Mike's Murder

This movie is compelling because the character of Betty is so innocent about what is going on in this murky tennis coach. It makes it easy to see how a normal person could find themselves in way over their heads without knowing it. The kitchen scene with the pal of Mike's who manages to get away from the bad guys is gut wrenching. Debra Winger has never gotten the breaks that she richly is due. I feel that it is compelling that the late Bette Davis stated that of the new actresses that Ms Winger was the most like her and I don't think that she was merely referring to their bad press.

I had the misfortune of being in the test audience prior to this movie being released while I was visiting Los Angeles. The producers and the director was there listening to the audience reaction and it couldn't have been worse. The scenes where the characters were trying to bring home a dramatic point were being met with raucous laughter in the crowd. And one look on the faces of the those involved in the production was enough to see that this film was a loser. Normally I like Debra Winger but the dialogue and supporting cast especially the guy playing "Mike" was woefully bad. Stay away from this one.

For some inexplicable reason, critics find this film hard to follow. Actually, it's very coherent and surprisingly powerful. Debra Winger plays a bank employee who falls for her tennis coach, a young stud named Mike. When Mike is brutally murdered by drug dealers, Winger's character, Betty, is drawn into the L.A. underworld in her quest to find out why he was killed. What makes this film so great is its quiet realism. Most latter day noirs suffer from over-the-top plotting, mega-violence, and cartoonish effects. Moving by indirection and inference, MIKE'S MURDER skirts a hellish world rather than diving in, a narrative strategy that makes it eerily believable and deeply disturbing. Check it out.

My experience with this film differs from some of those who seem to be objecting to both the plot and the cast.

I thought the idea of a 20's something woman who immerses herself in a quasi-relationship with a person on the fringe of society to be interesting. Winger turns in a terrific performance. Part of the human experience or journey is that one encounters difficult moments in one's life - including anticipating relationships one wants desperately to work out.

Betty is in the unfortunate position of having to view Mike from afar as the latter is caught in a nightmarish world of drugs and deceit. I found Mike's drug partner in crime very compelling. One had a real sense of dread and doom as he tried to "make-up" for an irredeemable mistake. Paul Winfield is spot on as the record producer who has also suffered a loss.

All in all, what we have here is a subtle film which is compelling and which a typical focus group would probably pass over. One good example of why film producers and directors should stay away from them and let their artistic visions guide their actions.

The 1980's saw the release of a lot of silly and trashy movies, that were heavy on style but light on substance. "Mike's Murder" is not one of those films. This is a very well constructed mystery thriller; a "film-noir" in broad daylight,if you will. Los Angeles provides a deceptively bright backdrop for this story, which is quite dark and sinister. The fact that we get to see into a dark, seedy L.A. Underworld of drugs and prostitution, through the eyes of a "normal citizen," like Debra Winger's 'Betty,' makes everything so much more believable. Betty's tennis coach and sometime lover, Mike, is living a double life. By day he is a tennis coach to rich older ladies, but by night he deals cocaine, and at times sells his body to both women and men, in order to maintain his flashy, drug fueled lifestyle. The viewer is along for the ride, finding out bits and pieces of a sinister puzzle, alongside Betty Parish, after she is told that her lover was violently murdered in a drug deal gone wrong. Being a normal, law abiding girl, with a straight job as a bank teller, Betty quickly finds herself out of her league and terrified at what she is discovering about her lover. The great thing about "Mike's Murder" is how well it is constructed; the story unfolds slowly, but deliberately, and keeps it's audience truly on the edge, waiting to find out just how far it will go. It helps if the viewer has a fascination with the lifestyles depicted here; others might just be lost, and wondering what the point of it is. This is not a flashy film, that relies on impressive camera angles or quick cut editing. Instead we have an old fashioned style movie, that tells a tale with facial expressions, and music, and a masterfully told story. I imagine the critics of this gem must surely have the attention spans of children; I just cannot understand how anyone could consider THIS a bad movie. It isn't really a commercial film, and it's no surprise that it did poorly at the box office; films like this rarely become "blockbusters." Still, it seems to have stuck in the memories of a lot of people, including mine; I saw it as a young teen in the mid 80's; and I never forgot it. I found the world of Mike to be fascinating and terrifying; and I still do. And I've known a few guys like Mike, and they are all no longer living. I recommend this exciting film to those who can appreciate a good mystery.