LIBERTY OR DEATH

A pregnant bride who’s been stood up at the altar is bound to be mad, and Thea Kozak (Death in Paradise, 2000, etc.) comes charging out of her abortive nuptials ready to kill the worthies of the Katahdin Constitutional Militia who’ve taken her bridegroom, State Trooper Andre Lemieux hostage. He’s intended as a bargaining chip for the release of imprisoned activist Jed Harding, who shot up the office of the Veterans Administration functionary when he refused to approve finds for treating the spina bifida Jed’s convinced Agent Orange gave his little boy Lyle. But Thea’s rage is all wrong for runaway battered wife Dora McCusick, the identity Andre’s boss, Lt. Jack Leonard, has arranged for her to assume in Merchantville, reputed militia capital of Maine. In her job as a waitress at Mother Theresa’s restaurant, Thea’s not supposed to do anything but act mousy and scared as she reacts to all the bullies around her. Fortunately, there are more than enough bullies, from her boss, hard-nosed Theresa McGrath, to troglodyte regular Roy Belcher to the sinister Rev. Stuart Hanson, to keep her reacting. Now if only she can keep a lid on her mouth and her temper—while getting beaten, kicked, shot, locked up, and turned inside out—until she figures out why Jed Harding doesn’t want to get sprung from jail.

Hollywood alert: Thea’s believable combination of anger, fear, and physical suffering makes her a natural role for Sylvester Stallone’s kid sister, as long as you don’t mind her interrupting every action sequence to assure you that she’s not really that kind of girl.