"Sweating Bullets" (1991) Série TV 1991-1993

Note des utilisateurs:

7.9/10   

Creator:

Sam Egan

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

8 avril 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drame

Plot:

Nick Slaughter, an ex-RCMP and DEA agent, who had dropped out of society after being fired from his job...

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Bar | Canadian Expatriate | Ex Cop | Tropical Resort

Avis des utilisateurs:

Fortunately It Got Better After the First Season

Ensemble

Rob Stewart	...	Nick Slaughter (75 episodes, 1991-1993)
Carolyn Dunn	...	Sylvie Girard (75 episodes, 1991-1993)
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Lt. Carillo (75 episodes, 1991-1993)
Ian Tracey	...	Spider Garvin (43 episodes, 1992-1993)
John David Bland	...	Ian Stewart (39 episodes, 1991-1993)

Autre(s) titre(s):

"Tropical Heat"
"Un privé sous les tropiques" (France) [fr]

Durée:

USA:60 min (66 episodes)

Pays:

Canada

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur

Son:

Stereo

Classification:

Iceland:16

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Eilat, Israel

Company:

IO International

Movie Connections:

Followed by Criss Cross (1996/I)

Fortunately It Got Better After the First Season

First off, if you hated season one of "Tropical Heat" a/k/a Sweating Bullets" don't completely write off the show. It was one of those rare times a show actually got better in its second and third seasons. Yet even the lame first season included the catchy reggae theme song "Anyway the Wind Blows" and the two stars (Rob Stewart and Carolyn Dunn) playing off each others as only total opposites can. Steward plays maverick ex-DEA agent Nick Slaughter who moves to one of the Florida Keys and starts a detective agency. Dunn plays his buttoned- down travel agent business partner Sylvie Gerard.

It is an uneasy partnership. Swarthy Nick is laid back, likes to party, and is not particularly keen on working. Sylvie is a burn-don't tan redhead, a brittle uptight computer nerd who disapproves of Nick's lifestyle. When Nick is busy chasing anything in skirts, Sylvie keeps her focus on agency cash flow. Of course Dunn is far hotter than any of the women Nick is constantly dogging so there is an undercurrent of frustrated attraction between the two; hidden beneath their constant put-downs.

The discerning viewer will quickly spot certain production design issues. The series was filmed in Israel, not on location in the Florida Keys and they just didn't have enough of a budget to effectively disguise a vaguely foreign feeling. But once you know this it is possible to suspend disbelief and just concentrate on the characters.

Even stranger than the vaguely off-kilter setting are Season One's choice of guest actresses. Both "Tropical Heat" and its counterpart "Silk Stalkings" targeted the male demographic. "Silk Stalkings" was perceptive enough to cast really hot young actresses for each episode, with more concern about their exploitation potential than their acting ability. But for some strange reason "Tropical Heat" filled these roles with the most average looking collection of women you are likely to find this side of your local DVM line.

Your basic acting-for-the-camera class has three tiers of would-be actress. The hot first tier: actresses who look good enough that their acting skills are a bonus, not a necessity. The bottom tier: dogs, pigs, and elephants who can find work in character roles if they look strange enough. The middle tier: girls who need extraordinary acting skills because they look so ordinary, and even those should give serious thought to cooking school. For its first season "Tropical Heat's" hired exclusively from the middle tier (plus a few of their mothers); and disqualified those who received "C" or better grades. And they wonder why these things are not more popular.

Season one writing is also pretty weak although the Nick-Sylvie exchanges are usually entertaining and appear to have been written by someone who knew what they were doing; apparently the rest of the script writing fell to the second team.

The Season One DVD (which contains most of the Season Two episodes as well) is cheap in both cost and quality. It is viewable but there is no supplemental material and navigation is extremely basic.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.