After 42 years, I finally watched Against All Odds (2 stars on 0-5 scale), the romantic neo-noir thriller directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward and James Woods. I recall seeing the VHS box cover hundreds of times at Blockbuster when I was young, but I never rented it.

The film is famous for the superb, Oscar-nominated tune by Phil Collins. The song deserved a better movie.

A remake of Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past (3 ¼ stars), Against All Odds begins promisingly, with an interesting setup, great chemistry between the leads and nice location work. But a rushed romance and a meandering, overly complicated plot rob the film of momentum and clarity. I simply stopped caring for these people. (And why is Ward’s character British when everyone else, including her mother, is American?)

It got me thinking: What other disappointing movies had a great song? I’m not talking about below-average movies with great soundtracks. There are lots of those. I’m referring to a dissatisfying flick with a wonderful theme/title song (or single song that dominated the pic).

Some obvious choices are Xanadu (“Xanadu” by Olivia Newton-John and ELO), Mahogany (“Theme from Mahogany: Do You Know Where You’re Going To?” by Diana Ross), Top Gun (“Take My Breath Away” by Berlin) and Flash Gordon (“Flash” by Queen). What others come to mind? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

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