What else can I say about a movie like this? I have seen millions of variations of movies with numerous car chases, crash scenes, villians who, for some pointless reason, are all religious, ex-cons just trying to make it good, people who you can't trust, etc. All of this and not much more are in "Black Dog." The movie stars Patrick Swayze as the ex-con(who was convicted of something that really wasn't his fault), who, since his release, has gone on to maintain a fairly successful life in New Jersey with his wife and their teenage daughter. Unfortunately, the husband and wife are short of money, and the only way they can keep their house is if Patrick goes to work. Luckily, he has found a job driving trucks in Georgia. This is pretty much where the movie begins to get confusing, as he unknowingly becomes a part of some gun-smuggling ring, is pursued by a bunch of cars that are much smaller than his truck(nevertheless, they like to bump into it and bug him), and basically, he and his fellow drivers become on the run from some bad guy. Of course, his fellow drivers aren't so good themselves, and now he can trust nobody. To top everything off, the FBI somehow gets on his tail, and they begin to target his wife and daughter at home, which bugs him even more. What's a guy to do? Well, like most B-movie heroes, Patrick keeps a clear head. Of course he is a good fighter and a quick thinker, and this proves him well. There are numerous deaths and car crashes that don't add to the drama, and everybody's personalities get worse and worse, until there are only a couple of good guys left. But we don't really get to know much about how good they are. "Black Dog" relies so heavily on action and car chases that it tends to forget that there are people that drive these cars. Well, even the worst of movies usually have some bright spots, and "Black Dog" has a few, such as a rather good performance by the lad who played "Sonny." Patrick Swayze is alright as the action hero, and he even has a couple of good scenes when he is talking with "Sonny" and one with Randy Travis. Nevertheless, it's really not much of a movie.I expect to see it air in the late night showings of "HBO", but I am not sure if I would want to watch it again.
