Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

idontneedyourjunk One hillbilly who is now a big city cop in Chicago, has his (least-loved) little brother hillbilly come to work in the city after the local mine closes. He gets killed by a goombah enforcer, who's teaching his cousin goombah (who is the son of the head goombah) the ropes.Back at the hillbilly homestead, (most-loved) elder brother hillbilly comes to town to exact hillbilly justice. He dies.Which sends hillbilly homestead into a hillbilly hornets nest, and every single male hillbilly that can wield a firearm (which is all of them) are given packed lunches by the womenfolk (yes, seriously), and set off for justice in the big city.Meanwhile, goombah enforcer isn't happy that son-of-goombah is slowly taking over, since he's the head goombah's son. So he kills cousin goombah and frames elder brother hillbilly before he dies.In the final standoff, head goombah shoots goombah enforcer for murdering head goombah's son.This somehow pays back the blood debt for 2 dead hillbillies and a bunch of dead goombah no-names.And by contract, Patrick Swayze reveals his most defining acting skill and takes off his shirt in at least 3 scenes.Starring:Robert Easton, dialect coach in over 50 movies, must've silently weeped during this oneTed Levine, 3 minute part of a crazy drunk with a shot gun, his career peaked as Captain Stottlemeyer in 'Monk'Ben Stiller, son-of-goombah-looking-to-take-over-the-family-business, pretty much still an unknown actor at this point. Plays a fairly convincing entitled assholeBill Paxton, little brother who gets killed as an example. His brother's wife in this movie, will be his wife in a later movie (Twister)Andreas Katsulas, head goombah, will be future G'Kar in Babylon 5Helen Hunt, apparently everybody's movie wife as some pointAdam Baldwin, Full Metal Jacket, The X-Files, Firefly/Serenity (including the fan-made Browncoats: Redemption), Chuck, the Captain of the ship in The Last Ship, 2 awesome guest appearances in Castle, and even voice acting in HL2:2. Here he plays the goombah enforcer who kills Paxton and StillerLiam Neeson, (Batman, the 1st good one, Star Wars, the 1st shitty one) most-loved elder hillbilly, he owns this movie. He is all about revenge/justice for murder in the most brutal of ways. He went on to play the same kickass character in many more movies, but with a slightly more Irish accent.Patrick Swayze, a man of highs and lows. From Dirty Dancing and Roadhouse to this dreck (he was nominated a Razzie for worst actor) then immediately back to Ghost and Point Break. He can't act, he can't pull off a constant accent, he looks like he never shot a bow before, he can't even pretend to play the violin very well. But he can dance! (But he doesn't dance in this movie, so there you go)

gavin6942 Truman, a Chicago cop, sets out to find the killer of his brother. Meanwhile, another of his brothers, Briar (a hillbilly) decides to find the killer himself.This is probably seen as a second-tier Patrick Swayze movie. Certainly it can't compete with "Roadhouse" or "Dirty Dancing". But in my opinion, it doesn't fall far behind. The action, the authentic Chicago scenery. It is all quite nice. And the cast. Wow. Beyond the three brothers (Swayze, Bill Paxton and Liam Neeson) you have a very early appearance from Ben Stiller, a young Helen Hunt and more. Quite the cast.Exactly why the Gates family has an Irish brother when everyone else is clearly American is unclear, but Neeson at least tries to cover up his accent a little bit.

Predrag The film is directed by Englishman John Irvin who has made a rather unsung career out of bringing a stronger-than-usual sense of characterization to genre films. Although Irvin's filming of the action scenes are a little pedestrian, he still has a strong visual sense and manages to vividly contrast the conflicting worlds of the country and the city. The film's supporting cast is well chosen and both the heroes and the villains all come to life with a surprising amount of dignity. At no point do any of the actors demean their roles by playing... typical hillbillies or, for that matter, typical mobsters and that shows an unusual and admirable amount of integrity for a film of this sort. Paxton isn't on screen long but remains, as always, a likable presence and Adam Baldwin makes a compellingly understandable and hissable villain. Michael J. Pollard shows up as a hillbilly and brings his trademark quirkiness to the proceedings while the role of the nerdy mob scion is played by Ben Stiller, of all people. It's a little jarring to see Stiller show up on screen (especially playing an essentially villainous role) yet he gives a strong performance without resorting to do any standard Stiller bits. Helen Hunt's role is... typical but she's probably far warmer in this role than she's been in any of her prestige pictures. Certainly, the best performance in the film is given by Liam Neeson who dominates the proceedings with the grim sincerity he brings to his quest for revenge. This Irish actor also manages to perfectly capture the unique accent of the Appalacian region. As an actor, Patrick Swayze has always been limited and he's always been better at projecting sincerity than complexity. Luckily, his role in Next of Kin has been designed to require little more of him than sincerity and, if Next of Kin doesn't represent his best performance, its certainly his most likable.The music was great in this movie, a little culture and a lot of country. Swayze again wrote a song especially for this movie "Brothers" sung by Swayze and Larry Gatlin. All in all, Great acting from Liam Neeson and Patrick Swayze.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

slumbergod Amazingly, I'd never seen this movie, though I'd seen its cover on the rental shelf countless times. It was the passing of Swayze that provided the motivation to see some of his other, lesser known movies.Swayze was as good as always but he didn't really have much to work with here. The plot certainly didn't provide anything we haven't seen a hundred times already. It had a gritty, dirty feel to it so if the director was trying to get that across then he succeeded in this point.The script was rather corny at times, perhaps because that was the way movies were made in this period but perhaps also because it was trying to show "mountain" people. If I was a member of that community I would have been embarrassed to have been portrayed this way but perhaps that is just my ignorance as a foreigner.One of the worthwhile reasons for seeing this movie is to catch a glimpse of some very well known actors before they hit mainstream popularity. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton play rather wooden characters which sadly doesn't allow a hint of their talents to shine through. Neeson is excellent and quite believable as a scruffy looking mountain guy. The most out of place actor would be Ben Stiller. Knowing him as we do today it is just hard to take him seriously so in retrospect he is very miscast.The action is pretty dull by today's standards which might have been okay if the plot was complex and the characters well developed. Unfortunately, it makes for a somewhat boring experience. I found the tiny hints of life in the Appalachian Mountains very interesting. If this movie was remade with more emphasis on their culture and the problems they face then it could be an extremely interesting movie, perhaps showing the community in a way similar to how Witness gave a glimpse at Amish life.As it stands, though, it is really just a late night TV movie or for fans of Swayze.