Black Dog (film)
Encyclopedia
Black Dog is a 1998 film about an ex-con manipulated into transporting illegal arms. The film stars Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...

, Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...

, and Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...

.

Plot

The movie first starts out with FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

 and ATF
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...

 agents on a pursuit to stop a truck carrying illegal guns as part of an illegal arms operation. The result is the death of the driver, which leads to a disagreement with FBI and ATF agents on involvement with the case, which carries on throughout the movie. Then comes Jack Crews (Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...

), a truck driver who has just been released from jail for vehicular manslaughter, for accidentally hitting and killing a motorist on the side of the road during a trip in which he experienced a Black Dog
Black dog (ghost)
A black dog is the name given to a being found primarily in the folklores of the British Isles. The black dog is essentially a nocturnal apparition, often said to be associated with the Devil, and its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. It is generally supposed to be larger than a normal...

 hallucination. Along with his imprisonment, he also loses his CDL
Commercial driver's license
A Commercial Driver's License is a driver's license required in the United States to operate any type of vehicle which has a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 lb or more for commercial use, or transports quantities of hazardous materials that require warning placards under Department of...

. Following his release, he attempts to get back to a normal life but this time holds a job as a truck mechanic for a local repair shop in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. He is then offered a job by his manager, Cutler (Graham Beckel
Graham Beckel
Graham S. Beckel is an American character actor. He is known for his prolific guest appearances on television but has had prominent roles in several major films as well. Most recently he played Jack Fisk on Battlestar Galactica and Hal Sanders on Heroes...

) to drive a load of toilets from Atlanta to New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 for $10,000. Crews initially declines the offer, but then finds out that his house will be repossessed unless he pays off his debt. He then changes his mind and takes the job where he flies down to Atlanta to meet up with Red (Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...

), who runs a trucking yard. Red gives Crews a truck to haul the load, and is accompanied on the trip by Earl (Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...

), Sonny (Gabriel Casseus
Gabriel Casseus
Gabriel Casseus is an African-American actor and screenwriter from Roosevelt, New York. He was nominated for Best Debut Performance in the film New Jersey Drive in the Independent Spirit Awards in 1995, and has appeared in the movies Get on the Bus, where he played Jamal, a Muslim enroute to the...

), and Wes (Brian Vincent) for security. As they make their way to New Jersey, Crews experiences several run-ins with Red and his crew as they attempt to hijack the load, in retaliation for the failed negotiations with Cutler about money. During the trip, Crews finds out that his load also contains illegal guns, and that Wes has been informing Red of their whereabouts throughout the trip. Crews also discovers that Sonny is an FBI agent when he is shot and killed by Red during another hijack attempt, and that the FBI has been tracking their whereabouts as well.

Things take a turn for the worse when Cutler takes Crews' wife and daughter hostage to ensure that Crews will complete the job and finish the trip. Despite the numerous attempts from Red to hijack the load, as well as the death of Sonny, Crews manages to survive each attempt. When they make it to Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, Crews now officially knows what the whole plot is and formulates a plan to turn over the guns to the FBI and to get his family back. Wes at this point has gone his separate way, while Earl decides to stay on until the end. Crews puts the FBI tracking device on the truck that Wes is leaving on and eventually the FBI pulls over the truck to realize it is the wrong one. However, Crews is able to speak to Agent Ford (Charles Dutton
Charles Dutton
Charles Dutton may refer to:* Charles S. Dutton, American actor/producer* Charles M. Dutton, Crew Chief Spc. in the Warlords, B-Company of the 123rd Aviation Battalion in the American Division, killed in the Vietnam War...

) who is leading the case on Wes' cell phone. He tells him his plan which is to meet him at a loading dock in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, where he will be meeting with Cutler to exchange the guns for his family. Eventually when the meeting occurs, the FBI shows up and a shootout occurs with Cutler's men. Crews is able to catch Cutler before he can escape and is then turned over to the FBI. Then in the end, the FBI gives Crews his CDL
Commercial driver's license
A Commercial Driver's License is a driver's license required in the United States to operate any type of vehicle which has a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 lb or more for commercial use, or transports quantities of hazardous materials that require warning placards under Department of...

 license back, and also tells Crews that his house won't be foreclosed, in return for his assistance during the operation. He is also given the key to drive the truck one last time to the impound lot. Also, Crews thanks Earl, who was wounded in the shootout between the FBI and Cutler's men, for staying, and in return Earl tells Crews to take care of his dog, Tiny (a pit bull
American Pit Bull Terrier
The American Pit Bull Terrier is a medium-sized, solidly built, short haired dog whose early ancestors came from England and Ireland...

 riding in the trailer as a guard), until he heals and everything is sorted out. As Crews and his family leave the docks for the impound lot, he is intercepted by Red who makes one last attempt at Crews' life, but as they are slamming into each other Red loses control of his truck which then flips over numerous times before getting hit by a Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks Morse and Company was a manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, locomotives and industrial supplies until it was merged in 1958...

 H-12-44 Switching Locomotive and exploding.

Trivia

The truck used in the film is a 1995 Peterbilt
Peterbilt
Peterbilt Motors Company is an American manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty Class 5 through Class 8 trucks headquartered in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1939 Peterbilt operates manufacturing facilities in Denton, Texas , and Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec...

 379
Peterbilt 379
The 379 was Peterbilt's flagship truck from 1987 until the 2007 model year maintaining the nameplate's signature long-nose styling coupled with a rugged edged yet refined profile...

 and a 48 foot Transamerica Leasing Trailer.

Cast

  • Patrick Swayze
    Patrick Swayze
    Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...

     as Jack Crews
  • Randy Travis
    Randy Travis
    Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...

     as Earl
  • Meat Loaf
    Meat Loaf
    Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...

     as Red
  • Gabriel Casseus
    Gabriel Casseus
    Gabriel Casseus is an African-American actor and screenwriter from Roosevelt, New York. He was nominated for Best Debut Performance in the film New Jersey Drive in the Independent Spirit Awards in 1995, and has appeared in the movies Get on the Bus, where he played Jamal, a Muslim enroute to the...

     as Sonny
  • Brian Vincent as Wes
  • Graham Beckel as Cutler
  • Brenda Strong
    Brenda Strong
    Brenda Lee Strong is an American actress and yoga instructor, known for her roles as as Capt. Deladier in the 1997 hit movie Starship Troopers and Mary Alice Young on the television show Desperate Housewives....

     as Melanie Crews
  • Rusty DeWees as Junior
  • Cyril O'Reilly as Vince
  • Erin Broderick as Tracy Crews
  • Charles S. Dutton
    Charles S. Dutton
    Charles Stanley Dutton is an American stage, film, and television actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles as "Fortune" in the film Rudy and "Dillon" in Alien 3...

     as Agent Alan Ford (as Charles Dutton)
  • Stephen Tobolowsky
    Stephen Tobolowsky
    Stephen Harold Tobolowsky is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, as well as portraying Commissioner Hugo Jarry in Deadwood for nine episodes and Bob Bishop in Heroes for eleven episodes over the second and third seasons...

    as ATF Agent McClaren
  • Lorraine Toussaint as Avery, FBI
  • Hester Hargett as FBI Tech
  • Stuart Greer as Weight Station Trooper
  • Whitt Brantley as Weight Station Trooper
  • Elizabeth Jaye Moore as Linda
  • Mark Steven Robison as Truck Driver

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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