Toxic Masculinity Tuesday: ‘Judgment Night’ (1993)

A few years ago, a study came out and women were surprised that men spent time thinking about the Roman Empire. According to some, men are attracted to the overt masculinity of an empire that conquered their enemies, invented such wonders as the aqueducts, along with marveling at its grand architecture and structures. 

Women would also be surprised how much men fantasize about putting themselves in dangerous situations. We often wonder if we have what it takes to survive on desert islands, or to be lost at sea. We fantasize how we would clean up the streets if we became vigilantes or if we would have survived the storming of Normandy.

Judgment Night is a movie that asks if four men can survive the desolate Chicago streets after witnessing a murder by a vicious gang who relentlessly hunts them down. 

***Spoilers***

And I can’t be the only red-blooded male who has contemplated a situation like Judgment Night. Boasting an all-star cast of Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Stephen Dorff, and Jeremy Piven, the movie is about four lifelong friends who finally find the time to spend one night out at a boxing match. Estevez portrays the main protagonist named Frank Wyatt, a man who has left the city and settled down in the suburbs with a wife and newborn child.

His best friends Ray and Mike, played by Piven and Cuba, are a wife’s worst nightmare. They are still stuck in their college phase and are excited to pull their married friend out for the night. Stephen Dorf plays John, Frank’s hot-headed little brother, who joins the trio as a last-minute fill-in for a friend that could not make it.

 Judgment Night spends a good portion of the first act setting up each character and where they were in that part of their lives. It is insinuated that Frank was a tough guy in his past when his brother picked a fight while stuck in traffic yet, instead of jumping in, Frank breaks up the fight and chastises his brother to grow up. Frank left his troubled past behind him to be a better father and a husband. There is a sense that maturity is one of the underlying themes of the movie, as many of the protagonist have to do so as the night progresses. 

Ray is a corporate man who is consumed by his quest for status, luxury and wealth, while Mike, who mocks Frank for going soft, is a grown-up frat boy; more interested in partying and chasing women than maturing.

It’s an eclectic group of men who are thrust into a dangerous situation none were prepared for. When Ray takes a detour to get out of traffic to make it to the fight on time, the route takes them into a seedy and desolate part of town. So basically Chicago. The men drink and party, watching the preliminary fights on satellite dish until they become hopelessly lost. Ray becomes distracted looking for a map, remember those, and accidently hits a man named Ted.

To the group’s credit, all but Ray try and aid Ted even when they realize he was shot and carrying a bag of bloody money. Ted begs for their help which prompts the group to search for a way out of the labyrinthine streets and that is when the movie takes a dangerous turn.

MTV alum, Denis Leary plays Fallon, a gang leader who pursues Ted for stealing his money. After their vehicle is incapacitated by Fallon and his gang, the group can only watch as Fallon callously executes Ted in cold blood, and that act sets the entire plot of Judgment Night in motion. Fallon lives by strict rules: one is to not steal from him, and another is to not leave witnesses.

This forces Frank and his friends to flee into the city while Fallon and his hardened men give chase. Each man in Frank’s group has their mettle tested as Fallon is relentless in his pursuit, and they struggle to find help in that section of the city. Judgment Night is a study in male bravado, cowardice, and lifestyle choices as previously tough-guy John begins to crack under the pressure, while Ray’s posh condition makes him more of a burden than an asset.

Frank becomes the backbone of the group as he has the most to lose with a wife and newborn waiting for him at home. And this is a great plot device, as it is that love for his family that becomes Frank’s strength. He is the most determined to survive that night that keeps getting darker and more dangerous as the men flee through larcenous vagrants and gang-controlled projects in the dead of the night.

The movie even deftly touches on how modern comforts have made men naïve and soft. When the group finally finds someone who will help and contacts the police, Ray is shocked to find that they would not go to that particular neighborhood. After waiting for over ten minutes with no response, Ray even turns the one weapon they have against his friends because he refuses to face the reality of the dangerous situation they were in.

The circumstances of that judgment night test the fortitude of the four men, and they all have to face what adversity has proven them to be, and most don’t like what they see. 

Fallon is an interesting antagonist as he endlessly pursues the men throughout the desolate streets. But it’s not just his strict adherence to his rules. Fallon is insulted by the men’s presence. He abhors their suburban elegance and intrusion into his business as they flee through the grime and streets he feels belong to him.

There is a very poignant scene where Ray tries to negotiate the lives of he and his friends, and we see Fallon lose his cool for the first time in the movie. It is apparent that he seeks to kill the men not just because of the rules but for their audacity to enter his sphere of influence.

Judgment Night is a fun movie to watch because it reflects how most men would react if they were put into a life or death situation. Supposed tough guys would crumble. Others would wilt, while even more would crack from the intense pressure. We all like to believe we would be the Frank of the group, but Judgment Night is telling the audience that is not the case.

This, of course, will have men fantasizing about what they need to do to become Roman strong as Frank which begins with the strength of the nuclear family. Frank is only that strong because he wants to see and be there for his family again, and unfortunately, that is a very toxic message in modern America.

You can watch Judgment Night for free on YouTube, but I prefer watching it on Tubi.

And check out my video where you can hear me say what you just read!

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