Cohen and Tate *** (1988, Roy Scheider, Adam Baldwin, Harley Cross) – Classic Movie Review 9414

Writer-director Eric Red’s 1989 crime thriller Cohen and Tate tells the unlikely but consistently intriguing tale of professional assassins Cohen (Roy Scheider) and Tate (Adam Baldwin), who are assigned to abduct a nine-year-old boy witness to a mob murder.

Both men are decidedly odd. Cohen is slightly deaf, wary but kooky. Tate is violent, sadistic and trigger-happy. And their night-time journey from Oklahoma to Houston turns into a trek into both men’s fears and strange desires as the boy (Harley Cross) sets them up against each other.

Roy Scheider in Cohen and Tate (1988).

Cohen and Tate is a decidedly offbeat, quirky thriller, working well as it is backed by effective actors and tense set pieces.

Also in the cast are Cooper Huckabee, Suzanne Savoy, Marco Perella, Tom Campitelli and Andy Gill.

Cohen and Tate is directed by Eric Red, runs 85 minutes, is made by Nelson Entertainment, New Galactic and Tate Productions, is released by Hemdale (1989) (US) and Guild Film Distribution (UK), is written by Eric Red, is shot by Victor J Kemper, is produced by Jeff Young and Anthony Rufus Isaacs, and is scored by Bill Conti.

It was filmed in Houston, Texas, where the production used real Houston Police squad cars.

It is the directorial debut of Eric Red after writing the screenplay for The Hitcher (1985).

It is released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in 2011 in the US on DVD.

Harley Cross was also kidnapped or held hostage in Where Are the Children? (1986), The Believers (1987) and Someone to Watch Over Me (1987).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9414

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