Kim Basinger, the perfect damsel in great distress. Of course, in this film, the terror and peril she is in will not match that of which she experienced in her marriage to Alec Baldwin. One might argue that her character in today's film was not necessary to the plot...I disagree. Whenever you have a sultry blonde, who is a total ditz, good things happen. With grunting mountain men, a semi-imbecile leading man, and mud-filled settings, putting Kim Basinger in the film is perfect. Today we have a forgotten gem from 1982, "Mother Lode," directed by and starring Charlton Heston. Oh, co-directed by Fraser C. Heston. Did I mention Kim Basinger, at her acting peak, is in this?
Okay, somewhere in the mountains of northern British Columbia, the mother lode exists...gold! It is just waiting to be found. As the film begins an unfortunate schmuck (Rocky Zantolas) tries to find it and is pick-axed by...Silas (Heston). Silas is a mountain man who believes he is the only one with a right to this lode. Mention gold...and schmucks come running. The schmuck has two friends...Jean (Nick Mancuso) and Andrea (Basinger). I hazard to say he liked Andrea more...not because of her wit and personality, though. These two board a small plane and head up north. They crash land in the lake near the mine and are found by Silas...who initially comes across as helpful. Good for Nick...he does not trust Silas. Now Silas must contend with Nick and Andrea. Andrea wants to find the man Silas murdered. Nick wants...gold!
Silas tries to get the duo to leave with their lives. Greed engulfs Nick and this ruins all his chances to get into Andrea's pants. Andrea is imperiled by Silas and...someone else, you'll see. With Nick going totally crazy with gold fever (greed), Andrea is grabbed by...you'll see. Silas, the madman prospector, has his own mine where he believes the gold is...and Nick finds it. War between the two rages and Andrea may just be the prize for the winner. Not that Andrea will have anything to say about this...but, seriously, she's just a ditzy blonde in peril. I mean, its not like we're waiting for her to assert some anthem on the evils of greed, or that all women should be respected. After all, its Kim Basinger...
Will Nick be able to take out Silas and take possession of the gold mine? Will Silas, with all his grunting and bad manners, get Andrea? Babes love grunting and burping men, after all. Will the quest for the gold turn into the quest for Andrea's affections? This is a good one filled with great British Columbia scenery and great Kim Basinger scenery. For a nice movie of the night find, see "Mother Lode."
No comments:
Post a Comment