The Dead Pool (1988)

Preceeded by: Sudden Impact (1983)

	Directed by: Buddy Van Horn	COUNTRY USA GENRE Action/Thriller/Crime NORWEGIAN TITLE Dirty Harry og dødsspillet RUNNING TIME 91 minutes
	Produced by: David Valdes
	Written by: Steve Sharon

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Inspector Harry Callahan	Clint Eastwood	½
Samantha Walker	Patricia Clarkson	½
Peter Swan	Liam Neeson	½
Inspector Al Quan	Even C. Kim
Harlan Rook	David Hunt
Captain Donnelly	Michael Currie	-
Lieutenant Ackerman	Michael Goodwin	-
Johnny Squares	Jim Carrey	-

Review

The fifth and final Dirty Harry movie largely represents a return to the mood and tension of the 1971 original. And it's also to some degree a return to form for Harry Callahan – which means that he went out with a little bang, instead of the fizzle of his previous two entries. The Dead Pool is a crisp and fairly inventive action-thriller with a clever premise which takes small jabs at everything from sensationalist media to the movie industry's predilection for violence, and it's all both quite enjoyable and surprisingly fresh. There are engaging supporting performances from a youngish trio of Patricia Clarkson, Liam Neeson and Jim Carrey. The movie also boasts a delightfully silly R/C car chase, which is great fun, but incidentally also works as the run-up to a somewhat uninspired ending in which the filmmakers cannot avoid playing into the series' own hyperbole.