Jailbreakers Movie Review

What's this??? William Friedkin (renowned director of The French Connection and The Exorcist) directing a new film with Shannen Doherty (now 30 years old) playing a highschool cheerleader who isn't even old enough to drive????? A little digging gets to the truth -- Jailbreakers was made directly for Showtime back in 1994. How Friedkin got involved and why Dimension is releasing it on video and DVD now will have to remain a mystery.

Doherty's "Angel" plays a 1950s rising-star student/actress/cheerleader who suddenly falls in love with a wrong-side-of-the-tracks type named Tony (Antonio Sabato Jr.). Trouble inevitably strikes when she and Tony go on a crime spree, landing him in jail again and forcing her family to split town. A daring (read: incomprehensibly stupid) escape courtesy of Tony's pal (Adrien Brody) gets him out of jail... so he can track down Angel in her new life!

It's 76 brisk minutes of nonsense and bad acting. It doesn't even try to look appropriate as a '50s period piece (did they wear sleeveless denim shirts back then?). It's just plain bad -- in fact, it's one of the worst movies I've ever suffered through in its entirety. Who knows why it's getting the video treatment after seven years on ice. But hey, any chance to see Shannen in a cheerleader outfit, well, consider me there.