The Harvest (1992) Reviews

• Solid mystery: low budget, good script.

  el_nickster2004-03-24

  I saw this on cable, and it impressed me. Hollywood makes tons of boring thrillers, full of gunplay and mindless brutality. What I liked about this movie is that the hero goes through unusual trials to find the people that did him wrong: he doesn't just shoot and interrogate bad guys. An author goes to Mexico for inspiration. He get seduced, get drugged, and wakes up minus one kidney. He is too obsessed with the woman who wronged him to drop the matter and fly home, however. To find her, he tangles with corrupt cops, endures his weakened state (he has just lost a kidney, after all), faces off with Mexican gangsters, and hikes through the jungle wasted on psychedelic drugs. Not a bad film as far as these things go. There is also a hot love scene in a moving Volkswagen beetle, but I don't want to spoil that part for you.

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• Quality proud B movie from the early 90s

  andyroark2006-02-25

  In this excellent unabashed B movie from 1993 you get to watch Miguel Ferrier and his wife turn one of the most enduring urban legends ever (guy wakes up in a bathtub of ice missing -insert body part- with instructions to call an ambulance) into a South of the Border escape covering topics from the Hollywood screen writing culture to Latin American police corruption to long term depression to child molestation to the underground gay community back to the Hollywood screen writing culture. What it lacks in production values (not much) it makes up for in heart. This type of film was often showed on the off-brand pay movie channels in the early to mid 90s but usually centered more around the exposure of many, many nude body parts belonging to Shannon Tweed, Joan Severence or C. Thomas Howell (::shudder::). This film keeps its clothes on (and puts a dress on George Clooney, to boot) and delivers an enjoyable watching experience of pure escapist fantasy throughout which you will consistently thank God you aren't Miguel's character (when he is rolling around on the ground in pain) or curse God you aren't Miguel's character (when he is rolling around in the front seat of a Volkswagon with his insanely beautiful real life wife). Good stuff.

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• An excellent and underrated early 90's thriller gem

  Woodyanders2007-07-05

  Blocked, frustrated, Prozac-popping writer Charlie Pope (a terrific performance by Miguel Ferror in a rare juicy lead) goes to Mexico to research a script he's working on. Pope falls under the spell of sultry, alluring lass Natalie Caldwell (wonderfully played by the incredibly hot Leilani Sarelle, who's Ferror's former wife) and winds up having one of his kidneys stolen. Pope gets himself in further jeopardy when he tries to find out who's responsible. Writer/director David Marconi concocts one doozy of a moody and offbeat modern-day film noir thriller which offers a strong and provocative subtext on art vs. commerce, the grueling rigors of the creative process, the lengths one's willing to go for one's art, and suffering for one's art. Emmanuel Lubezki's slick, sparkling cinematography and Rich Boston's funky, flavorsome score both add an extra tasty zing to the vivid and tangibly sordid south-of-the-border atmosphere. The sterling cast rates as another substantial asset: Harvey Fierstein as sleazy Hollywood agent Bob Larkin, Anthony John Denison as the treacherous Noel Guzmann, Henry Silva as brutish, hard-nosed police chief Topo, Tim Thomerson as seedy hotel proprietor Steve Mobley, Matt Clark as amiable farmhand Hank, and George Clooney as a singing transvestite in a gay bar. A shamefully neglected sleeper.

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• Pretty good

  iluvg33ks2005-06-26

  So I just saw this and I do say it was really good. Although I don't quite think someone who's just woken up minus a kidney can do all the fights that Charlie did it's really pretty good. It did stray a few times from the good path-it tried to make itself unpredictable and different, and I think it probably would have faired better if they didn't do that. I especially disliked the ending, up until the end I was quite enjoying the movie (if only for Miguel Ferrer being half naked for half the film.) I did think that for being married before the film Miguel and Leilani seemed to lack some passion, Miguel seemed very distracted during the love scenes (the only one that he has any excuse for was the one where he's supposed to be driving at the same time...). The very Dallas-esquire ending definitely messed with the movie and I think it would have most definitely faired better if it simply ended right then and there without continuing on past Charlie adding in the last lines of the script.

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• A well done thriller, if not improbable.

  Stu-51999-02-01

  A screenwriter goes to Mexico and gets his kidney stolen! Along the way, searching for that appendage which did a vanishing act, he meets a girl and they have a sexual liaison. It all spells trouble with a capital T, as he finds out that his other kidney is about to be targeted! Miguel Ferrer, a lesser known supporting actor whom you may of seen in such flops as "Another Stakeout", "Royce", "The Stand" and "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me", does a great job as the smitten man frantically searching for the nabber of his kidney. Another woman, dubiously surnamed "Ferrer" as well, plays the sexual interest. She was the lesbian offsider also in Basic Instinct, this girl surely does get around! Going from ice-pick crazy millionaire lesbian to kidney stealing enthusiast is a leap at both ends of the spectrum. The intrigue builds through a plot that develops relatively devoid of action, and builds up to an abrupt climax which halts the film. But, I found myself strangely drawn to the movie. I liked it, I really did! I hope that Miguel Ferrer makes something of himself, because seeing someone of his acting calibre would be very satisfying. Eight out of ten.

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