5 Miami Blues

[domino harvey]

Miami Blues



George Armitage (Grosse Pointe Blank) adapted celebrated noir author Charles Willeford's novel Miami Blues for the screen with new star Alec Baldwin in the lead role as Frederick J. Frenger, Jr., a sociopathic criminal. Arriving in Miami fresh out of jail he commits one crime after another when he meets young hooker Susie (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Single White Female) who he starts to build a pseudo-married life with, including the home cooking and the white picket fence. As Frederick tries to juggle domesticity with his mounting crimes, dogged cop Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward, Tremors) threatens to put his freedom in jeopardy. Baldwin is brilliant as the unhinged criminal tearing through Miami while Armitage perfectly balances the humour and violence in this singular crime comedy that betrays the quirky influence of producer Jonathan Demme (Something Wild, Married to the Mob).

Limited Edition Special Features:

• High Definition digital transfer
• Original uncompressed stereo PCM audio
• Interviews with Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh (2015)
• David Jenkins looks at Miami Blues and Jonathan Demme's role in the production (2022)
• Pulp crime expert Maxim Jakubowski discusses the character of Hoke Moseley in both Miami Blues and Willeford's novels in which he is a recurrent character (2022)
• Behind-the-scenes and promotional image gallery
• Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by Glenn Kenny, an interview with George Armitage by critic Nick Pinkerton, critic Leila Latif on Alec Baldwin in comedy, an archival feature on Fred Ward and an overview of reviews
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

[you gotta be kidding me]

If it weren't for Rosenbaum's mention of this film in his latest DVDBeaver feature, I probably wouldn't have sought this out. I was aware of the film peripherally but despite my fondness for the cast (Alec Baldwin, Fred Ward, Jennifer Jason Leigh), I hadn't heard a whole lot of good things about the film and it was never high on my list...

For me this film was a discovery on par with this forum exposing me to Alan Arkin's Little Murders: A gleeful, eccentric, pure entertainment feast of a movie that boasts a rotation of brilliant performances hovering around Baldwin's center. There are moments in the film that were so well-conceived and wittily executed, such as Baldwin and Leigh's gift exchange at a Miami bistro, that I was compelled to applaud just out of appreciation. I mean, don't worry, I didn't actually applaud but the desire was there.

Plus, for someone who spent a good portion of my life confusing Fred Ward and Paul Gleason, to see the two of them on-screen together in this film was enough to send me into the stratosphere.

Rosenbaum's write-up under "Eighteen Thrillers You Might Have Missed"

Miami Blues. The cult crime-thriller writer Charles Willeford crowned his career by writing four superb novels centered around a Miami-based homicide detective, Hoke Moseley: Miami Blues (1984), New Hope for the Dead (1985), Sideswipe (1987), and The Way We Die Now (1988). Individually and collectively, they do almost as good a job of describing “the way we live nowâ€

No, Feiffer wrote Carnal Knowledge.

[domino harvey]

The MGM R1 DVD is a bit disappointing but acceptable.

the flipper disc I got from NetFlix was tragically non-anamorphic. They also mistakenly list the film as being PG-13, which is hilarious in hindsight.

[Person]

No, Feiffer wrote Carnal Knowledge.

And wrote the Oscar-winning short animation film, Munro (1961), which is about a four year-old boy who is drafted into the Army, much like Peter Cook's, Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling character.

[zedz]

Re Little Murders - this was of course written by Jules Feiffer and is - not checked - his only movie credit.

Is this the forum record for swiftest heading off-topic?

Didn't Feiffer also write a film for Resnais in the late 80s? (IMDB check: Yep, I Want to Go Home - never seen it.)

Back to Miami Blues: I haven't seen it since it was released, but I thought it was great, and I recall a particularly pungent Shirley Stoler cameo. I was so taken with it that I used her character's name (Edie Wedgmuth, I think) as a pseudonym a couple of times.

[you gotta be kidding me]

Re Little Murders - this was of course written by Jules Feiffer and is - not checked - his only movie credit.

Is this the forum record for swiftest heading off-topic?

Didn't Feiffer also write a film for Resnais in the late 80s? (IMDB check: Yep, I Want to Go Home - never seen it.)

Resnais loves cartoonists, doesn't he? Al Capp, Feiffer... any others he worked with (or tried to)?

Back on topic: Brought Miami Blues home from work tonight - it better be good or you guys have to answer! Been on a crime-film spree lately, the best being One False Move and Straight Time. Of course I expected to like the latter; the former was a great surprise. Was unimpressed with Out of Sight, Taking of Pelham 123, etc.

[Polybius]

A huge favorite of mine. A film that moves comfortably from drama to comedy (light and more frequently dark) and even has some moments of real poignance (Baldwin's Junior looking almost wistfully at the "normal" people playing frisbee on the beach, knowing there is no way he'll ever be able to escape his past and live a straight life.)

Ward is one of those guys who is always, always, always money in the bank. This is one of Baldwin's best featured performances (as good a leading man as he was, he always generally shone more in supporting parts, like the "Fuck you! That's my name!" scene in Glengarry), and a typically chameleonic and brilliant turn from JJ Leigh.

So many standout scenes. Ward losing his teeth; Baldwin doing his thing about not being a Porche customer, to himself; all of his "arrests" with Ward's badge and gun; their dinner scene ("Say, would you mind standing in the lineup?" ) and, most of all, the most insane convenience store robbery ever put on film, followed by that hysterical improvised surgery by the landlady.

"Yeah, ya got a real nice touch. Your husband must've been glad to die..."

[zedz]

Resnais loves cartoonists, doesn't he? Al Capp, Feiffer... any others he worked with (or tried to)?

This is really stretching my perished-elastic memory, but I think he tried and failed to collaborate with Stan Lee (or Jack Kirby, or both - yikes, even Jim Steranko is rattling around in this possibly apocryphal recollection, but that may just be because he was the most Resnaisian Marvel artist of the time) back in the 1960s. i.e. Back when Marvel was cool and Stan Lee was regularly mistaken for a major creative force. Resnais was (is?) a big, not entirely discerning comic book fan.

[sammy h]

Just caught this on MGM HD for the first time in a couple years. Such a weird wonderful movie that really seems to get better with each viewing (despite the nagging contrivance of how Junior seems to be in the right place at the right time to rob criminals through out the whole 97 minutes). It's an interesting film in that the more cliched/bland elements, (like the score and the montage of Junior and Suzie playing frisbee) are sort of in line with the very specific trashy exterior Willeford crowds his later work with. The production design, Tak Fujimoto photography, and costumes are so great in this, and are clearly just as important as the plot-the movie is just as much about the very specific world of synchronized swimming cafes, plaid yellow pants, and fried pork chops as it is about the characters. The only weak link in my mind is the character of Elita Sanchez, who, unlike in the source novel, adds nothing to the film. Maybe they were thinking of the sequel? It's a shame it didn't do well enough to warrant more Hoke Mosely adaptions. Ward is incredibly well suited to the role, or was...

MGM really should release a special edition for the 20 year anniversary next year. There are so many little specific details throughout the film that you don't notice on first viewing, either background details or things not spelled out (like why Hoke lives in a retirement home for one!) it really makes you wonder about how much material was shot and not included in the final film. And I would love to hear an Armitage/Ward commentary on the production.

[Camera Obscura]

I forgot there was a separate thread for this one. Great film ! (thanks for the tip in the '90s list thread).

The whole thing that makes it work, is the incredibly touching and fragile central relationship between Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alec Baldwin. Somehow Armitage manages to spend a lot of screen time sketching the relationship between these characters while skilfully avoiding any of the pitfalls or clichés that make so many other films of this kind unbearable dreck at an emotional level. Perhaps it's all a bit smug or overly self-conscious in places, but it didn't feel forced at all, and somehow it all merges perfectly with all the wackyness on display, some improbabilities and the comic-style over-the-top violence. A fun, fast-paced ride with the most spot-on dialogue this side of Woody Allen and I even shed a couple of tears in the end.

[Finch]

Fran confirmed that the encode will be by Fidelity in Motion and that Radiance have done some further clean up work on the master provided. Is it February yet? This film was one of my favorite discoveries this year.

[pistolwink]

This movie rules and if there were any justice in the world it would have kicked off a long series of films (or a TV show) starring Fred Ward as Hoke Moseley.

[beamish14]

This movie rules and if there were any justice in the world it would have kicked off a long series of films (or a TV show) starring Fred Ward as Hoke Moseley.

I completely agree. 1990 was just an amazing year for neo-noirs with this, The Hot Spot, and After Dark, My Sweet

[rapta]

I completely agree. 1990 was just an amazing year for neo-noirs with this, The Hot Spot, and After Dark, My Sweet

Would love to see Radiance get hold of The Hot Spot for the UK...

[Drucker]

I caught this one in 35 last night with about 20 or so people at Anthology. I was really expecting the theater to be packed, because given the kinds of films that seem to become en vogue these days I went into this film assuming it would be a prime candidate for re-discovery. Judging by the trailer, it certainly seemed to have a Jonathan Demme vibe, so when his name appeared in the credits, I thought to myself: figures! But right from the get-go, this film consistently took twists and turns I wasn't expecting.

SpoilerShow

Alec Baldwin is phenomenal in this film. I couldn't comment on what the consensus on him is, but the way he pivots from anger, to impatience, to flashing that bright smile was honestly compelling. It made for some of the most memorable moments in the film, and there was at least four or five times I laughed out loud at Baldwin. The sense of terror he brought to the film was remarkably casual, and so different than the type Liotta brought to Something Wild, for example.

In terms of how ripe this is for re-discovery...well that seems like a stretch. Baldwin's sociopathic character really takes the abusive boyfriend character to an uncomfortable level. I think that's ultimately what makes the film work so well. How often does a lead character just lie so blatantly directly the audience so many times? But just as there were several moments I found myself laughing out loud, there was moments when I was wincing in horror at the way he treated JJL. And of course, when his fingers get cut off in the last sequence I almost shrieked in the theater.

A really great film, overall. Glad I caught it in celluloid. Norman Greenbaum never sounded so good.

[reaky]

Alec Baldwin gives a great, swaggering performance in this, but tonally, I found it all over the place, with quirky-for-the-sake-of-it bits like the detective having dentures that he keeps in a glass of whiskey. Yes, it’s kin to producer Demme’s Something Wild, but SW has a much firmer grip on its characters and tone.

[beamish14]

I really love George Armitage’s work. His filmography may not be as strong as fellow Corman factory workers like Demme, Joe Dante, and Jonathan Kaplan, but he has a really unique and off-kilter sensibility in all of his projects.

I always urge people to watch Darktown Strutters, which he authored. Like Coonskin, it does an incredible job of deconstructing racial stereotypes in the most confrontational and uncomfortable ways possible. It’s streaming in an edited cut on Hoopla.

Armitage is also the third credited writer on the very underrated 1991 action film The Last of the Finest

[pistolwink]

I sometimes wonder how William Witney, of all people, ended up directing Darktown Strutters at the end of a very long career.

Armitage made a quite amusing and colorful TV movie, Hot Rod, with Robert Culp doing a fun turn as the villain. Armitage should have made a lot more movies...

[beamish14]

I sometimes wonder how William Witney, of all people, ended up directing Darktown Strutters at the end of a very long career.

Armitage made a quite amusing and colorful TV movie, Hot Rod, with Robert Culp doing a fun turn as the villain. Armitage should have made a lot more movies...

Oh, absolutely. I think his real bread and butter has always been screenwriting, though, and many projects never left development hell. I’d love to see his cut of The Big Bounce, as he had nothing to do with putting together what WB released

[knives]

I sometimes wonder how William Witney, of all people, ended up directing Darktown Strutters at the end of a very long career.

Armitage made a quite amusing and colorful TV movie, Hot Rod, with Robert Culp doing a fun turn as the villain. Armitage should have made a lot more movies...

Witney was a contract director for Gene Corman. He was probably just assigned the job.

[pistolwink]

Ah, I didn't know that; looks like he only ended up making two pictures for him...