Backfire (1988 film)

Backfire
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gilbert Cates
Written by	Larry Brand Rebecca Reynolds
Produced by	Danton Rissner
Starring	Karen Allen Keith Carradine Jeff Fahey Bernie Casey Dean Paul Martin
Cinematography	Tak Fujimoto
Edited by	Melvin Shapiro
Music by	David Shire
Distributed by	ITC Entertainment
Release date	June 21, 1988 (1988-06-21)
Running time	90 minutes
Countries	United States Canada
Language	English

Backfire is a 1988 mystery-thriller film about a murderous love triangle which forms between an affluent Vietnam War veteran, his wife, and another man. The film was directed by Gilbert Cates, and stars Karen Allen, Keith Carradine, Dean Paul Martin and Jeff Fahey. The film is dedicated to Martin, who died in a plane crash before the film was released.

Filmed in 1987 an planned to be released to theatres, it instead premiered on Showtime in June of 1989. Los Angeles Times critic Chris Willman stated: "cable seems like just the right resting place for such a dully salacious effort."^[1]

Mara is married to Vietnam veteran Donny, who has horrible visions and nightmares of his combat experiences. She is having an affair with Jake. The lives of all are disrupted when she meets a mysterious stranger, Reed, who became her new lover.

• Keith Carradine as Reed
• Karen Allen as Mara
• Jeff Fahey as Donny
• Dean Paul Martin as Jake
• Bernie Casey as Clinton
• Dinah Manoff as Jill Tyson

• Backfire at IMDb
• Backfire at the TCM Movie Database
• Backfire at AllMovie
• Backfire at Rotten Tomatoes