Flashpoint

Twelve years before he co-starred in one of John Sayles's best pictures, Kris Kristofferson starred in another Texas-Lawman-Discovers-a-Long-Buried-Mystery-Film, the mostly forgotten Flashpoint. Whereas Sayles's movie is a social issue drama in the form of a mystery, William Tannen's directorial debut is a neo-western crossed with a '70s conspiracy thriller. Flashpoint's ridiculous, nonsensical one-word title may be why the picture hasn't lingered in the public consciousness because, other than the title, it's a good little picture with themes that remain as timely now as they were forty years ago, a terrific cast, and an unexpected Tangerine Dream soundtrack.

Kristofferson and Treat Williams play Border Patrol agents who accidentally discover a decades-old Jeep buried in the sand in a remote area of the Texas desert. Inside, they find a skeleton, a rifle, and a box with $800,000 in cash. Since both are fed up with the direction their agency is going, Kristofferson suggests they take the money and split, but Williams isn't sure. They decide to look into the few clues they have privately, and soon, they've unraveled a much greater long-buried mystery than they'd imagined. The plot never drifts into the ridiculous, with wild coincidences and multiple double-crosses; each character is credible and used well, and each role is nicely cast. Rip Torn is terrific as an older good-ol' boy Sheriff, Kurtwood Smith is deliciously sinister as a government fixer, Jean Smart and Tess Harper are fun and sympathetic as two gals Kristofferson and Willimans become involved with, and Miguel Ferrer plays an agent with a full head of hair and a Texas drawl.