Below Average
Summary
Quiet Fire has a few entertaining action scenes and provides a few laughs; Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs makes for an appealing lead but it feels low budget lacking any truly memorable set-pieces, so you’ll quickly forget it after viewing.
Plot: Jesse Palmer, is a Vietnam Veteran who must discomfit his ex-commanding officer turned crooked senate candidate named Whalen from conspiring to turn over part of the U.S. Government to terrorists. Whalen has all the help that he can afford. Mercenaries, a surveillance tracking system, endless firepower, and hired killers are at this corrupt senator’s disposal. Palmer, on the other hand, only has his wits, fists and a few other surprises to help put an end to a greedy politician’s guileful schemes. This one innocent man must expose this corrupt senator before he wins the election.
Review: Quiet Fire is one of PM Entertainment’s lesser discussed movies and despite having a few enjoyable scenes it’s not really a surprise. Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs plays our hero Jesse Palmer, a Vietnam Vet who now works at a gym (Gold’s Gym getting a nice plug) but comes into the firing line of corrupt Senator J. William Whelan (Lance Lindsay).
Jesse’s friend Walt gets kills and various shadowy villains start hunting down Jesse; he goes on the run with his ex-girlfriend and then begins standard action movie fare with a few chases, shoot-outs and fight scenes.
I’m not sure if it’s meant to be funny but at times this movie is hilarious especially the two female assassins Jax and Hector who look like they walked off the set of Mad Max.
It starts off well with a car chase and some explosions and the movie is relatively well paced but it’s not the most exciting tale ever and you can tell it doesn’t have a huge budget.
Any James Bond fan will notice the not very subtle nod to Dr. No when Jesse says “That’s a Smith & Wesson and you’ve had your 6”.
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs makes Jesse immediately appealing, so we are always on his side. On villain duties we have Robert Z’Dar as corrupt cop Russo who works for the Senator and tries to take down Jesse however, his role is rather non-de-script making little impact. He does get a quick fight with Jesse at the end but it’s nothing special.
Karen Black knows the kind of movie she’s in and just seems to be enjoying herself while everyone else looks bemused.
Overall, Quiet Fire is entertaining for all the wrong reasons providing plenty of unintentional laughs; it’s not the most exciting action movie ever but it has its moments. I like Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as our lead Jesse and Robert Z’Dar is always a welcome addition. The film has a few fight scenes, explosions and chases but it never gets especially thrilling. It’s maybe worth a one-time watch but as PM Entertainment movies go there are far better.
