Bruce Willis’ Panned 90s Action Thriller ‘Striking Distance’ Streaming for Free

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Hollywood icon and action movie superstar
Bruce Willis

has been a fixture of the genre for decades, delivering some of his best
action fare during the late 80s and 90s
. One of his lesser, but no less entertaining, if only because of the silver screen magnetism of the

Die Hard

star, is now all set to land on free streaming.
Directed by Rowdy Herrington and written by Herrington and Marty Kaplan,

Striking Distance

is an action thriller like no other. No, wait, sorry, that should read “is an action thriller like every other.” Following Willis as, funnily enough, Sergeant Tom Hardy,

Striking Distance

stars Sarah Jessica Parker alongside Willis, and tells a familiar tale of a former detective who, now part of the city’s River Rescue Squad, is stalked and tormented by a serial killer…who might just be a ghost from his past.

Striking Distance

is due to land on

Tubi

from January 1, and you can check out the synopsis below.

“Sgt. Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) denounces his partner, Jimmy Detillo (Robert Pastorelli), for brutally interrogating a suspect. After Jimmy falls to his death from a bridge, Tom is transferred from homicide to the river rescue team. Two years later, the bodies of murdered young women begin turning up in the water — all of whom were previously romantically linked to Tom. With the help of his new partner, Jo Christman (Sarah Jessica Parker), Tom sets out to find the killer.”

Roger Ebert’s Assessment of ‘Striking Distance’ Is Hilarious


Striking Distance

was met with largely negative reviews upon release, with the action outing standing at just 20% from critics and 35% from audiences on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Legendary film critic
Roger Ebert’s assessment
of the movie is particularly hilarious, as he lays out a
checklist of clichés
, each one repeated during

Striking Distance’s

story of Willis’ troubled detective.
“How does it recycle its betters? Let us count the ways,” he begins, before highlighting such familiar themes and beats as “It is about an outspoken Pittsburgh cop (Bruce Willis), who gets in trouble by testifying against his partner in a police brutality case,” “His uncle (Dennis Farina) is on the force, and so are two of his sons, Willis’ cousins,” “There is a scene on a bridge where Willis tries to talk one of the nephews out of leaping to his death. The dialogue is amazingly familiar,” and “Willis is assigned a new partner (Sarah Jessica Parker). She is a woman. They don’t get along at first. Then they fall in love. Four durable cliches in a row. Good going.”

As a movie critic with years of experience under my belt, I must say that revisiting Bruce Willis’ action-packed gem, Striking Distance, feels like reuniting with an old friend who’s been through some tough times but still has that undeniable charm. This film, directed by Rowdy Herrington and written by Herrington and Marty Kaplan, is a perfect example of the action thrillers that defined the 90s – you know, the ones where Bruce Willis plays a troubled detective with a checkered past.

Regrettably, Bruce Willis has chosen to retire from acting following a diagnosis of aphasia and later frontotemporal dementia. Thus, even though Striking Distance might not be his top performance, it’s definitely worth watching just to see him excel in his craft.

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2024-12-26 17:31