F/X
Tags: suspenseful, murder, violence

Plot synopsis:
Roland "Rollie" Tyler is hired by the Justice Department to stage the murder of mob informant Nicholas DeFranco. DeFranco is set to testify against his former Mafia bosses and go into witness protection, but the Justice Department is afraid he will be killed before the trial. Tyler rigs a gun with blanks and fixes DeFranco up with radio transmitters and fake blood packs to simulate bullet hits. The Justice Department supervisor on the case, Edward Mason, asks Tyler to be the "assassin" wearing a disguise. He is paid $30,000 and assured by Mason that he is "100% protected".
DeFranco wears Tyler's rig to an Italian restaurant and the public "assassination" goes flawlessly. When Tyler is picked up by the Justice agent in charge, Lipton, the agent tries to shoot him. In the struggle for Lipton's gun, the driver is killed and the car crashes, allowing Tyler to escape. He contacts Mason, who instructs him to wait for other agents to take him to a safe location. Another man thought to be Tyler is killed by the agents and he retreats to his girlfriend Ellen's apartment. In the morning, Ellen is shot and killed by a sniper aiming for Tyler. Tyler kills the sniper after a fight when he enters the apartment to finish the job.
Manhattan homicide detective Leo McCarthy becomes interested in the case because he has been pursuing DeFranco for years. He discovers that the assassination was faked and that Mason planned it. When he is suspended by his captain for his reckless methods, McCarthy manages to steal his boss's badge and gun.
Using an elaborate phone prank, Tyler brings Lipton out in the open and kidnaps him in his official car. He stuffs Lipton into the trunk and takes him on a rough ride to get Mason's address out of him, believing that DeFranco is hiding there. Tyler steals back his impounded van with the help of his assistant and escapes following a chase through Lower Manhattan with McCarthy's partner. Tyler goes to Mason's mansion where, using his special effects expertise, he kills Mason's guards. McCarthy arrives and seeing two dead guards at the gate, he alerts the State Police.
Mason and DeFranco figure out that Tyler has found them. DeFranco shoots out several windows in Mason's study and Tyler falls through one of the windows, appearing to be dead. Mason and DeFranco try to leave the house when a helicopter arrives, but DeFranco receives an electric shock when he touches the metal screen on an outside door, rigged by Tyler. The shock disrupts DeFranco's pacemaker. Before he dies of heart failure, Mason coerces and takes from him a key to a Swiss safe deposit box containing the funds DeFranco stole from the Mafia.
Mason prepares to escape, but is surprised by the appearance of Tyler, who points an Uzi submachine gun at him. Mason tries to bribe Tyler with the key, proposing that they split the money, but urging immediate departure. Tyler places the gun on a table and tells Mason that the plan won't work. Mason picks up the gun and demands the key back. Tyler shows Mason the bullets for the gun and a tube of Krazy Glue. With the gun glued to Mason's hands, Tyler shoves him out the front door. Misinterpreting his action of walking towards them, yet making pleas that "It's a mistake", he is shot by the police.
Tyler's "body" is found and taken to the morgue. He gets out of the body bag, removes the makeup simulating death and jumps out a window to escape. He is confronted by McCarthy. The film ends with Tyler impersonating DeFranco at the bank in Geneva and retrieving the $15 million in Mafia funds, after which he and McCarthy make a getaway with the cash.

Review: It's a good, suspenseful movie with nice effects, a decent story, and some good performances (except for the girl who plays the effects assistant, though she's not on-screen a lot).
Bryan Brown plays Roland Tyler, a freelance special effects artist who seeks revenge after some shady Justice Department guys set him up to be the fall guy in a staged execution they had hired him to pull off.
Brian Dennehy doesn't enter the film until nearly forty minutes into the picture, but once he does, he's as good as always, even if his character just sort of moves from place to place and effortlessly picks up clues along the way.
Cliff DeYoung does his usual weasel villain, though he mysteriously vanishes from the film without explanation, and Jerry Orbach is good in a supporting role as the mobster whose execution is staged.
F/X is an entertaining little movie with a fair amount of suspense and some good action.
F/X is a great movie because of the idea of a special effects artist trying to get himself out of a mess.
FBI agents (Cliff De Young, Mason Adams), ask Rollie to help him to make a setup for hide a mobster named DeFranco (Jerry Orbach) about to enter the Witness Program of Recolocation and Protection .
When the agency double cross him on the staging the fake assassination Rollie finds himself embroiled in a deadly cover-up and he uses his special effects to trap the corrupt agents .
As far as the story goes , it involves a bigger scale of corruption in the law enforcement circle .Entertaining but typical 1980's-type action thriller that has great potential as is fast-paced and well acted film .
It has Inspector Dennehy and FX wizard Brown in fine form , and good secondaries Diane Venora, Joe Grifasi , Cliff De Young, Jery Orbach , some involved on corrupt business ; furthermore Angela Basset film debut .
He and Brian Dennehy make a great pair, although they don't appear together until the end of the film.Refreshingly original and highly recommendable..
Brian Dennehy is always fun to watch, and his "gruff-but-still-likable" persona was never better-suited to a role than here - he's the only one (except for one assistant) who has a clue, literally and figuratively, of the shenanigans occurring and besetting poor Rollie (Brown).
A movie special effects man is running for his life in "F/X," a 1986 film starring Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Jerry Orbach, and Mason Adams.
Strangely enough, the movie also features two actresses from my alma mater, Diana Venora and Josie de Guzman.Rollie Tyler (Brown) takes on a rush job for the government - they want it to look as if their primo informant (Orbach) has been murdered to take the danger out of getting him to the courtroom and protecting him afterward.
But like Rollie's work, things aren't what they seem, and Rollie finds himself on the run.Despite its name, F/X isn't a big movie, and the special effects are things you can see on any television show.
Brian Dennehy plays a rogue cop - he's funny and effective, and the late Jerry Orbach, whose career spanned stage, films, and television, is the perfect mob informant.F/X inspired a television show of the same name starring Cameron Daddo and also a sequel.
Special-Effects: Always Fun. This was an excellent thriller, a story that grabs and holds you all the way.
Bryan Brown plays the good-guy "Rollie Tyler" while Cliff De Young and Mason Adams are the bad guys.
Brian Dennehy plays his usual profane, tough cop role and Diane Venora is kind of unmemorable, to be honest, as Rollie's girlfriend.The inventive story is the best part of this film, which was even more interesting when it came out because ever since James Bond, "special effects" were still something pretty new to most of us movie viewers and it was fascinating to see how certain things are rigged.
Nowadays, special effects are something that seems to be a normal part of movie-watching, although "cool" gadgets are always fun.
Brown stars as Rollie Tyler, a special effects genius who is hired to help fake the death of a mobster, Orbach, who's going into a witness protection program.
The effects man is played by BRYAN BROWN and he meets the task with the enthusiasm he would for his film work until things go sour and hee gets paired with a cop named ROLLIE played by BRAIN DENNEHY.
Beautiful scenery and that 'tall' looking cinema scope effect at the movie's ending.I recommend to those who like action, mystery and the 80's too.
Special effects (F/X) are always entertaining, as is the cast including Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy, who are always believable, in a clever, quick-witted movie.Robert Mandell never lets anything get out of hand, which he very easily could have given the nature of the film.
New York City crime boss, soon to go on trial against his cohorts, needs to be eliminated via simulation to distract the Mob; two government agents enlist the aid of a special effects movie-wizard to set up a phony assassination--though the 30 G's they pay him consequently includes the movie-man also pulling the trigger.
The first act is fairly intriguing, but things quickly begin to unravel after the plot has been hatched and by the end there are plot holes big enough to drive a semi-truck through.Bryan Brown never quite finds his footing as our supposed hero, and then suddenly the film shoves Brian Dennehy into the mix and Brown's character suddenly finds himself in a timeshare that serves to undermine not only his character, but the entire story.The final act fails to tie the whole conspiracy up in a satisfying way, and the end is flat-out ridiculous.
This '80s crime drama is centred on Rollie Tyler; a movie special effects man who has been approached by a member of the US Justice Department to make it appear that a mafia boss, who is due to give evidence has been publicly murdered.
While he investigates from the police side Rollie is using his special effects skills to evade capture and close in on those who want him dead.This film does show its age at times but it is still a lot of fun.
Bryan Brown is solid as protagonist Rollie Tyler and Brian Dennehy impressed as Lt. McCarthy; it was surprising that these two leads didn't meet for most of the film.
At least as an FX expert, you assume he can do just about anything with special effects.Consequently, the action was good, the story was fine and the acting was adequate.
Personally, I felt that the acting job by Brian Dennehey was exceptionally good and I felt he stole the show.I would have liked to have seen a little tighter ending.
Brown (the star) and Dennehy (introduced later in the film, but who ends up being more of a co-star) turn in very good performances (especially Dennehy, who has made quite a few movies work by his presence).
To be sure though, he and Brown were cast very well in the lead roles and the supporting cast (with little exception) all helped in taking a strong script and turning it into a truly great film.
There is no replacement for Bryan Brown or Brian Dennehy as Rollie and Leo..
Roland Tyler (Bryan Brown) is a movies special effects master.
If you haven't seen it the story is a Special Effects guy is asked by the government to help fake a former Mob members death so the Mob stops going after him.
I agree there is some action here , but personally I think this movie is more of a thriller.The idea for the story is very original - a special effects expert gets involved with a police and mafia .
"F/X" is a great love letter for all those special effects guys (and girls) that were some kind of magicians in the past , when computers weren't involved in creating the movie magic."F/X" feels like "Home alone" for adults.
Bryan Brown ("Cocktail") is great as Rollie , the main hero .He's got a down to earth, normal guy attitude that makes us like him.
Movie special effects man Roland Tyler (Bryan Brown) is hired by two Justice Dept agents (Cliff DeYoung and Mason Adams) to fake the killing of a mobster (Jerry Orbach!) who's in the Witness Protection Program.
Soon Roland has the FBI AND the NY police led by Lt. Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) on his tail...but he has plenty of special effects (F/X) tricks to fool them.If you stop to think about this for one moment the plot has HUGE loopholes and some of the F/X Roland pulls off could never happen in real life...but the movie is SO entertaining you won't care!
Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy star in F/X , which turned out to be a fine, inventively sophisticated on-the-run thriller with some outstanding make-up FX work, rock solid performances and compelling writing in which a highly regarded special effects artist Rollie Tyler is hired by the justice department to stage an assassination of an important underworld figure.
Its a gripping movie and the suspense keeps up through out Bryan Brown makes an engaging and down to earth hero the FX tricks are pretty cool if a little silly at times.
Brian Denehhey is as ever reliable in the supporting role whats surprising is that I didn't realise how little time Brown and Denehhey appear together on screen in this film.The main cast returned for a sequel which was entertaining but not as good as the first.Definitely worth a watch 7.5/10.
The cast was great and watching Bryan Brown in one of his best films do the special effects thing was great.
The best way to appreciate it (and this is obvious very early in the film) is to simply throw disbelief to the wind and settle back to enjoy watching movie special effects (F/X) wizard Bryan Brown use his trade to evade corrupt government agents who want him dead to remove all evidence ofbut why go on?
F/X is a strange little thriller about a superb special effects maestro (Barry Brown) on the run from two FBI agents, who double crossed him after they recruited him to use SFX wizardry for the Witness Protection Act.
Great Special effects movie!.
In short, F/X is the type of unpretentious, engaging film that could never be made by a Michael Bay or most of the other directors produced out of the Jerry Bruckhiemer.The film's main strength comes from the cast who all seem to be having a good time on screen and bring a surprising sense of conviction to roles that could easily have been played as B-movie stereotypes.
Bryan Brown is one of those charismatic, obviously talented leading men who rarely gives a bad performance yet for whatever reason (though making movies like "Cocktail" probably didn't help) has never become a bona fide star.
The rest of the cast is full of character actors who all turn in nicely quirky performances with the standouts being Diane Venora who is sweet as Brown's girlfriend (whose ultimate fate if predictable is also well handled and rather sad), Cliff De Young who gives perhaps his best variation on his standard Yuppie henchman role in this film, Joe Grifasi as Dennehey's put upon partner, Mason Adams who perfectly captures the essence of everyone's kindly but kinda strange uncle, and the great Jerry Orbach who, playing a mobster with an all-important pace maker, overacts as if the world depending on it but is still a lot of fun to watch because, after all, he's Jerry Orbach.
Performances in the film ran both ends of the spectrum, Megginson carried the movie well as the slick and clever Rollie.
On the opposite end, Rollie's right hand girl Andy (played by Gehman) was poor, some of her lines were painfully delivered.F/X took a novel idea and turned it into a great suspense film.
Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy are old pros who could sleepwalk through roles like these and their presence gives the film added value.
It's a well-known fact that a rivalry has existed between New York and Hollywood, virtually since the first images flickered across a large screen, and that the myth has always been upheld that good movies can only be made with any sense of professionalism or competence in L.A. If F/X didn't finally put that lie to rest, then no other film would, but we all know how that turned out...A Hitchcock-flavored vehicle for hot Aussie heartthrob Bryan Brown, his charm, good looks and machismo are used to maximum advantage to portray special effects whiz Rollie Tyler, who is hired to stage a murder by the guys at Witness Protection, to  enable former gangland kingpin Nicholas DeFranco to testify before a Grand Jury against his one-time associates.
In the finest tradition of anything the Master of Suspense ever did, special effects are used as a metaphor for all of the characters and situations that Rollie encounters throughout the film.
Brian Dennehy gets one of his first breakout roles as the cantankerous but canny detective Leo McCarthy, who is one of the first people to navigate the twists and turns of what's happening (eagle-eyed viewers will remember his role as Chevy Chase's partner in the '70's comedy/mystery FOUL PLAY); seasoned stage vet Jerry Orbach (TV's LAW AND ORDER) makes a fine cad as mob boss DeFranco; Mason Adams (TV's LOU GRANT) and Cliff De Young are also terrific as the not-so-intrepid government guys.Diane Venora (WOLFEN) gives a much more fleshed-out portrayal of Rollie's actress/girlfriend Ellen Keith than what was probably on the script page, and Martha Gehman as Rollie's assistant/sidekick Andy gives a quirky, naturalistic performance that would seem out of place anywhere else, but works fine here.Even the bit parts are rendered by some of the best character actors to be plucked from the Big Apple's talent pool: Jossie De Guzman, (whose on-screen chemistry with Dennehy would be criminally wasted in the so-so sequel); Joe Grifasi as McCarthy's partner, Mickey; Roscoe Orman as Leo's gruff boss, Capt.
Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown), special effects genius, is hired by the FBI to use his expertise in a setup to fake the death of mobster Nicholas DeFranco, who they claim is going to be their informant.
Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown), special effects genius, is hired by the FBI to use his expertise in a setup to fake the death of mobster Nicholas DeFranco, who they claim is going to be their informant.
The movie has some pretty good action and chase sequences, and the finale is a cool idea as Rollie Tyler has to use some clever special effects to put a stop to enemies.
The movie has some pretty good action and chase sequences, and the finale is a cool idea as Rollie Tyler has to use some clever special effects to put a stop to enemies.
If you enjoy this movie, you'd probably like the sequel, F/X 2, which is quite similar, using the story of Rollie Tyler being set up for another mysterious cop scheme.
If you enjoy this movie, you'd probably like the sequel, F/X 2, which is quite similar, using the story of Rollie Tyler being set up for another mysterious cop scheme.
Finally, the transformation of Brian Dennehy's character into just another corrupt cop left me with a distinct sour taste at the end of the movie.
The protagonist, Rollie, is a top tier movie special effects artist and is recruited by the FBI to help stage an assassination to more easily place a person into witness protection.
Rollie not only ends up in a leading role of his own real yet fake movie stunt but gets more than he bargained for.
F/X is one of the few Movies from the 80's that I remember because of it's inventive premise.It Stars Aussie Actor Bryan Brown (An actor who never really made it to the big-time) who plays Special FX Expert Rollie Tyler who works on various Low Budget Slashers and becomes well known to the Department of Justice which hires him to perform a fake assassination of a Gangster on the Witness protection Program (Law & Order's late Jerry Orbach)...But things very quickly become complicated as Tyler finds he's being double crossed by the very people who hired him (Mason Adams & Cliff De Young)Co-Starring Brian Dennehy as the veteran cop Leo McCarthy who tries to find out who killed who and why.It was a minor hit on it's original release back in '86 and was followed by a Sequel in '91 and a TV series from '96-'98.***1/2 out of *****.
Rollie Tyler is a special effects expert who is approached by the Justice Department to stage a fake assassination of a big-time mobster turned informant.
Bryan Brown is a special effects expert hired by federal agents Cliff De Young and Mason Adams to arrange a phony execution for the state's valuable witness against the mob.
Rollie (Bryan Brown) is an F/X specialist who is approached by the DOJ to help fake the death of Nicolas DeFranco (portrayed by the Awesome Jerry Orbach), who has turned DOJ informant against the mob.
That's because the film is based around the special effects industry, with main star Bryan Brown playing a top-rate FX artist drawn into a sinister murder plot involving a top gangster.Brown begins the film by being set up and then forced to go on the run from the police, led by Brian Dennehy sporting one heck of a fuzzy moustache.
Fun comes from Brown using his special effects expertise to fight the villains, with various illusions, pyrotechnics, and disguises brought into play.
Great latter day film noir/ mystery flick has an arrogant special effects man Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown) in NYC being hired by the FBI to fake the death of a mob informant.