Turk 182
Encyclopedia
Turk 182! is a 1985 film
starring Timothy Hutton
, Robert Urich
, Kim Cattrall
, Robert Culp
and Peter Boyle
. It is also one of the first movies to receive a PG-13 rating.
Terry Lynch (Robert Urich
), lives with his 20-year old brother Jimmy (Timothy Hutton
) in New York City
. They've spent most of their lives taking care of each other as both of their parents are deceased. Terry, while off duty, rushes from a neighborhood bar into an apartment fire to rescue a young girl when firefighters inadverdently aim the fire hose at him. The force of the stream pushes Terry, with the child in his arms, through a window and some 40 feet down, landing flat on his back on the roof of a parked car. The girl is uninjured, but Terry is seriously hurt.
Six months later, and after countless rejections from welfare, workers' compensation and many others, Jimmy decides to go to City Hall with the letters to show to Mayor Tyler (Robert Culp
). But when the Mayor himself rebukes him, calling Terry a drunk, Jimmy promptly sneaks into the mayor's office and pastes the letters all over the walls of the Mayor's office while security is diverted by a fire set in a nearby office bathroom.
Believing Terry was behind the vandalism (Terry's name was on all the letters), the police, led by Lieutenant Ryan (Peter Boyle
), a badge-heavy
bully and Tyler's chief security officer, come to Hooly's, the brothers' hangout, to arrest Terry. When Terry, drunk and high on prescription pills, takes a swing at Ryan, he roughs Terry up while Jimmy is clubbed by another officer when he tries to help. After posting Terry's bail at the police station, Jimmy learns that Terry is in Blake Memorial Hospital in a body cast after a suicide attempt. It's at the police station that Jimmy first meets Danielle "Danny" Boudreau (Kim Cattrall
), a social worker assigned to Terry's case.
Jimmy decides to again visit the Mayor, so he goes to Battery Park where the Mayor is giving an anti-graffiti speech. He tries to accost the Mayor again, but is pushed away by police. After seeing the Mayor unveil a giant apple, which slowly revolves to show handiwork by vandals saying "Zimmerman Flew, Tyler Knew", all to the delight of protesters at the speech, Jimmy is inspired to start a campaign of his own.
Tom Zimmerman, former Public Works Commissioner, had fled the country to avoid trial for an unspecified crime. The Daily News
ran a story implying that Mayor Tyler not only knew of Zimmerman's fleeing, but masterminded it, referring to Tyler's ordering Zimmerman's trial to be rescheduled for after the election; Tyler denies all knowledge and responsibility. Armed with this knowledge, Jimmy begins his war of wits and words by, among other things:
Jimmy's resolve to embarrass Mayor Tyler broadens to the point where he begins leaving his mark in numerous places, all the while capturing the imagination of the entire city's population, most of whom revere Turk as a hero. But Jimmy soon develops an ulterior motive for his actions: impressing Danny. When Jimmy and Danny return to his apartment from the Giants game, Jimmy decides to go back out for pizza. In the meantime, Danny does some exploring in Jimmy and Terry's apartment, looking through photo albums in the brothers' keepsake trunk. She comes across an award for Terry with a nameplate engraved with Terry's nickname, "Turk". When Danny finds Terry's fireman's cap with badge number 182 on it, she quickly makes the connection, and her friendship with Jimmy soon becomes much, much closer.
Police detective Kowalski (Darren McGavin
) opens up a case file on "Turk 182", and Jimmy, with help from Danny, pleads guilty to papering the Mayor's office and gets off with just a nominal fine. Jimmy and Danny then go visit Terry in the hospital, who subliminally tells Jimmy that he's going to attempt to kill himself again once he is cut out of his body cast.
After spotting Kowalski and Ryan waiting outside his apartment, Jimmy decides to go to the Daily News and reveal his identity of Turk. When he and Danny arrive at the Daily News offices they find themselves waiting in line behind several other colorful characters all claiming to be Turk. Just as Jimmy is about to leave in exasperation he is intercepted by a TV reporter who suggests that Jimmy, if he really is Turk, allow himself to be interviewed on camera. The TV station later reveals Turk's true identity on the air, but the anchor erroneously describes Jimmy as a disgruntled civil servant seeking a pension. Angered that his taped interview was not aired, and that he's being made out to be a nut case, Jimmy decides to put Turk to rest once and for all, but he tells no one, not even Danny, what his final act will be.
Jimmy decides to go all out, making his final appearance as Turk when Mayor Tyler appears at a dedication for the 75th anniversary of the Queensboro Bridge. Lieutenant Ryan, his job now on the line after the football stadium debacle, clamps down security on and around the bridge in preparation of the ceremony. With all local media on hand, the mayor throws the switch lighting up the bridge sign. The lettering, which is supposed to say "Queensboro 1909 1984", instead reads gibberish; Jimmy, disguised in an electrical worker's uniform with safety harness, is up on the sign changing the words.
All hell breaks loose when spotlights catch Jimmy on the bridge sign, and the crowd begins to get excited at Turk's presence, chanting "Turk! Turk! Turk!" much to Mayor Tyler's mortification. All TV stations interrupt regular programming to cover the incident live. Despite a SWAT team on its way, Ryan dispatches all police to climb up in the rigging to catch and arrest Jimmy, but they're unable to reach him; Jimmy greased all the lower girders on the bridge.
At the hospital, Danny and Detective Kowalski are with Terry when a group of patients come clamoring in with a television tuned to a station showing Jimmy on the bridge. The station then shows Jimmy's interview at the Daily News. Now focusing on his brother's safety rather than his own troubles, Terry gets up on his crutches and, with Danny and Kowalski in tow, goes to the Queensboro Bridge to get Jimmy down. Mayor Tyler catches a part of Jimmy's interview as well. Seeing that it was "that kid", Tyler can only turn away from the TV set in total defeat.
Still frustrated in efforts to stop Jimmy, an undaunted Lieutenant Ryan goes to the bridge power source and orders the sign turned off. But when the bridge foreman, citing union and safety issues, refuses to comply, Ryan draws his gun and opens fire on the controls, knocking the power off. After Ryan leaves, the foreman turns on the auxiliary power. Determined to get Jimmy one way or another, Ryan climbs aboard a high-rise forklift and, when in range, starts shooting at Jimmy himself. Kowalski, having arrived with Danny and Terry moments earlier, goes up to the forklift and disables the hydraulics, knocking Ryan unconscious. Jimmy, now unhindered, completes his task, and connects the power cable to the 25-foot-high letters which now read "TURK 182", all to the wild cheering of the crowd and the TV audiences.
Amid the cheering, Mayor Tyler says to Deputy Mayor Hanley, "As soon as he (Jimmy) gets down we're gonna find him and tell him we've been rooting for him the whole time!"
. Turk 182 received two Razzie Award nominations, Worst Supporting Actor for Robert Urich
and Worst Musical Score.
makes an early career appearance in a very minor role, though he does have some dialogue. Chaykin and Hutton would later co-star in A&E
's Nero Wolfe
mysteries. Chaykin was credited in Turk as "Man In Wheelchair".
Actor James Tolkan
, who portrayed Deputy Mayor Hanley, would later be a semi-regular player in the A&E Nero Wolfe series.
Real-life TV news anchor Roger Grimsby
makes a cameo appearance during the Bridge incident.
Actor Paul Sorvino
appears as himself in the football stadium scene, and impersonates Howard Cosell
after Turk "shows up" at the stadium.
The tag "Turk 182" was based on real-life graffiti artist TAKI 183
.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Timothy Hutton
Timothy Hutton
Timothy Tarquin Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People . He currently stars as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT series Leverage.-Early life:Timothy...
, Robert Urich
Robert Urich
Robert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
, Kim Cattrall
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
, Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
and Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
. It is also one of the first movies to receive a PG-13 rating.
Film synopsis
34-year-old firefighterFirefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
Terry Lynch (Robert Urich
Robert Urich
Robert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
), lives with his 20-year old brother Jimmy (Timothy Hutton
Timothy Hutton
Timothy Tarquin Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People . He currently stars as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT series Leverage.-Early life:Timothy...
) in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. They've spent most of their lives taking care of each other as both of their parents are deceased. Terry, while off duty, rushes from a neighborhood bar into an apartment fire to rescue a young girl when firefighters inadverdently aim the fire hose at him. The force of the stream pushes Terry, with the child in his arms, through a window and some 40 feet down, landing flat on his back on the roof of a parked car. The girl is uninjured, but Terry is seriously hurt.
Six months later, and after countless rejections from welfare, workers' compensation and many others, Jimmy decides to go to City Hall with the letters to show to Mayor Tyler (Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
). But when the Mayor himself rebukes him, calling Terry a drunk, Jimmy promptly sneaks into the mayor's office and pastes the letters all over the walls of the Mayor's office while security is diverted by a fire set in a nearby office bathroom.
Believing Terry was behind the vandalism (Terry's name was on all the letters), the police, led by Lieutenant Ryan (Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
), a badge-heavy
Police misconduct
Police misconduct refers to inappropriate actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Police misconduct can lead to a miscarriage of justice and sometimes involves discrimination...
bully and Tyler's chief security officer, come to Hooly's, the brothers' hangout, to arrest Terry. When Terry, drunk and high on prescription pills, takes a swing at Ryan, he roughs Terry up while Jimmy is clubbed by another officer when he tries to help. After posting Terry's bail at the police station, Jimmy learns that Terry is in Blake Memorial Hospital in a body cast after a suicide attempt. It's at the police station that Jimmy first meets Danielle "Danny" Boudreau (Kim Cattrall
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
), a social worker assigned to Terry's case.
Jimmy decides to again visit the Mayor, so he goes to Battery Park where the Mayor is giving an anti-graffiti speech. He tries to accost the Mayor again, but is pushed away by police. After seeing the Mayor unveil a giant apple, which slowly revolves to show handiwork by vandals saying "Zimmerman Flew, Tyler Knew", all to the delight of protesters at the speech, Jimmy is inspired to start a campaign of his own.
Tom Zimmerman, former Public Works Commissioner, had fled the country to avoid trial for an unspecified crime. The Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
ran a story implying that Mayor Tyler not only knew of Zimmerman's fleeing, but masterminded it, referring to Tyler's ordering Zimmerman's trial to be rescheduled for after the election; Tyler denies all knowledge and responsibility. Armed with this knowledge, Jimmy begins his war of wits and words by, among other things:
- Leaving his mark on a supposedly graffiti-proof subway car to be used by Mayor Tyler in an anti-vandalism campaign.
- Surreptitiously exchanging an airplane banner ad for one that says "Tyler Knew! Turk 182!".
- Hacking into a scoreboard computer (with the help of a friend) at Giants StadiumGiants StadiumGiants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
during halftime of a football game at which Mayor Tyler (and New York's governor) make an appearance.
Jimmy's resolve to embarrass Mayor Tyler broadens to the point where he begins leaving his mark in numerous places, all the while capturing the imagination of the entire city's population, most of whom revere Turk as a hero. But Jimmy soon develops an ulterior motive for his actions: impressing Danny. When Jimmy and Danny return to his apartment from the Giants game, Jimmy decides to go back out for pizza. In the meantime, Danny does some exploring in Jimmy and Terry's apartment, looking through photo albums in the brothers' keepsake trunk. She comes across an award for Terry with a nameplate engraved with Terry's nickname, "Turk". When Danny finds Terry's fireman's cap with badge number 182 on it, she quickly makes the connection, and her friendship with Jimmy soon becomes much, much closer.
Police detective Kowalski (Darren McGavin
Darren McGavin
Darren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
) opens up a case file on "Turk 182", and Jimmy, with help from Danny, pleads guilty to papering the Mayor's office and gets off with just a nominal fine. Jimmy and Danny then go visit Terry in the hospital, who subliminally tells Jimmy that he's going to attempt to kill himself again once he is cut out of his body cast.
After spotting Kowalski and Ryan waiting outside his apartment, Jimmy decides to go to the Daily News and reveal his identity of Turk. When he and Danny arrive at the Daily News offices they find themselves waiting in line behind several other colorful characters all claiming to be Turk. Just as Jimmy is about to leave in exasperation he is intercepted by a TV reporter who suggests that Jimmy, if he really is Turk, allow himself to be interviewed on camera. The TV station later reveals Turk's true identity on the air, but the anchor erroneously describes Jimmy as a disgruntled civil servant seeking a pension. Angered that his taped interview was not aired, and that he's being made out to be a nut case, Jimmy decides to put Turk to rest once and for all, but he tells no one, not even Danny, what his final act will be.
Jimmy decides to go all out, making his final appearance as Turk when Mayor Tyler appears at a dedication for the 75th anniversary of the Queensboro Bridge. Lieutenant Ryan, his job now on the line after the football stadium debacle, clamps down security on and around the bridge in preparation of the ceremony. With all local media on hand, the mayor throws the switch lighting up the bridge sign. The lettering, which is supposed to say "Queensboro 1909 1984", instead reads gibberish; Jimmy, disguised in an electrical worker's uniform with safety harness, is up on the sign changing the words.
All hell breaks loose when spotlights catch Jimmy on the bridge sign, and the crowd begins to get excited at Turk's presence, chanting "Turk! Turk! Turk!" much to Mayor Tyler's mortification. All TV stations interrupt regular programming to cover the incident live. Despite a SWAT team on its way, Ryan dispatches all police to climb up in the rigging to catch and arrest Jimmy, but they're unable to reach him; Jimmy greased all the lower girders on the bridge.
At the hospital, Danny and Detective Kowalski are with Terry when a group of patients come clamoring in with a television tuned to a station showing Jimmy on the bridge. The station then shows Jimmy's interview at the Daily News. Now focusing on his brother's safety rather than his own troubles, Terry gets up on his crutches and, with Danny and Kowalski in tow, goes to the Queensboro Bridge to get Jimmy down. Mayor Tyler catches a part of Jimmy's interview as well. Seeing that it was "that kid", Tyler can only turn away from the TV set in total defeat.
Still frustrated in efforts to stop Jimmy, an undaunted Lieutenant Ryan goes to the bridge power source and orders the sign turned off. But when the bridge foreman, citing union and safety issues, refuses to comply, Ryan draws his gun and opens fire on the controls, knocking the power off. After Ryan leaves, the foreman turns on the auxiliary power. Determined to get Jimmy one way or another, Ryan climbs aboard a high-rise forklift and, when in range, starts shooting at Jimmy himself. Kowalski, having arrived with Danny and Terry moments earlier, goes up to the forklift and disables the hydraulics, knocking Ryan unconscious. Jimmy, now unhindered, completes his task, and connects the power cable to the 25-foot-high letters which now read "TURK 182", all to the wild cheering of the crowd and the TV audiences.
Amid the cheering, Mayor Tyler says to Deputy Mayor Hanley, "As soon as he (Jimmy) gets down we're gonna find him and tell him we've been rooting for him the whole time!"
Reception
The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, holding it with a 20% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Turk 182 received two Razzie Award nominations, Worst Supporting Actor for Robert Urich
Robert Urich
Robert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
and Worst Musical Score.
Production notes
Actor Maury ChaykinMaury Chaykin
Maury Alan Chaykin was an American-born Canadian actor. Best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, he was also known for his work as a character actor in many films and on television programs.-Personal life:...
makes an early career appearance in a very minor role, though he does have some dialogue. Chaykin and Hutton would later co-star in A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
's Nero Wolfe
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
A Nero Wolfe Mystery is a television series adapted from Rex Stout's classic series of detective stories that aired for two seasons on the A&E Network. Set in New York City in the early 1950s, the stylized period drama stars Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin...
mysteries. Chaykin was credited in Turk as "Man In Wheelchair".
Actor James Tolkan
James Tolkan
James S. Tolkan is an American actor, often cast as a strict, overbearing, bald-headed authority figure.-Personal life:He was born in Calumet, Michigan, the son of Ralph M. Tolkan, a cattle dealer, and attended the University of Iowa, Coe College, the Actors Studio and Eastern Arizona College...
, who portrayed Deputy Mayor Hanley, would later be a semi-regular player in the A&E Nero Wolfe series.
Real-life TV news anchor Roger Grimsby
Roger Grimsby
Roger Grimsby was an American journalist, television news anchor and actor. Grimsby is known as one of the pioneers of local television broadcast news.-Early life:...
makes a cameo appearance during the Bridge incident.
Actor Paul Sorvino
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
appears as himself in the football stadium scene, and impersonates Howard Cosell
Howard Cosell
Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...
after Turk "shows up" at the stadium.
The tag "Turk 182" was based on real-life graffiti artist TAKI 183
TAKI 183
TAKI 183 was one of the most influential graffiti writers in its history. His "tag" was short for Demetaki, a Greek alternative for his birth-name Demetrius, and the number 183 came from his address on 183rd Street in Washington Heights...
.