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Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing, Ghost) stars as a hillbilly-turned-Chicago cop who holds his Kentucky relatives at bay after the youngest sibling (Bill Paxton) is killed by a mobster (Adam Baldwin). When one of the brothers (Liam Neeson) sets out for vigilante justice, he ends up fighting both Swayze’s character and the mob. But at a certain point, even Swayze decides it’s time to turn in his badge and fulfill the family’s deep belief in the adage, ‘an eye for an eye’.
Next of Kin features a lot of actors whose stars were on the rise, including Helen Hunt (Twister) as Swayze’s wife and Ben Stiller (Meet the Parents) as one of the mobsters, in addition to Paxton and Neeson. Neeson gives perhaps the most interesting performance, even if the Irish actor wrestles with his character’s thick Appalachian accent. Baldwin hams it up as a villain you love to hate, and Swayze does his best to jump from ‘romantic lead’ to ‘action hero’, though the film never really allows him to take charge and impress the audience.
Michael Jenning’s screenplay is a standard, formulaic revenge tale, predictable and full of stereotypes. Director John Irvin never delivers any memorable action or suspense beyond what one might expect from a direct-to-video B-grade actioner. Films like this can be enjoyed a somewhat ironic level — as good, cheezy fun — but a failure to distinguish itself makes Next of Kin a pretty lifeless affair.
With Andreas Katsulas, Michael J. Pollard (Bonnie and Clyde), and Ted Levine (Silence of the Lambs) as perhaps the film’s most convincing hilljack.