Against All Odds (1984)

Directed by Taylor Hackford. With Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges, James Woods, Alex Karras. A gangster hires an ex-football player to find his girlfriend. When he finds her, they fall in love, and the twists start to appear.

Against All Odds is a 1984 American romantic neo-noir thriller film. A remake of Out of the Past (1947), the film that currently holds a "Fresh" score of 67% on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Against All Odds was directed by Taylor Hackford and stars Rachel Ward, Jef

Once past the pulse-pounding car-chase opening sequence of Against All Odds, sharp-eyed viewers will be able to figure out that this 1984 suspenser is a remake of the 1947 noir classic Out of the Past. Forced off the field due to a shoulder injury, football player Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges) takes a job with crooked nightclub owner Jake Wise (James Woods). Brogan isn't fond of his new boss, but he isn't much better himself, having previously shaved points during a game at Wise's behest. When Wise's girlfriend Jessie Wyler (Rachel Ward) skips town with a great deal of money, Brogan is sent to fetch her back. Once in Mexico, Brogan and Wyler fall in love, weakening his resolve to go through with his job. When Brogan fails to carry out his orders, another of Wise's hired hands (Alex Karras) is sent out to retrieve both Brogan and Wyler. During a struggle, the thug is killed by Wyler, who for the first time in the film demonstrates that she isn't the victim of circumstance she pretends to be. Upon his return to the U.S. -- minus Wyler, who's taken another run-out powder -- Brogan becomes enmeshed in a shady Chinatown-like business deal involving Wise and a real-estate fat cat (Richard Widmark) -- who happens to be married to Wyler's mother. Like Past, Against All Odds is based on the Daniel Mainwaring novel Build My Gallows High, and Jane Greer, who played the Rachel Ward character in the earlier film, is here cast as Ward's mother. Phil Collins wrote and sang the Oscar-winning theme song.

There have been too many sweet girls in thrillers. What we need are more no-good, double-dealing broads who can cross their legs and break your heart. "Against All Odds" has a woman like that, and it makes for one of the most intriguing movie relationships in a long time; in thirty-five years, to be exact, which is when they told this story for the first time. You may remember the original movie. It was called "Out of the Past." It starred Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas, and it was the greatest cigarette-smoking movie of all time. Mitchum and Douglas smoked all the way through every scene, and they were always blowing sinister, aggressive clouds of smoke at each other.

Starring: Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges and James Woods.

Against All Odds summary of box office results, charts and release information and related links.

Overview of Against All Odds, 1984, directed by Taylor Hackford, with Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges, James Woods, at Turner Classic Movies

She was a beautiful fugitive. Fleeing from corruption. From power. He was a professional athlete past his prime. Hired to find her, he grew to love her. Love turned to obsession. Obsession turned to murder. And now the price of freedom might be nothing less than their lives.

Find trailers, reviews, synopsis, awards and cast information for Against All Odds (1984) - Taylor Hackford on AllMovie - A remake of Jacques Tourneur's noir classic Out…