The Park is Mine (1985)

Dir:  Steven Hilliard Stern

After the suicide of a fellow Vietnam vet, Mitch (Tommy Lee Jones BLACK MOON RISING) receives a letter from the dead man. The letter contains a key and a curious note about a plan to take over New York's Central Park. Following up on the letter, Mitch discovers a cache of weapons and learns that explosive devices are already in place around the park. Committing himself to the plan his friend could not follow through with, Mitch prepares to hold the park for 72 hours as a protest.

One should always carry a MG to a protest

As the protest is to be peaceful, Mitch alerts the authorities of his intent to give them time to clear out a police station located in the park. He then blows it up real good. Well aware now that Mitch is serious about controlling the park, the park is evacuated and a police cordon set up around the perimeter. The Police Commissioner (Lawrence Dane SCANNERS) and the Deputy Mayor float a story that it is a terrorist organization holding the park. Officer Eubanks (Yaphet Kotto ALIEN) is disgusted by his superior's handling of the event.

Chain smoking veteran reporter Valery (Helen Shaver THE AMITYVILLE HORROR) sneaks past the police line and enters the park with a video camera to learn about the man at the center of the story. Discovered by Mitch, who wishes her no harm, they develop a camaraderie.

Unwilling to wait out Mitch, the authorities send in two mercenaries, one of them is played by Taekwondo master Jong Soo Park, to take him out.

Valery is ready for an interview

Going into the Toronto shot, made for HBO THE PARK IS MINE I thought this was going to be another film in the crazed Vietnam war vet sub-genre. The character of Mitch is troubled, his wife will not have anything to do with him and he can't hold down a job. And anyone who thinks using AK-47s, claymore mines, a M-79 grenade launcher and a machinegun to stage a peaceful protest is a good idea is a few cartridges short of a full magazine. But Mitch's never fully explained protest is more of a cry for help for the common man than the demented ramblings of a soldier exposed to too much agent orange. The reasons for the protest may be better explained in the novel of the same name written by Stephen Peters but the film presents Mitch as having nothing better to do that week so he takes over the park and rambles on about how we mistreat one another when we should be looking out for our neighbour.

Gotta love the Yankees cap

THE PARK IS MINE isn't a deep nor heavy look at one man's reaction to the sad and troubling newspaper headlines (the same headlines one reads today). It also isn't an action heavy exploitationer. Instead it is an above average film with decent performances despite the lack of character development that sticks to the middle.

Tangerine Dream composed the sound track.

**1/2 out of ****