by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Originally prepared for European release under the title Catchfire, Backtrack wasn't given a wide distribution until 1991, and then only to capitalize on the Oscar win of Silence of the Lambs star Jodie Foster. In Backtrack, Foster plays a youngish innocent who witnesses a mob hit. Professional assassin Dennis Hopper is contracted to silence Foster for keeps. Instead, he falls in love with her. Directed by star Hopper, Backtrack has some of the feel of his earlier, better Easy Rider: the cast is populated by such old Hopper chums as Dean Stockwell, Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Bob Dylan, Vincent Price and Julie Adams; and, like Easy Rider, it looks as though the story was improvised during filming.
characteristics
- Hired Killers
- Hit
- Victim
- Rescue
- Criminal
- Romance
- Robber
- On-the-run
- Romantic
- Scam
- Witness
- Woman
- Thief
- Theft
- Swindle
