Next of Kin (1989) on Netflix
R19891h 48mActionCrimeThriller
Truman Gates, a Chicago detective from Kentucky, learns that his younger brother Gerald was killed when hijackers took the truck he was driving. Their older brother Briar insists on a blood feud.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb5.9/1012,637 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes50%
Trailer
Plot summary
Truman Gates was raised in Appalachia and moved to Chicago, where he became a police detective. His wife, Jessie, is a violinist and music teacher. Truman persuaded his younger brother Gerald to take work in the city as a truck driver. Back home in Kentucky, their older brother Briar has struggled since the coal mine closed and resents Truman for leaving. John Isabella, who heads a Chicago crime family, is bringing his son Lawrence into the business, grooming him over Joey Rosselini, who expected to lead it. When a vending company truck is hijacked, Gerald, who is driving it, is killed. Truman returns to Kentucky for the funeral, and Briar insists on a mountain blood feud.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Next of Kin (1989)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Production contributed to a Satanic panic in Eastern Kentucky when members of the Hazard community contacted the police chief of Jackson, Kentucky about 20 black dresses bought from a local department store, presumably for a satanic ritual; they were repurposed as cloth for movie lighting.
- In Sweden the film was retitled Dirty Fighting, in English, to capitalize on Patrick Swayze's earlier success with Dirty Dancing.
- Siskel and Ebert included the film in their "Worst of 1989" episode of At the Movies: Roger Ebert called the scene of women preparing lunch for the men getting ready for combat "desperation time at the old screenwriting factory", and Gene Siskel mocked the climactic bow and arrow fight.
- At the 10th Golden Raspberry Awards Swayze was nominated as Worst Actor for this film and for Road House, losing to William Shatner in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
