REVIEW: Wisdom

101. Wisdom


1987's Wisdom is the directorial debut of Emilio Estevez. It made him the youngest person to star in, write and direct a major motion picture.

It tells the story of John Wisdom, a young man just out of college. A conviction on a count of grand theft auto has branded him a felon and made him unable to get a decent job. Instead, he bounces around from one minimum wage job to the next. After getting fired from his job at a local burger joint, a report on the news leads to him having an epiphany. He sees the financial struggles that people are having and decides to play modern day Robin Hood. Only he's not robbing banks, he's torching their mortgage and loan records in an attempt to set people free of their debts.

Wisdom is just a decent movie. It's genuinely nothing spectacular. Estevez is solid except for a few scenes where he plays the drama a bit too over the top. He's trying a bit too hard in these scenes and it shows. Support is provided by Demi Moore, Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright. Moore looks stunning here, helping to remind me of how big a crush I had on her in the 90s. Her performance is good, as Wisdom's girlfriend who joins him on the lam. There's also a cameo performance from Estevez' brother Charlie Sheen that made me laugh a bit.

My biggest complaint with the movie concerns the end. I won't spoil it for anyone but I will just say that it was a silly twist that happened far too often in the 80s. I'd seen this movie on VHS years ago and had somehow managed to forget that in the ensuing years. I can see why I did.

Overall, Wisdom is a decent movie. It's entertaining but nothing worth getting worked up over. If you're a fan of Estevez or Moore, it might be worth checking out.