus Van Sant’s ‘Dead Man’s Wire’

It plays a little loose with facts but the righteous rage of “Dog Day Afternoon” is present enough in Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire,” a based-on-a-true-tale hostage thriller that’s as deeply 1970s as it is contemporary.

In February 1977, Tony Kiritsis walked into the Meridian Mortgage Company in downtown Indianapolis and took one of its executives, Dick Hall, hostage. Kiritsis held a sawed-off shotgun to the back of Hall’s head and draped a wire around his neck that connected to the gun. If he moved too much, he would die.

The subsequent standoff moved to Kiritsis’ apartment and eventually concluded in a live televised news conference. The whole ordeal received some renewed attention in a 2022 podcast dramatization starring Jon Hamm.

But in “Dead Man’s Wire,” starring Bill Skarsgård as Kiritsis, these events are vividly brought to life by Van Sant. It’s been seven years since Van Sant directed, following 2018’s “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” and one of the prevailing takeaways of his new film is that that’s too long of a break for a filmmaker of Van Sant’s caliber.

Working from a script by Austin Kolodney, the filmmaker of “My Own Private Idaho” and “Good Will Hunting” turns “Dead Man’s Wire” into not a period-piece time capsule but a bracingly relevant drama of outrage and inequality. Tony feels aggrieved by his mortgage company over a land deal the bank, he claims, blocked. We’re never given many specifics, but at the same time, there’s little doubt in “Dead Man’s Wire” that Tony’s cause is just. His means might be desperate and abhorrent, but the movie is very definitely on his side.

That’s owed significantly to Skarsgård, who gives one of his finest and least adorned performances. While best known for films like “It,” “The Crow” and “Nosferatu,” here Skarsgård has little more than some green polyester and a very ’70s mustache to alter his looks. The straightforward, jittery intensity of his performance propels “Dead Man’s Wire.”

Yet Van Sant’s film aspires to be a larger ensemble drama, which it only partially succeeds at. Tony’s plight is far from a solitary one, as numerous threads suggest in Kolodney’s fast-paced script. First and foremost is Colman Domingo as a local DJ named Fred Temple. (If ever there were an actor suited, with a smooth baritone, to play a ’70s radio DJ, it’s Domingo.) Tony, a fan, calls Fred to air his demands. But it’s not just a media outlet for him. Fred touts himself as “the voice of the people.”

Something similar could be said of Tony, who rapidly emerges as a kind of folk hero. As much as he tortures his hostage (a very good Dacre Montgomery), he’s kind to the police officers surrounding him. And as he and Dick spend more time together, Dick emerges as a kind of victim, himself. It’s his father’s bank, and when Tony gets M.L. Hall (Al Pacino) on the phone, he sounds painfully insensitive, sooner ready to sacrifice his son than acknowledge any wrongdoing.

Pacino’s presence in “Dead Man’s Wire” is a nod to “Dog Day Afternoon,” a movie that may be far better — but, then again, that’s true of most films in comparison to Sidney Lumet’s unsurpassed 1975 classic. Still, Van Sant’s film bears some of the same rage and disillusionment with the meatgrinder of capitalism as “Dog Day.”

There’s also a telling, if not entirely successful subplot of a local TV news reporter (Myha’la) struggling against stereotypes. Even when she gets the goods on the unspooling news story, the way her producer says to “chop it up” and put it on air makes it clear: Whatever Tony is rebelling against, it’s him, not his plight, that will be served up on a prime-time plate.

It doesn’t take recent similar cases of national fascination, such as Luigi Mangione, charged with killing a healthcare executive, to see contemporary echoes of Kiritsis’ tale. The real story is more complicated and less metaphor-ready, of course, than the movie, which detracts some from the film’s gritty sense of verisimilitude. Staying closer to the truth might have produced a more dynamic movie.

But “Dead Man’s Wire” still works. In the film, Tony’s demands are $5 million and an apology. It’s clear the latter means more to him than the money. The tragedy in “Dead Man’s Wire” is just how elusive “I’m sorry” can be.

“Dead Man’s Wire,” a Row K Entertainment release, is rated R for language throughout. Running time: 105 minutes. Three stars out of four.

Movie Reviews

Film review: IS THIS THING ON? Plus January special screenings

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Is This Thing On?

Cinematic stories of disintegrating marriages are fairly commonplace—and often depressing emotional endurance tests, besides—so it’s interesting to see co-writer/director Bradley Cooper take this variation on the theme in a fresher direction. The unhappy couple in this place is Alex and Tess Novak (Will Arnett and Laura Dern), who decide matter-of-factly to separate. Then Alex impulsively decides to get up on stage at an open-mic comedy night, and starts turning their relationship issues into material. The premise would seem to suggest an uneven balance towards Alex’s perspective, but the script is just as interested in Tess—a former Olympic-level volleyball player who retired to focus on motherhood—searching for her own purpose. And the narrative takes a provocative twist when their individual sparks of renewed happiness lead them towards something resembling an affair with their own spouse. The screenplay faces a challenge common to movies about comedians in that Alex’s material, even once he’s supposed to be actively working on it, isn’t particularly good, and Cooper isn’t particularly restrained in his own supporting performance as the comic-relief buddy character (who is called “Balls,” if that provides any hints). Yet the two lead performances are terrific—particularly Dern, who nails complex facial expressions upon her first encounter with Alex’s act—as Cooper and company turn this narrative into an exploration of how it can seem that you’ve fallen out of love with your partner, when what you’ve really fallen out of love with is the rest of your life. Available Jan. 9 in theaters. (R)

JANUARY SPECIAL SCREENINGS

KRCL’s Music Meets Movies: Dig! XX @ Brewvies: As part of a farewell to Sundance, Brewvies/KRCL’s regular Music Meets Movies series presents the extended 20th anniversary edition of the 2004 Sundance documentary about the rivalry between the Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown Massacre as they chart different music-biz paths. The screening takes place at Brewvies (677 S. 200 West) on Jan. 8 @ 7:30 p.m., $10 at the door or 2-for-1 with KRCL shirt. brewvies.com

Trent Harris weekend @ SLFS: Utah’s own Trent Harris has charted a singular course as an independent filmmaker, and you can catch two of his most (in)famous works at Salt Lake Film Society. In 1991’s Rubin & Ed, two mismatched souls—one an eccentric, isolated young man (Crispin Glover), the other a middle-aged financial scammer—wind up on a comedic road trip through the Utah desert; 1995’s Plan 10 from Outer Space turns Mormon theology into a crazy science-fiction parody. Get a double dose of uncut Trent Harris weirdness on Friday, Jan. 9, with Rubin & Ed at 7 p.m. and Plan 10 from Outer Space at 9 p.m. Tickets are $13.75 for each screening. slfs.org

Rob Reiner retrospective @ Brewvies Sunday Brunch: Last month’s tragic passing of actor/director Rob Reiner reminded people of his extraordinary work, particularly his first handful of features. Brewvies’ regular “Sunday Brunch” series showcases three of these films this month with This Is Spinal Tap (Jan. 11), The Princess Bride (Jan. 18) and Stand By Me (Jan. 25). All screenings are free with no reservations, on a first-come first-served basis, at noon each day. brewvies.com

David Lynch retrospective @ SLFS: It’s been a year since the passing of groundbreaking artist David Lynch, and Salt Lake Film Society’s Broadway Centre Cinemas marks the occasion with some of his greatest filmed work. In addition to theatrical features Eraserhead (Jan. 11), Inland Empire (Jan. 11), Mulholland Dr. (Jan. 12), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (Jan. 14), Blue Velvet (Jan. 19) and Lost Highway (Jan. 19), you can experience the entirety of 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return on the big screen in two-episode blocs Jan. 16 – 18. The programming also includes the 2016 documentary David Lynch: The Art Life. slfs.org

Death by Numbers @ Utah Film Center: Directed by Kim A. Snyder (the 2025 Sundance feature documentary The Librarians), this 2024 Oscar-nominated documentary short focuses on Sam Fuentes, survivor of a school shooting who attempts to process her experience through poetry. This special screening features a live Q&A with Terri Gilfillan and Nancy Farrar-Halden of Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, with Zoom participation by Sam Fuentes. The screening on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. at Utah Film Center (375 W. 400 North) is free with registration at the website.