Flashback Soundtrack

Inspired casting puts sparks in this comedy of counterculture clash between an aging 1960s radical and a buttoned-down FBI agent. Dennis Hopper plays an Abbie Hoffman-esque sixties activist and prankster who lands in the custody of a conservative young agent (a suitably uptight Kiefer Sutherland) and proceeds to literally unravel the agent's carefully constructed front through a series of slippery mind games. Hopper has a blast as the unreformed sixties relic, and Carol Kane is delightful as a hippie holdout who puts both men back in touch with their identities. There are few surprises, plenty of heart, and even a little sentiment in this story of rebellion and the legacy of the counterculture. The soundtrack is gilded with well-chosen 1960s anthems. --Sean Axmaker