Over the Top

I have a confession to make that I need to get off my chest. It's something that has been bugging me for a little while, ever since I re-watched all the Rocky movies and started revisiting some more Stallone films. What did I pick to follow the Rocky series? Why, of course the cinematic ode to the "sport" of Arm Wrestling Over the Top. Here's where the confession comes in, I actually love this movie. Yes, it's absolutely terrible but it falls squarely in the guilty pleasure category. 

Lincoln Hawk (played by Sylvester Stallone) is a long haul trucker who has been seperated from his wife Christina (played by Susan Blakely) for the past ten years and subsequently has not seen his son, Michael (played by David Mendenhall) at all in that time. It's alluded that Christina didn't want him around during that time, but now that she is deathly ill with plot-contrivanceitis (the movie is annoyingly vague on her actual illness), she has changed her tune and decided Michael should get to know his father. So, she asks Lincoln to pick him up from Military School and have the two drive cross country in Lincoln's semi to see her before her surgery. The kid is understandably perplexed to see this strange man before him and be told that he is his father. He asks for some ID and Lincoln provides him with a wedding picture of him and Christine, which I'm pretty sure is not considered a legal form of ID in most states. Nonetheless, the two hit the road in Lincoln's semi truck, but almost immediately Michael demands Lincoln pull over, at which point Michael jumps out and runs across four lanes of traffic, nearly causing a huge pile up. However, Lincoln scoops him up and they are back on their way after he calms the kid down. I guess in 1987 a kid jumping out of a semi truck and booking it across traffic to get away from said truck was not a cause for concern as no one questions what is happening, nor does it appear the police are notified. Meanwhile, Michael's grandfather Jason Cutler (played by Robert Loggia) is bound and determined to keep Michael away from his father, who he considers to be a no-good loser.

As they make their way cross country, the ice between Lincoln and Michael begins to melt as the two begin to bond. Upon stopping at a truck stop, Lincoln is recognized and challenged to an arm wrestling match for some quick cash to Michael's surprise. He discovers that his dad earns extra money competing in arm wrestling matches and plans to enter the championships in Las Vegas. These sorts of events actually happen, by the way. I looked it up, proving once again that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Lincoln even begins to teach his son to hustle arm wrestling, encouraging him to challenge some local kids that look and act like stereotypical 80's bullies. They best Michael easily, but after some words of encouragement from Lincoln, he returns for a rematch and bests them easily, although improbably. They finally reach their destination and arrive at the hospital Christina is at where they discover to their horror that Christina passed away during surgery. Michael is understandably angry at his father, pointing out they could have made it in time if they didn't waste their time doing things like hanging out in truck stops and teaching him to hustle. To be fair, the kid has a point. Michael returns to live with his grandfather, who will not allow Lincoln to see his son. Determined to regain custody of Michael, Lincoln decides to bet it all on the Las Vegas Arm Wrestling tournament with a grand prize of $100,000 and a brand new long haul semi truck (how convenient!), which he intends to use to set up his own trucking business and build a life for him and Michael. Needless to say, the outcome is pretty obvious.

There is so much that is so gloriously wrong with Over the Top, it's hard to know where to start. The film is directed by the legendary schlock meister Menahem Golan, who co-owned the Cannon Film company that produced mainly B grade action movies, including much of Chuck Norris' films (it is also the subject of a fascinating documentary, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films.) This was clearly intended to be his attempt at making a serious and heartwarming film because everything played so straight faced. There is supposed to be suspense and excitement during the arm wrestling matches but I can't help but bust out laughing watching it. Any attempts to make the act of arm wrestling seem epic or impressive fall flat as the actors grunt as sweat literally drips from their bodies, glistening under the lights of the arena. Who knew arm wrestling was so physically taxing? There are occasional moments that come across as endearingly cute between Lincoln and Michael, such as a moment when Lincoln teaches Michael how to drive the truck. The thing is the plot of the film, which was written by Oscar winner Stirling Silliphant and Oscar nominee Sylvester Stallone no less, is pretty tired and worn not to mention underwritten. For example, when Michael asks Lincoln why he left him and his mother, Lincoln just responds he had his reasons and it's left at that. The mother is killed off so quickly that we are robbed of any sort of reunion or dramatic moments between her and Lincoln that could shed some light on what happened or explain her sudden change of heart. There is also a rather blatant continuity error where everyone, including Lincoln himself, keep messing up his last name, alternating between Hawk and Hawks depending on the scene. You'd think they would have had that figured out before they started shooting. Then there is some laughably ridiculous plot points, although no more ridiculous then when Michael is going through his mother's things and finds ten years worth of letters Lincoln had sent that his mother kept from him. Overjoyed to find out his father always really loved him after all, he sneaks out of his grandfather's mansion and steals his grandfather's pick up truck. He proceeds to drive it near perfectly all the way to the airport (which he actually knows how to get to!), ditches the truck and manages to catch the next plane to Las Vegas. This kid is twelve. Never has a movie been so aptly titled.    

But yet, despite all this silliness, I can't help but love it. Stallone was paid a then record 12 million dollars to star in the film and eventually gave in, deciding no one would see it. The fact that this film has a cult following almost thirty years later just goes to show how forever film really is. In all fairness, Stallone does his best to make it work and gives a suitably charming performance, especially for a character that in all likelihood we should absolutely despise for basically being a deadbeat father for ten years and the movie does little to prove that presumption wrong. But yet, for some reason I liked the guy and his scenes with David Mendenhall. The film is also scored with a wonderfully cheesy Giorgio Moroder soundtrack largely made up of rock songs performed by such notables as Kenny Loggins, Sammy Hagar, and Asia. I can't help but love it and am not ashamed to say I do own the soundtrack. The songs do help the film, giving it a certain lighter tone than perhaps the film should have had.   

Overall, Over the Top falls squarely in the so bad it's good guilty pleasure category. It's impossible to take seriously, no matter how much it wants you to. It doesn't reach the epic levels of badness as something like The Room, but it's pretty ridiculous in it's own right with staggeringly bad storytelling from a couple writers who really should know better and a director more concerned with style than substance not helping much either. It's a movie that under any other circumstances I should absolutely hate, but somehow it all gels together for me as a movie that is entertaining in ways that are impossible to achieve intentionally. It has it's own undeniable charms despite all of it's faults. So yes, with a pang of guilt and perhaps embarrassment, I freely admit I do indeed actually love this movie.