A story about uncontrollable passion and desire that forces two people to act upon impulses they know they should put aside but they cannot control their true feelings, and act with reckless abandon. Madelaine Stowe is the lovely lady in an unfulfilling marriage to Tibby Mendez (Anthony Quinn) that Jay, Costner's character, almost immediately falls in love with. Tibby belongs to the Mexican underworld, probably a drug king-pin, and befriends Jay who saved Tibby's life in a hunting accident. When Tibby invites Jay to spend a few weeks at his estate in Mexico, he never imagined Jay would attempt to steal his lovely young wife.

This is a solid story, with strong characters, and fine acting all around. However, understand what this film is not. This is not a 'date movie', and not a 'happy' story, but it does indeed reflect real life, and how things do not always end up rosy in the end, or the way we want them. It simply tells a good story, something many films never seem to accomplish, and we get to come along for the ride. It's racy, violent, passionate and moving all wrapped into one. I felt an understanding of the love, pain, betrayal and yes the need for revenge. It was entertaining and an epic portrayal of love and pain.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Fighter pilot Michael 'Jay' Cochran (Kevin Costner) retires after 12 years in the Navy. He visits powerful Mexican businessman Tiburon 'Tibby' Mendez (Anthony Quinn). He saved Tibby's life once during a hunting trip. Tibby is reputed to be a crime boss but he dismisses that. Tibby is possessive of his young wife Miryea (Madeleine Stowe). His right hand man Cesar and Jay don't get along. Jay has an affair with Miryea and the murderous Tibby finds out.

Kevin Costner is wrong as Jay. It would work if Kevin Costner is a much darker actor. He's too much of an aw shucks guy. The man isn't an idiot or blind. He has to be self-destructive for what he does. The character may be written that way but Costner doesn't have it in him to pull it off. This is basically a bad romance novel with great people involved. The second half tries to be a hard-boiled revenge movie. The action isn't big enough. This isn't good enough.

Jim Harrison's novel, which I haven't read, may have been better than the film. In a novel, the writer can get into somebody's head in a way that he can't in a script. Whatever is going on inside the skull, the cogs and wheels and whirligigs, has to be given some overt expression in a movie. You have to see him do something to figure out what he's thinking.

It's almost always a problem, minor in the case of pulp literature, but insurmountable in complex works like "Lolita" or "Ulysses." The problem is important, I would guess, in "Revenge" too. For instance, Kevin Costner is a Naval aviator who is quitting after twelve years of service. I have no idea why. He mumbles something about being bored or wanting time for himself, but what the hell does that mean? Flying got to be too routine a job after all that time? Not enough time, by the way, for a pension. He certainly has comradeship. His fellow fliers shower him with gifts when he leaves. And aviators are one of those groups that have an excess of pride, like cops and doctors. I didn't get it.

I also didn't know what was going on for much of the rest of the story because its understanding depends on our knowing what Costner feels about people and events -- and he doesn't talk much, just shuffles and makes adolescent small talk.

How did he meet Anthony Quinn? Quinn says Costner once saved his life during a hunting trip, and they seem to be old pals who love each other, but what's the back story? Costner meets Quinn's wife, the startingly beautiful and sexy Madeleine Stowe, who is half Quinn's age. It may come as a surprise to Costner and Stowe when, without much in the way of preamble, they lock the door, throw themselves on the bed and begin rutting like two ferrets in heat, but it's no surprise to the viewer.

The pair run away together. Costner seems to feel a little reluctant, but only at the beginning, to be taking off with the wife of his close friend, who obviously loves her. Stowe shows no such doubt. Yet, Mexico, where Quinn is a kind of Godfather figure who murders someone who disses him, is a Latin culture where masculinity and honor are taken seriously. What can this miscreant pair be thinking? One hopes they enjoyed their illicit sexual interlude. It's not very explicit, by the way. It runs along the lines of soft-core porn with lots of see-through curtains, pastel drapes slowly billowing in the breeze, and plenty of candles. One hopes they enjoyed it because Quinn's revenge is swift and brutal. Costner is beaten half to death and flung off a bluff. Stowe has her face scarred for life, is given to a whorehouse, and is turned into a junky. (I think; the scenes are a little confusing.) Costner recovers and the best part of the film follows. He's taken in by a couple of strangers who minister to him and his needs. He's no longer the glamorous Navy pilot. He's broke, bruised, unshaven, dressed in rags, and drives an old clunker. We're taken on a tour of the more louche dives in small Mexican towns and for a moment it looks like Sam Pekinpah might be lurking in the shadows somewhere. During this sojourn, Costner shows he can murder unarmed men just as easily as Quinn did. Nothing is made of either murder. They're forgotten.

At the final confrontation, the resolution of the conflict between Costner and Quinn is as bloodless as possible. (Only one man gets blown to bits by a shotgun.) Bonus points for that. The usual template is a shootout with a gang of greaseballs wielding ugly automatic weapons in an abandoned warehouse and all the rest of it.

Quinn gets his honor back. Costner keeps his life but loses Stowe. She was kind of flighty and impulsive anyway. Emma Bovary would have fit into the role.

It's not a terrible movie. Stowe is stunning, and very little of the narrative is predictable. Nobody would ask that every motive be spelled out, but, gee, there are a lot of gaps in this plot.