1998 film by Ernest Dickerson
Ambushed is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by Ernest Dickerson and starring Courtney B. Vance.[1] The film has also been classified as African American noir.[2]
Premise
The leader of a Ku Klux Klan lodge is shot dead and his son is taken into police custody for protection. The police car taking him to a safe house is ambushed and three police officers are shot dead. Officer Jerry Robinson is accused of the murders.[3]
Cast
- Courtney B. Vance as Jerry Robinson
- Jeremy Lelliott as Eric Natter
- Virginia Madsen as Lucy Monroe
- William Forsythe as Mike Organski
- David Keith as Deputy Lawrence
- Bill Nunn as Watts Fatboy
- Charles Hallahan as Sheriff Carter
- Robert Patrick as Shannon Herrold
- William Sadler as Jim Natter
- Carl Espy as Deputy Bean
- Scott Hinson as Deputy Dunbar
- William Flaman as Tom
- J. Michael Hunter as Mintz
- Scott Simpson as Richter
- Don Hall as Billy Dean
- Travis Stanberry as Danny
- Jim Grimshaw as Officer Newfield
- Ernest Dickerson Jr. as J.J. Robinson
- Kenya Bennett as Diner Waitress
- April Turner as Connie Jackson
- Richard K. Olsen as Motel Manager
- Lou Criscuolo as Man in Bathrobe
- Nora Cook as Nancy Richter
- Nina Repeta as Mary Natter
- Samantha Agnoff as Karen Natter
- Dale Frye as Aryan #1
- Lex Geddings as Aryan #2
- Jackie Dickerson as Store Clerk
Production
Filming for Ambushed took place in North Carolina, with some filming occurring at the Orton Plantation.[4]
Release
Ambushed premiered on HBO on June 26, 1998.[5]
Themes
William Covey has classified this film, along with Across 110th Street, Deep Cover, Detroit 9000, The Glass Shield, and Devil in a Blue Dress as examples of films that "locate crime and criminality within white culture, while the moral center of each film is marked by black male heroism."[6]
Reception
Ambushed received reviews from The Chucks Connection and TV Guide, the latter of which called it " boisterous but none too convincing. ... Short on logic and long on polemics, this pumped-up action pic dashes to a predictable, preordained conclusion."[7][8] The Guardian was more favorable, noting that "his unfussy, effective approach augurs well for his directorial career".[9]
References
- ^ "Ambushed (1998) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
- ^ Historical Dictionary of Film Noir. Scarecrow Press. 19 March 2010. ISBN 9780810873780.
- ^ Ambushed (1998), retrieved 2016-12-28
- ^ Henderson, Jenny (2017-07-21). The North Carolina Filmography: Over 2000 Film and Television Works Made in the State, 1905 through 2000. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5545-4.
- ^ "TV Listings". The Journal News (Newspapers.com). June 20, 1998.
- ^ COVEY, WILLIAM (2003). "The Genre Don't Know Where It Came From: African American Neo-Noir Since the 1960s". Journal of Film and Video. 55 (2/3): 59–72. JSTOR 20688414 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "Ambushed". TVGuide.com.
- ^ "Ambushed (review)". The Chucks Connection.
- ^ "Ambushed (review)". The Guardian (Newspapers.com). November 13, 1998.
External links
