Action Jackson (1988)
Carl Weathers stars as Harvard-educated Detroit cop Jericho “Action” Jackson, who earned his reputation for crossing the line in roughhousing perps. The police captain (Bill Duke) demotes Jackson from lieutenant to desk-jockey sergeant no longer allowed to carry a gun after going too far while taking down the son of slimy car company tycoon Peter Dellaplane (Craig T. Nelson). Jackson suspects that Dellaplane is behind a series of murders of auto union officials, and aims to take him down, though this means risking his law-enforcement career, and possibly his life, to do it.
The idea for Action Jackson emerged during the production of the Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner Predator. As they filmed in Mexico, many locals were “Rocky” fans and would hound Predator co-star Carl Weathers for autographs and pictures. Taking notice was Predator‘s producer Joel Silver, who’d become good friends with Weathers after many conversations on movies stemming from their mutual admiration for blaxploitation flicks from the 1970s. Silver, aware that black audiences comprised a substantial percentage of consumers of action flicks, felt that black action heroes were not ready to go mainstream, as evidenced by the two Beverly Hills Cop films that were the top money earners of their respective years. Silver judged that Weathers had breakout leading man potential and suggested they concoct a movie project together after Predator‘s completion.
Before becoming a professional actor, Weathers had majored in Theatre Arts at San Diego State University while there on a football scholarship. Acting had been Weathers’ passion since appearing in a fifth-grade elementary school performance during his childhood in New Orleans. Sports was just his way to attract girls. After college, Weathers had a short-lived career playing linebacker for the Oakland Raiders and the Canadian Football League’s British Columbia Lions. He performed in stage plays in San Francisco during off-seasons. Although he’d rather do Shakespeare, 40-year-old Weathers called his movie career his “goofy period”, going full bore into dumb action vehicles (his term for them was ‘muscle comedies’). Speeding cars flipping and men shooting cannons are what sell movie tickets these days; adaptations of “The Sun Also Rises” and Moliere don’t, and Weathers was all about giving audiences what they wanted. If it meant having his own action franchise, even better.
Weathers tried brainstorming ideas in his hotel room at the end of each day’s shoot on Predator. For a few days, the only solid idea he could think of was his character should carry the first name, Jericho. A breakthrough occurred when one of Predator‘s Australian electricians began bragging to Weathers about his prowess with women. Relating to one particular saucy escapade, the electrician said the phrase, “I was in like Action Jackson”. This name clicked in Weathers’ mind: Jericho “Action” Jackson – an amazing character name and “Action Jackson” a perfect movie title.
In addition to Silver, Weathers also became friends with Predator co-star Shane Black. Black also was a screenwriter and he showed Weathers his recently sold screenplay for Lethal Weapon to Warner Brothers. Weathers loved it, reading it in its entirety the first night. Weathers a funny, action-packed cop thriller would be a good fit for “Action Jackson”. Black loaned Weathers his favorite novels by crime-thriller author John D. MacDonald. Weathers got hooked and read them all. Weathers personally identified with MacDonald’s most well-known character, Travis McGee, because he was just like him: a tall, well-built former pro football player, but highly intelligent, as well as popular, yet respectful, with the ladies. Jackson would be in the same mold.
Weathers felt that Jackson reflecting his own personality would naturally breathe humanity into the role. He wanted audiences to admire Jackson for his integrity, not his ability to cause destruction. Weathers came up with Jackson’s background, borrowing from the heroes of some of his favorite books and Westerns he watched as a kid. Jackson would be well-educated, emotionally sensitive, cerebral, non-chauvinist, morally upright, and funny – not a killing machine like Rambo.
Weathers wrote a five-page story summary of his character and some story notes. The opening action scene is set in San Jose, California, where Jackson finds something illegal in a cannery. He also envisioned one of the baddie’s assassins would moonlight as a Benihana chef by day. Our intro to the character would show him making a kill during his cooking session.
Silver sold it to 20th Century Fox, Predator‘s studio, but there was an early hurdle. “Action Jackson” was the name of an action hero toy line from the early 1970s and they needed to obtain the right from MEGO Toys to use the title. After this was resolved, they got the green light to hire a writer, preferably someone inexpensive. Black recommended Robert Reneau, an up-and-coming writer who was part of his Live+Work frat house in West Los Angeles called “The Pad O’ Guys. The Pad was a group of about twelve greenhorn screenwriters and former UCLA film student friends who hadn’t sold anything yet. Reneau had recently assisted Black by writing new scenes for Lethal Weapon after director Richard Donner wanted some mid-production story changes, though most of his work would later get replaced by rewrites from Jeffrey Boam.
Silver called Reneau to tell him the key elements to put into the script, namely the hero was called Jericho “Action” Jackson (who would be portrayed by Carl Weathers), it would be set in Detroit due to its gritty, urban setting, and the plot should involve the Detroit auto unions. Silver also wanted a love interest for Jackson, an R&B singer in the mold of Janet Jackson.
For inspiration, Reneau looked to the James Bond series. The nemesis was a colorful, wealthy villain named Dellaplane, who was patterned after fallen-from-grace automaker John DeLorean. For the “Bond Girls”, Reneau gave Dellaplane a beautiful wife, and also a sexy mistress who would try to seduce and then ally with Jackson. Silver approved Reneu’s outline, commissioning him to proceed with the script. Unfortunately, partway through its writing, Fox put the project into turnaround. Silver was close to a deal when MDM pulled out after picking up A Fish Called Wanda. Silver had worse luck with the other big studios, but struck paydirt with Lorimar, a television production company hungry for projects to expand their fledgling film division. Lorimar’s film chair, Bernie Brillstein, took a liking to Weathers and consented to make the picture on a modest budget and expedited schedule.
Weathers was surprised that Reneau’s story bore no relation to his original outline save for the main character’s name, personality, and occupation. However, trusted Silver knew better how to sell projects and was amenable to the Detroit setting, as his girlfriend of 18 months, Elaine K. Thompson, a production associate on Predator and would be on Action Jackson, was from the area. Technically, Weathers was married to Rhona Unsell, the owner of a body wrap toning salon in Fort Worth, Texas, called “Tomorrow’s Body”, but they were separated at the time (Weathers told everyone he was divorced, though that didn’t officially happen until 2006.)
For the director, Lorimar suggested Thomas J. Wright, an African-American who’d recently directed several episodes for Lorimar-Telepictures on “Max Headroom”. They argued that they preferred a TV director for Action Jackson because knew how to film with low budgets and tight schedules. Silver convinced them to hire Craig R. Baxley, who’d directed several episodes of “The A-Team”. Silver was the stunt coordinator on Predator and he was particularly impressed with how Baxley handled the second-unit direction of the assault on the village in Predator. Baxley was amazed by the opportunity to direct his first feature, envisioning Detroit environments as a stunt playground through which cars can smash through walls or people can bust through panes of glass.
Reneau wrote Dellaplane as a part for an older actor like James Coburn or Christopher Plummer but Silver wanted a Ben Gazzarra type, but younger and more virile. Silver’s top choice, Sam Elliott, wasn’t available but did agree to appear in the Silver-produced Road House the following year. Silver contemplated going for more prestigious actors, suggesting Peter Coyote for Dellaplane and Cathy Tyson for Dellaplane’s mistress, Sydney Ash. Coincidentally, Tyson was an actress that Reneau envisioned when he wrote the part. The nightclub diva was called Ashley Benson in the script, but it was changed to Sydney Ash because Ashley Benson sounded too much like Action Jackson.
Craig T. Nelson accepted the Dellaplane role because he wanted to change his image from the wholesome fatherly type in Poltergeist films. Playing the heavy meant that he could play the part as broadly as he wanted and he had most of the best lines. Sharon Stone, who plays Dellaplane’s long-suffering wife, said that working with Nelson, was a wonderful and sweet man, unlike his character.
Vanity, whose real name is Denise Matthews, accepted the Sydney Ash role, feeling she could relate to her character in several ways: she too was a singer who was influenced by powerful men (she was a Prince protege), and she had a history of drug abuse. Rather than heroin, Vanity was fighting her own three-year battle with a nasty cocaine/crack addiction. She did try to argue her way out of doing her slated nude scene, though. She broke down crying but her manager said that if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be in the film, so she performed it under duress. She was very secretive about her ongoing drug problems. She never used it when she had to work, but heavily abused it when she was in her hotel at night. Because she was very professional and worked hard, no one knew about her ongoing drug use until she talked about it in interviews afterward. Weathers said Vanity had the memory of an elephant. She knew all of her lines and also knew all of his.
Playing an addict caused Vanity to reflect on her drug issues. After the shoot ended, she checked into St. John’s Hospital in Los Angeles for three months of rehab. She publicly stated that her role was a blessing in disguise and is proud that younger people who see the movie get the message that they can succeed without drugs. She didn’t want to jinx it by talking fully about it until she was clean for a full year. Unfortunately, 30 days after her release from the hospital, she returned to using drugs.
Vanity’s fiancee, Motley Crue’s bassist Nikki Sixx, broke up with her during the production. Vanity once joked that if she married Nikki Sixx she would be known as Vanity 6 again, as she was called when she was with Prince. However, their relationship was difficult because they were always apart and, due to the drugs, Vanity wasn’t always present even when they were together. Sixx said they were misfits whose only common interest was drugs. She was gorgeous in public but a mess in private, strung out for days not attending to personal hygiene. She also was manipulative and played lots of mind games. In the end, Sixx left her because she was a train wreck, a head-case, attention-whore, and a ceaseless thorn in his side.
Baxter didn’t think the moment when Dellaplane slaps Sydney looked real so he asked Vanity to take the hit. Nelson assured her he was experienced and would come close but not hit her, but he made an impact, knocking her back on the bed. Nelson was professional enough to continue acting so she wouldn’t have to go through it again. Better than for Dennis Hayden, who plays Dellaplane’s henchman, Shaker. Hayden was actually kicked in the groin by Weathers during a fight sequence. Baxley asked them to do another take because it didn’t look real. Hayden doubled over and said that if it was any more real, he would cry.
The cast includes many actors who from other Silver-produced films like Predator (Weathers, Duke, and Sonny Landham) and Die Hard (Dennis Hayden, Al Leong, De’voreaux White, Mary Ellen Trainor, and Robert Davi). For the smart-alecky cop Kornblau, Silver wanted Bill Paxton, who’d appeared for his production of Weird Science, but he was unavailable. Michael Bowen and Robert Knepper also auditioned for it, but Back to the Future‘s Thomas F. Wilson scored the role.
Filming began in May of 1997 for a February 1998 release. Although Lorimar’s budget was only $7 million, the production manager estimated it would cost twice that based on what was in the script and they’d need a major revision. Silver told them there was no time, ordering them to shoot the script as-is and to let him handle getting the money needed. Silver continuously begged Brillstein for additional money, needing about $15 million but gaining only $10 million by the end. Weathers agreed to defer his salary in exchange for a healthy profit percentage. For some of it, they needed to get creative. In one scene where they needed to blow up a yacht, there wasn’t enough budget to do it, so they created a life-size picture of a yacht, mounted it on a billboard that was placed on top of a barge, and then blew that up instead.
Some exteriors were shot in Detroit but most of the rest was shot in Los Angeles for budgetary reasons, to avoid having to pay for lodging and travel for a large crew. Reneau had originally meant for Jackson’s ex-boxer friend Kid Sable to have a scene driving a car through a house, but one of the execs suggested this would be better served as the climax at Dellaplane’s mansion and Jackson be the driver. A car chase across a golf course and a fistfight in a decaying tenement building where Jackson and Dellaplane thugs would crash through walls and floors from the original script were nixed due to budgetary reasons and safety issues if real locations were used.
Weathers called Action Jackson the toughest project he’d ever done. He did nearly all of his stunts (he did pass on leaping over an oncoming taxi at 40 miles per hour). He also was involved in creative decisions including wardrobe, hair, and make-up choices, and sat in during the post-production editing process.
Baxley was liked by the cast and crew for being friendly and even-tempered. Baxley and Weathers became good friends and have stayed close ever since. After the studio screening, Silver asked for additional scenes to make Jackson a more likable character. New scenes included Jackson with a valet played by De’voroeux White, the actor who would play Argyle in Die Hard. Additional insert shots were placed during the editing phase for payoff moments and one-liners to spice up the humor and irony. An ending where Sydney visits Jackson in the hospital was shot but then replaced by one where they meet in Dellaplane’s house. Sydney reveals that she is off heroin, nixing the intended epilogue scene where they reconnect after she had gone off of it for several days.
The score is credited to jazz legend Herbie Hancock with contributions by Michael Kamen. Kamen was the actual composer but Herbie Hancock was brought in by Silver for some contributions and received top billing as part of the deal. Reportedly Hancock spent a total of 15 minutes recording some improvisational work on a piano. The only thing used was a snippet he’d that emulated fellow jazzman Don Ellis’s score from The French Connection that they used in the car chase sequence.
Jesse Johnson, the former guitarist for Prince’s protege group, The Time, produced the two songs Vanity sings during the movie, “Undress” and “Faraway Eyes”. Paula Abdul choreographed Vanity’s dancing during her musical performances, though she ruffled Baxley and the crew’s feathers by making demands on everything, including where to place the cameras. Vanity and Johnson intended to work on a full album for A&M Records after the film wrapped but it never fully materialized.
The Pointer Sisters contributed the song used over the opening credits, “He Turned Me Out”. The Pointers were friends with stunt coordinator Henri Kingi from their days when they appeared in Car Wash and were in the area filming a different music video and stopped by. Baxley got to talking with them and, after fifteen minutes he got an agreement from the Pointers to provide a song from their upcoming album “Serious Slammin” for the soundtrack. Weathers and Vanity appear in the music video for the single, which hit the Top 40, where Vanity hustles Weathers in a pool hall.
To further promote the film, Weathers went on a three-week tour of public appearances to a dozen cities on Lorimar’s corporate jet. He also hosted the January 30, 1988 episode of “Saturday Night Live”. Despite her qualms about her nude scene, she showed up to the make-up trailer completely naked. She also did a nude spread for the April 1988 issue of “Playboy”., primarily because Playboy was going to publish some ten-year-old pictures of her they’d obtained that she didn’t want to be released. Playboy agreed to destroy them in exchange for her new pictorial. Weathers and Vanity went to Cannes in May of 1988 for interviews to sell the film to foreign markets.
Action Jackson debuted at #3 at the US box office and stayed in the top 10 for a month, earning a respectable $20 million domestically and doing solid numbers internationally, especially in Germany (they repackaged Weathers’ wholly unrelated 1990 made-for-TV film as “Action Jackson 2” in Germany). It had an even better run on home video, where it proved even more profitable than it was theatrically. Action Jackson was the first and only film from Lorimar that ever broke into the top ten in terms of weekly box office.
Weathers insists that the only thing that kept it from higher numbers was that they needed more time to develop the screenplay further before filming. Weathers says it was one of his movies he wishes he had another chance at because it could have been a much better movie, but they had to start filming because a Directors Guild strike was imminent and studios were rushing to get as many projects completed for release before prolonged work stoppages.
Critics criticized Action Jackson for its excessive violence, but Silver and others involved defended it as a larger-than-life, over-the-top cartoon rather than a realistic portrayal. They argued that people go to the theater for great action, a few yuks, and beautiful actors and know full well that what they’re seeing is all in fun.
Action Jackson went down as a failed attempt to a new blockbuster franchise to piggyback on the lucrative Beverly Hills Cop movies, giving us an African-American loose-cannon Detroit cop, R-rated levels of violence, plenty of smirk-tinged humor, a popular soundtrack, crazy stunts galore. Despite being in talks for a follow-up and a writer assigned, a sequel never manifested because Lorimar sold their studio to Sony and their films to Warner Bros. but they had their action-hero star, specifically Steven Seagal, they preferred to build on.
Weathers is a likable and formidable presence, with debonair looks and considerable brawn. Unfortunately, whereas Eddie Murphy could improvise his way around terrible dialogue for memorable scenes, Weathers isn’t a comedian and can’t elevate the screenplay above mediocrity. Vanity is great eye candy but a weak actress (she received a “Worst Actress Razzie as Sydney) and a worse singer. Romantic sparks never fly with Vanity and they don’t even try with Sharon Stone, who is mostly forgettable as Dellaplane’s unbelievably naive wife. Craig T. Nelson looks tall and beefy enough to make for a formidable foil for Weathers but doesn’t have the charisma to be anything more than a slickly dressed thug. Meanwhile, a plethora of cartoonish side characters are relegated to mild comic relief roles before coming out for the climax.
But what hampers the film isn’t the cast, who are all appealing on certain levels, so much as maintaining a consistent tone, alternating wildly between cheeky cop comedy and ultra-violent action thriller. Unlike Beverly Hills Cop, it lacks the inspired comic writing to entertain between the action moments.
Action Jackson has a low-brow wit about it, a likable action star, gorgeous actresses, a solid pop soundtrack (despite Vanity’s vocal limitations, her Jesse Johnson-produced songs are admittedly catchy), and some over-the-top stunt work that generates a few moments of excitement, but its inherent silliness despite murders, drug abuse, and torture makes for an unsettling tone — it’s hard to know when to laugh or when to wince. It’s entertaining in that it sets the bar low, but, even with its slapdash nature, it’s not without its share of fun moments. While a far cry from Beverly Hills Cop, it’s better than Beverly Hills Cop II, Still, it’s a passably entertaining B-movie action-comedy that will appeal more to audiences who prefer bad action flicks to good ones.
Qwipster’s rating: C+
MPAA Rated: R for strong violence, some nudity, drug content, and language
Running time: 96 min.
Cast: Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone, Bill Duke, Thomas F. Wilson, Robert Davi, Roger Aaron Brown, Jack Thibeau
Director: Craig R. Baxley
Screenplay: Robert Reneau