In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory (1997) Lori Loughlin, Bruce Campbell, Brad Sullivan, Susanna Thompson Movie Review

In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory (1997)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Bruce Campbell in In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory (1997)

In a Blaze of Bonnie & Clyde

Former marine Jeff Erickson (Bruce Campbell) and his chemist wife Jill (Lori Loughlin) have turned to a life of crime as a modern day Bonnie & Clyde, getting off on the excitement of robbing banks, learning as they go when they get things wrong. On their tale is FBI agent Tom LaSalle (Bradley WHitford) who is struggling to track them down as their bank jobs get bigger and bigger.

So here we go again with another "In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory" in the series of "In the Line of Duty" TV movies which means we are also in "based on a true story" territory as well. The thing is that whilst "In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory" might be based on a true story it feels pretty much like any TV movie about a couple who robs banks and have the authorities hunting them down. It has nothing other than maybe the appeal of the lead actors to make it stand out from the crowd.

Lori Loughlin in In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory (1997)

So as I said "In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory" feels like many a movie about a bank robbing couple and it works through some familiar elements of this sort of movie. We see that Jeff & Jill's life of crime leads to them always trying to stage a bigger than last one robbery partly because they need to feel their sepnding habits but also fill the need for excitement they get when they pull off a bank job. At the same time we also see with every column inch they get it swells their egos and causes issues for the FBI.

The most interesting aspect of this is how Jill becomes addicted to the adrenalin rush and leads to withdrawal symptoms, unrest and doing strange things at night when she can't sleep. Sadly whilst it is interesting to see how Jill becomes addicted and leads the story off on an interesting tangent it never really gets the development it needs to be more than just a minor distraction

Aside from that the only thing which stands out about "In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory" is the appeal of Bruce Campbell and Lori Loughlin who look good together as Jeff & Jill. But whilst they might be visually appealing the depth of character and initial motivation is never there, never really developed. And as for Bradley Whitford he doesn't bring enough immediacy to the character of FBI agent Tom LaSalle which sadly means the characters in this end up ordinary and thinly written.

What this all boils down to is that "In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory" is a solid movie from this series which dramatizes a true story of a Bonnie & Clyde couple. But there is nothing which makes it any better than any other movie about a bank robbing duo.


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