Black Dog
1998  PG-13  ACTION  1h 29min
CAST— Patrick Swayze, Randy Travis, Meat Loaf, Steven Tobolowsky, Charles Dutton
MUSIC— George S. Clinton  DIRECTOR— Kevin Hooks

     Legend has it that when a trucker gets too greedy, when he thinks that life on the road is the easy road to money, a black dog, the black dog, comes to take it all away. Patrick Swayze plays Jack Crews, an ex-trucker who now is forced into one more haul. A few years back he was drowsy behind the wheel of his rig, jerked awake and swerved, accidentally killing two people. He saw the dog. He was sent to prison for vehicular manslaughter, his truck-driving license revoked. Now, after his release, his house is in danger of foreclosure. But it just so happens that his boss has offered him a job that would pay enough to pay off their debt. One more load. Georgia to New Jersey. But after picking up the load (toilets, of all things), Jack soon learns that there’s something more important than crappers back there, and the man in Georgia who was holding the load, Red (played by a “biblical”, holier-than-thou Meat Loaf!), wants to hi-jack the load at any and all costs. Get ready for some surprisingly good action and acting in this film that, more often than not, hits a bulls-eye. It’s true honky-tonk, red-neckin’ action that “Mack” and “Peterbilt”! Can I get a 10-4 good-buddy?
OUR RATING— ** ½