Theme Song:
“Let It Go” is attributed to Mark Hood and Richard Lyon in the closing credits, but also notes that Richie Havens appears. This is a pretty good 80s-era soft ballad.
“Closing Credits Song” Based on the credit listing it’s possible this is called “Your Eyes” performed by Le BEATO Music.
Social Context: Probably loosely inspired by the real-life story of William Timothy Kirk and Mary Pentecost Evans, whose prison-escape-via-lawyer made headlines in 1983.
Summary: A trio of greasy brothers is wasting their days drinking codeine and trying to score Dilaudid when they decide to rob a pharmacy, but things go awry and they kill a cop in the process. The youngest brother, Bobby (Gary McCleery, The Killing of Randy Webster) is a juvenile and ends up in jail awaiting trial as the judicial system decides if he’ll be tried as an adult.
Enter Laura, a social worker representing some type of juvenile rehabilitation program who wants to help Bobby get better conditions in jail and get him back on the streets. After spinning her wheels a bit, she decides to go do casual cocaine with her drug dealer friend Don (John Sayles) and then, with little foreshadowing and almost an hour into the movie, decides to break Bobby out of jail.
Don must have endless resources because he helps them get a plane and escape to Florida. But of course, it can’t last as Don pressures Laura for sex and Bobby stupidly mails a letter home with his return address on the envelope resulting in an ensuing police siege.
Worth Mentioning:
– There is a very heavy DIY vibe running through this movie. The locations, including the prison, look super-authentic, and a lot of the performances are sweaty and sensitive, including nice turns by Sayles, John Steitz as an over-involved Sheriff, J.T. Walsh as a caring guard, and Spalding Gray as Bobby’s lawyer.
– Directed by Rick King who was a co-writer and producer on Point Break.
Poster and Box Art: Hard Choices suffers from an unremarkable release poster.
Unfortunately, it also suffered from an unremarkable home video cover as well.
