Watch The Stickup For Free

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fresh and Exciting

Don't listen to the negative reviews

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Rowdy Herrington's 2001 film The Stickup fools you, or tries to, and is fun to watch as the story unfolds. It begins with the cops chasing a bank robbery getaway car. As we used to say, it starts in the middle and goes both ways. There are flashbacks, and the story is told first from one person's point of view and then another's. There is a surprise around every corner, and each time we get more information we see the bank robbery with new eyes, as it were.The Stickup is a comic adventure/romance/mystery complete with cops, robbers, more cops, a newly-fledged FBI Special Agent, a pretty woman(Leslie Stefanson as Natalie Wright), Our Hero(Spader as John Parker), and two enigmatic Indians. If you happen to see it in the video store, I highly recommend it—it's loads of fun, and despite a couple of plot holes (suspend your disbelief at the door) is ultimately satisfying. The positive vibes from this movie far outweigh the negative. The high speed car chases appeal to the men, and the boy-meets-girl story is for the girls, and the inscrutable Indians are for everyone.The Stickup's low budget does not interfere with its fast-paced story and Spader's wonderful acting—is he a good guy or a bad guy? The mood-setting soundtrack begins as bang-bang stick'em up robbery music over the menu and segues into brassy, 1940s film noir blues as background to the sporadic encounters of Our Hero and the pretty woman ), each more tantalizing. "Damn Right I've got the Blues" plays over their first encounter in the bar, and again over the credits. Original music credited to David Kitay sets the mood throughout.John Livingston, as FBI Special Agent Rick Kendall on his first case as Agent-in-charge, is hilarious in his delight with his first bank robbery and real dye packs. "Wicked!" he says, and "Cool!" He takes such joy in his work, and as the case draws to a close, he is seen talking on his cell phone to his mom.

Once in a while you can win at the game of "remote roulette." I lucked out and caught this flick the other night while rather aimlessly looking for something decent to watch. It was being shown on a popular, premium cable network. It is a cops & robbers caper flick with more than a little twisting as it goes through its well designed plot steps with hardly any let downs along the way. I would categorize it as a black comedy-drama with a touch of noir. I thought that the dialog between the main characters, James Spader (Parker) and Leslie Stefanson (Natalie Wright)was reminiscent of Bogart & Bacall. James Spader, in my opinion, is one of the better actors in film today. It is a shame that real talent like his is not more fully recognized by the film industry, obsessed with redundant, lowest common denominator material suitable for sixth graders or special effects geeks whose every other word is "awesome." Leslie Stefanson's character is aptly named as she plays with skill and sardonic humor, a disillusioned small town girl looking for "Mr. Right." The supporting cast, particularly John Livingstone as FBI special agent Rick Kendall was above average. I just wish that there could have been a little more of the well played "Native Americans" who were involved in the story. Writer-Director Rowdy Herrington deserves praise for coming up with this low budget "sleeper" lost among the mainstream Hollywood trash currently inundating the theater and television screens of our entertainment challenged land. The authentic rural and scenic small town location creates an enchanting atmosphere that further adds to the quality of the film and even the jazz soundtrack I noticed under the closing credits was a winning pick. You will not be disappointed by this good one.

Rowdy Herrington's "The Stickup" turned out to be a surprise when it turned up recently on cable. Not having seen it before, we decided to take a chance, which paid up because of the interesting work the director gets out of the star of the film, James Spader. "The Stickup" makes a case for appearing to be something on the surface, while being something else in reality. John Parker, the cop that decides to take a trip up north to clear his head knows about the corruption in his own department and feels horrible about the death of his good partner during a stake out in L.A. When we see him at the beginning of the film bleeding at a church, little do we know what he has been involved in. For all appearances, John has robbed the bank and has gotten away with all the money. An FBI agent is assigned to the case; he is an inexperienced young man who appears not to have a clue of what he is doing, but by looking to clues in the video tape about the bank heist, he will solve the mystery.The film is greatly helped by James Spader, who as John Parker is the best thing in the movie. Leslie Stefanson, is Natalie, the nurse who believes in Parker even when all the evidence points out to his guilt. David Keith is perfectly obnoxious as the sheriff. "The Stickup" is a small film that packs a great punch!

Okay, so this is a rather low-budget movie. Probably half of the budget went to mister Spader's fee so there was not much left to go around, but:-I have seen worse movies. -The camera-work is good. -The acting is good. -The plot is not difficult but never tries to be.All in all, I had fun watching it and if you ever get in a place where it rains all day and you are bored out of your skull, this one would at least tie you up for an hour or so.