Revenge

It's hard to think of anything that could have been more the opposite of "Field of Dreams" than Kevin Costner's latest film, "Revenge," for which he is credited as executive producer as well as star.

Besides being a violent action-thriller, "Revenge" is also angry, mean-spirited, nasty, downbeat and pretty painful to sit through.

Written by first-time screenwriter Jim Harrison (the film is based on his novella) and Jeffrey Fiskin ("Crackers," "The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper"), and directed by Tony Scott ("Top Gun," "Beverly Hills Cop II"), "Revenge" is glossy but it's also loaded with movie cliches and elephantine plot holes.

The story, which itself rings familiar and is extremely predictable, has Kevin Costner visiting his old friend Anthony Quinn in Mexico where Quinn is a mobster kingpin manipulating local politics. Quinn has a young wife (Madeleine Stowe, of "Stakeout"), Costner falls in love with her, they run off. . . . and Quinn naturally turns on his old friend. And his wife.

First it's Quinn seeking revenge on Costner, as he tracks them down, beats them savagely — slicing open Stowe's face in the process — and places Stowe in a house of prostitution. Then the bulk of the film has the barely alive Costner wreaking vengeance on Quinn as he searches for Stowe.

"Revenge" opens with a peculiar sequence that looks like it's right out of Scott's "Top Gun," with Costner hotdogging an Air Force jet in the desert just before he retires after 12 years in the service.

Costner then heads down to see buddy Quinn. The believability of their relationship is strained and never adequately explained. This despite fine performances by both stars.

Costner has developed an easy, casual rapport with the audience, and he's sufficiently intense here. Quinn is, of course, one of the screen's larger-than-life presences, which serves him well in this setting.

And though she really has little to do, Stowe is also a charming performer who redeems herself.

But the material doesn't serve any of them well. The action scenes are violent and gruesome, dark and brooding. The romance is contrived and easy when it should be threatening and tense. And ultimately the entire film just rings hollow, like a story being told with no details.

Worse, what interesting characters do show up are almost immediately dispatched.

Halfway through the film, veteran character actor James Gammon shows up and threatens to save the picture, but he doesn't hang on long enough. Then Sally Kirkland has a flamboyant role as a rock floozy and sets the screen ablaze, but her appearance is also brief. Finally, Miguel Ferrer shows up to help Costner, but, despite a fine turn, he's too late to help the picture.

"Revenge," rated R for extreme violence, profanity, sex, nudity and drugs, is one of those movies that might have looked exciting on paper — but I doubt it.

As a film, it's a boring exercise in mindless violence with a downbeat ending that is probably supposed to feel profound. It feels instead like a waste.