Blown Away

Most IRA movies made in Hollywood are always criticised for the actors not sounding like real Irishmen. I have never once found this to be true and certainly not for Blown Away. Tommy Lee Jones is quite convincing as a deranged bomber who goes after Jeff Bridges in revenge for betraying him 25 years earlier.

Stephen Hopkins uses his fave cinematographer and composer Peter Levy and Alan Silvestri to bring some visual style and a powerful musical score to accompany the action and explosion scenes. The final encounter between Jones and Bridges is WAY cool. Trust me. It's one of the best showdowns in history.

A cool use of widescreen photography captures a pleasant and eye-pleasing view of Boston. I only ever saw this city in Cheers previously and now it makes wanna visit. This film was overlooked in the summer of 1994 because the audience was too busy with the other BOMB movie Speed. By that I mean movies with bombs. Not movies that are bombs. Speed was about a bomber wanting money. But Blown Away is a more personal, character-driven film and definitely the superior of the two.