Film Review: The Park Is Mine (1985)

Success of the first film in Rambo series led to production of plenty of action films in which Vietnam War veterans used their deadly military skills to solve various civilian problems (usually crime) at home. One of the more unusual among them was The Park Is Mine, 1985 television film directed by Steven Hilliard Stern. Made in Canada for HBO, later it received theatrical distribution in various countries where the audience was still hungry for Rambo-like action on the big screen.

The film is based on the novel by Stephen Peters. Protagonist, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is Mitch Garnett, Vietnam War veteran who, like so many, had serious trouble while re-adapting to peaceful life. More than a decade after the war, he is unable to hold a steady job and struggles to support his ex-wife Rachel (played by Gale Garnett) who refuses to let him see their son. Mitch gets deeply affected after the suicide of his best friend and fellow veteran Mike Johnson (played by Eric Peterson). He gets posthumous letter by Mike revealing his plan to occupy New York’s Central Park and hold it for three days as a form of protest against mistreatment of veterans and other “forgotten” people in society. Mitch decides to carry on his friend’s plan, planting the explosives and booby traps in a way to force park’s evacuation while, at the same time, making sure that nobody gets killed. The plan seems to work but the city administration, led by Deputy Mayor Dix (played by Peter Dvorsky) wants to end its humiliation by taking Mitch out. When the attempts by police SWAT teams led by Eubanks (played by Yaphet Kotto) fail, Dix sends mercenaries to the park. In the meantime, Mitch has to deal with Valery (played by Helen Shaver), ambitious video reporter who managed to sneak into the park in order to get exclusive footage.

The basic premise behind The Park Is Mine asks viewers to suspend their disbelief more than usual. A single man is supposed to take control of the large area which hundreds of policemen in 1980s (at least if we are to judge by rampant crime problem, partially addressed in the film) failed to do. Steven Hilliard Stern, Canadian director best known for his work on television, nevertheless does a solid job with it, almost seamlessly mixing stock footage of New York with Toronto locations and sets. There is a lot of pyrotechnics in the film and even the exploding helicopter – one of the more popular ingredients of 1980s action cinema – is employed. Tommy Lee Jones plays his part reasonably well, although his performance is overshadowed by his looks; while lacking Stallone’s muscles, protagonist is dressed in near perfect military fatigue and wears reflecting sunglasses that could made him into true 1980s action icon if this film had been produced by big Hollywood studio. However, such performance is hampered by script that leaves many questions about plot unanswered. Mitch’s motivation isn’t properly fleshed out and his protest action, despite being clearly within what most reasonable people would brand as terrorism, almost inexplicably make the public side with him (the very same New York public which would fail to support much more peaceful Occuppy Wall Street protest quarter of century later). In order for this film to have proper action, many characters are forced to act stupid, especially Dix whose only purpose is for the film to have a villain. Character of Valery has the single purpose of being obligatory female in otherwise male story, and Helen Shaver, who otherwise does good job in a thankless role, is additionally burdened with gratuitous nudity. Unusual but effective ingredient for The Park Is Mine is music soundtrack by Tangerine Dream which adds to the atmosphere and general quality of the film. Although flawed and although its relative obscurity seems somewhat justified, The Park Is Mine can be still recommended to the fans of 1980s action cinema.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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