Charlene Andrews (Monica Carrico) is a masseuse among other things. She falls for seventeen year old Danny Hicks (Eric Stoltz). He's convicted of killing his father and sentence to death. She becomes his pen pal as he reminds her of a boy she used to know. He manages to escape and shows up at her doorstep. She has been harassed by corrupt cop Tom Bond (Richard Bradford). There's a struggle when he shows up and Bond is killed. Hicks is heading for family in Arizona and the couple is followed by a vengeful investigator.There are some weak stuff here. The writing is poor and there is an overall low quality about almost everything. The escape from the police is weak. Charlene and Tom Bond should be scary but it gets too silly. The saving graces are the two leads, Monica Carrico and Eric Stoltz. Stoltz would go on to bigger better things. Carrico is a relative unknown but she has real charisma. Writer/director Mark Griffiths never rose too high for a reason. This is more like a TV-movie thriller.

Naïve young teen Danny Hicks (a fine and engaging performance by Eric Stoltz in his first starring role) gets sent to prison for killing his father. However, Danny manages to escape from police custody and hooks up with the brash and spunky Charlene Andrews (a winningly sexy and vivacious performance by the beautiful Monica Carrico), a smitten prostitute who was Danny's pen pal while he was in jail. The pair go on the lam with fearsome and vengeful cop Officer Trent (expertly played to the ruthless hilt by Stuart Margolin) in dogged pursuit. Writer/director Mark Griffiths relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, stages the action scenes with skill and flair, wrings a good deal of touching pathos from the doomed central romance, grounds the narrative in a plausibly sordid everyday world, and puts a nifty spin on the couple on the run premise by presenting the woman as older and more worldly while the younger male is a virginal innocent. Moreover, Griffiths warrants extra praise not only for his vivid evocation of the obscure seedy areas of American culture (seamy massage parlors, dingy roadside motels, remote watering holes, and so on), but also for not wrapping everything up all nice and pretty at the startling and realistic downbeat conclusion. The sound acting by the able cast keeps the picture on track: Stoltz and Carrico display a strong and appealing chemistry in the leads, with ace support from Richard Bradford as slimy TV news broadcaster Tom Bond, Virgil Frye as sleazy pimp Ross, Sorrells Pickard as a wily ex-con, Juliette Cummins as Danny's little sister, and Ben Hammer as Danny's abusive pedophile father. The lively score by Al Capps does the rousing trick. Tom Richmond's crisp cinematography provides an impressive polished look. A real sleeper.

Sentenced to death for the murder of his abusive father, 17-year-old Danny (Eric Stoltz) escapes from the cops on his way to San Quentin and hides out with Charlene (Monica Carrico), a 30-year-old prostitute who has been sending Danny love letters in jail. The duo head to Arizona so Danny can see his sister one more time, but they don't know that one of the cops Danny escaped from is hellbent on getting his revenge. Wow, this was an incredible surprise. Director Mark (HARDBODIES) Griffiths made his debut with this and it is far removed from his T&A comedy hit. This is a pretty grim and relentlessly sleazy effort that is cinematic kin to flicks like OUT OF BOUNDS. What really makes it work are the two lead performances and some really odd supporting characters who feel like they stepped out of a pulpy novel. The film also packs one hell of an ending. Carrico is the real surprise here, a spunky combination of Elizabeth Daily and Caroline Williams. There is a totally bizarre scene where she starts to get it on with her sugar daddy while wearing a Richard Nixon mask. It is a shame she didn't do any more movies. Also highly recommended for some great desert locations and if you want to ogle some great 80s decor.

Saw this on TV late one night during the '80s (yep, it's one of those) recorded it, and then stupidly erased it. Never seen it on the box since, unfortunately. It's the type of film that you see, and cannot possibly guess the ending. The plot summary explains the story concisely, so I won't add to it.Catch it somewhere sometime.