In John Irvin's 1989 thriller "Next of Kin," Patrick Swayze and Liam Neeson play Truman and Briar Gates, two brothers who followed very different paths. Director John Irvin is well-known to a certain generation of film-goers, having directed memorable hits like "Ghost Story," "Raw Deal," and "Hamburger Hill" in the 1980s, and "Robin Hood," "Freefall," and "A Month By the Lake" in the 1990s. Most recently, Irvin directed the biopic "Mandela's Gun" in 2016. His career is lengthy and prestigious.

"Next of Kin" was a notable actioner in that it might have been elevator-pitched as "mobsters vs. hillbillies." Swayze plays Truman Gates, a man raised in the wilds of Appalachia with his hillbilly family, but who moved to Chicago to become a high-powered police detective. By the time the film sta

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