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The star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger elevates this standard, direct-to-video-style 80s action flick from the low end of mediocrity. Arnold plays a small town sheriff enticed by an FBI agent (Darren McGavin) to infiltrate a powerful Chicago mafia. Once he earns the trust of the mafia boss (Sam Wanamaker), he starts feeding info back to the FBI, planting the seeds of the destruction for Wanamaker’s drug and prostitution empire. But when his cover eventually gets blown and carefully laid plans are shot to hell, Arnold is forced to resolve matters by doing what Arnold does best — gear up and blow everyone to smithereens.
Raw Deal has a reputation for being one of Schwarzenegger’s more middling films, but it may have picked up some camp value over the forty years. By following so close to the action formula when it was made, it plays today like an entertaining parody of 80s action flicks. Wonderfully cheesy one-liners fly out of Arnold’s mouth almost as casually as bullets. The synth-heavy score, credited to ‘CinemaScore’, plays like pre-made stock music, oddly enhancing the film’s campiness. Robert Davi (The Goonies, Licence to Kill) is one of the first faces we think of when we think ‘generic 80s action villain’, and sure enough, he plays the mafia heavy who’s chomping at the bit to tangle with Arnold. The supporting cast, including Kathryn Harrold as Arnold’s duplicitous, mafia-tied girlfriend, are more than serviceable, all seemingly aware of the film’s tongue-in-cheek, self-aware tone.
I’m not normally a fan of run-of-the-mill action movies, but there’s something about Raw Deal that kept me interested throughout. Part of it is seeing Arnold deliver a lot of dialogue for a change. His thick Austrian accent adds a layer of unintended humor to his performance, but one he seems well aware of, and comfortable with. The film strikes me the same way. Outside of grindhouse exploitation cinema, it may be one of the first commercial action films to embrace its own ridiculousness, a trend we’d see a lot more of in the ’90s.
Directed by John Irvin (Next of Kin, Hamburger Hill). With Paul Shenar and Ed Lauter.