8 Millionen Wege zu sterben

I saw this film a couple of nights ago. I only bothered as it was a Hal Ashby movie & I'm a big fan. He didn't let me down. Ok it's not a masterpiece or even amongst his best but it's still a powerfully intense thriller. Superficially similar to Scarface it is less showy, more personal & more convincing. Garcia's stylised gangster with his 'Gaudi' affectations almost unsettles the realism but is compulsive. Bridges turns in another superb performance as the hard-boiled, ex-cop battling with alcoholism & other demons. Ashby's Chandleresque take on 80's LA is familiar but beautifully vivid nevertheless. What raises it above the plethora of dark 80's thrillers is it's old-fashioned 70's values like complex character and troubled hero not in control of the narrative over fast-pace, shallow action & irony. To the post-Star Wars generation '8 Million Ways' may look meandering and indulgent but this says more about their limitations as film fans than it does about the film.

Jeff Bridges portrays author Lawrence Blocks' character Matt Scudder in this picture, and his able performance is one of its few virtues. Matt is a detective for the L.A. Sheriffs' Department who is also an alcoholic. Ultimately, his drinking costs him his marriage and his job. However, he is soon approached by a hooker named Sunny (Alexandra Paul) to remove her from her unhappy life, and when he gets involved, he incurs the wrath of a smug drug kingpin (Andy Garcia) and a powerful pimp (Randy Brooks).

Sadly, this was the final theatrical credit for editor turned director Hal Ashby. A recovering substance abuser himself, he had little to no creative control over the final product. He wanted something grittier and closer to the novel (which this movie barely resembles), the producers wanted a feature film version of 'Miami Vice'. But what really hurts it is the poor script (credited to Oliver Stone and R. Lance Hill (a.k.a. "David Lee Henry"), which moves at a snails' pace and doesn't encourage us to really care about the characters.

The lack of success is not for lack of effort on Bridges' part. He, the intense Brooks, and the amusingly slimy Garcia entertain the viewer sufficiently. But Paul is miscast, and Rosanna Arquette, as one of Sunny's co-workers, looks like she couldn't care less. Familiar faces in supporting roles and bits include Vyto Ruginis, James Avery, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Rosalind Allen, and Loyd Catlett.

Absolutely gorgeous photography, good use of locations, an atmospheric score by James Newton Howard (one of his earliest), stunning helicopter shots, and some jarring violence work in the films' favor. But it goes on too long (especially that climactic confrontation in the warehouse, which becomes unbearable rather than tense), and has too much inane dialogue.

The man who made "Harold and Maude", "Coming Home", and "Being There" deserved a better theatrical swan song than this.

Five out of 10.

Will be recognized as one of the lost classics of the 80's. Bridges gives a great performance and really seems to understand what an alcoholic acts like. has THE best hangover scene of any movie. Andy Garcia made his first impression as the bad guy. Some real off the wall action scenes. This movie got a lot of bad press when it was released. i never understood why as I felt that it was one of Ashby's better later movies. I think Ashby himself will come under a reappraisal in the years to come with his movies being recognized as some coif the best. Some of his stars gave their best performances under his direction, i.e. Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail), Warren Beatty (Shampoo); Jon Voight (Coming Home) and Ruth Gordon.

You've had Scarface, now we have it's offspring. If your a Jeff Bridges face, run, not walk, down to the video store and hire this gem. You'll be entertained to the max. The movie throws us right into the action with Bridges and his group of cops from the sheriff's department about to apprehend an hispanic drug dealer. Bridges and his pal too, aren't shy about taking a tot of whatever from a cannister, prior. Forced to shoot this dealer down, as one of Bridge's mate is taking a whacking from one, of those nasty Louisville sluggers, he's questioned along with his friend. That night, him and his friend get sozzled, Bridges, the more drunk of the two, who tends to fall off bar stools. He falls into a guilt drunken phase, the following scene an emotional one between him and his family, over some awlfully sad music. Bridges is so believable in his role here, we really acknowledge what a great actor this guy is. To think he never won an Oscar until 2010's Crazy Heart is criminal. We move a few months down the track to an AA meeting that Bridges is attending. Here, one of the other members, gives him a fat fee, to help this young prostitute, Sunny, (an awesome performance by Alexandra Paul, prior to her Baywatch days) get free of her pimp, Angel (Andy Garcia in probably his best role still). For all we know, this woman stranger could be her mother. His attempt to protect her fails, when Sunny is snatched from Bridges in one blood splashing action scene, worthy of it's R rating. Again Bridges falls into a pit, blacking out. When he comes to, he's the one who must unravel this mystery, with the help of Sunny's hooker friend, Sarah, played by Rossanna Arquette, very good in her role, but not great like the others. You've gotta love Angel's pad. A big castle like building that has been used in a cheap "City lights film" I won't mention. This spread operates as a casino and bordello, where in one scene, we see just how dangerous Angel really is. A small electic tram transports it's customers to it's entrance up top. This film has style, it's valet guys sporting it too. I love the scene where Bridges and Sarah meet Angel and his goons in the big car park outside this big museum, where a lot of angry expletives are exchanged in some good meaty and funny dialogue. Let's face it, this movie doesn't have the best script in the world, but there are some classicly original lines that stick, one involving Sunny, describing her anatomy. Bridges and Garcia share this colorful conversation over sno cones, Angel proudly provides. How cool and original is that. Sarah is snatched back from Bridges who was trying to get answers from her, thus he must get her back as she's in dangerous waters now. This flick uses great L.A. locations and is beautifully shot, Hal Ashby's last film too. The Lawrence Block novel is vastly different, where it's set in New York, and the pimp's name is Chance unlike the Chance character in the film, Angel's silent partner I guess. You'll get this joke if you watch this film. Another scene involving a string of expletives takes place later in a warehouse as we build towards our climax. They were really in need of a script doctor that day. The climax is rewarding, as is it's happy after scene. What we've got here is a good drama, a little disjointed in bits, as in it's dialogue, but it's exciting, involving, and more so, it's different. And those sort of movies, I like. Though slow paced, this really didn't bother me. It works for this movie as we get really get to scratch the surface of Bridges and Arquette's characters. For me, what I loved most about this timeless flick, was it's locations. This is one of those eighties bucket list classics you must see. This was another '86 movie I would of loved to seen at the cinema, but we can't turn back time, can we.

This film is consistently rated at or below the median for it's genre and period. In my opinion, this is an unfair rating... the film is better than it has been portrayed.

Jeff Bridges plays Matt Scudder, a down on his luck detective who is suspended by the LAPD after a violent confrontation with a suspect.

Bridges life spirals down (in something of a preview of the character he would later play in perhaps his best film, 1991's The Fisher King) into chronic alcoholism. He receives an unexpected invitation to a party hosted by Angel Maldonado (Andy Garcia in an early role) and there the story proper begins.

Scudder is drawn into the dark side of LA's party scene by "Sunny", one of Maldonado's erstwhile hangers on. Through this connection, Scudder determines to bring down Maldonado's drug empire - and make off with Maldonado's favourite girl...

All standard hollywood stuff, but reasonably well done. The mid 80's seems to have been a fairly soft time for truly good films, but this one is worth watching. I give it 7/10 on the public scale...