Sunset

Caught this for the first time late night Sept., 2006. It was a very cool, foggy San Francisco night. I loved it! The critics missed the point altogether on this one. An older Ebert probably would have given it more than two stars. Garner was great, as usual, in his cool understated character. One critic said Bruce Willis was not movie star material. WRONG! The porn star Joe Dallesandro as "Dutch" was one of several funny, kinky sidebars. Yes, Chandler could have written it and drank to its health. Oh oh! scolded for less than ten lines---so, the cold, impersonal wind swept down trashy Market Street where the very rich and the very poor rubbed shoulders nonchalantly. Ah! the irony of it all.

The murder mystery plot in Sunset is of a standard variety, with the usual twists and surprises, and very bad 'bad guys'.

What makes this movie is two things.

First is that the primary protagonists solving the mystery are a famous cowboy movie star, and an actual famous western marshal, Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp.

Second is that the luminaries are played by Bruce Willis and James Garner, a unique mix of leading men with plenty of chemistry, charm, and personality.

This film is very different from the standard fare, and in a good way. High recommended.

Blake Edwards' "Sunset" has the misfortune of following a series of films that are among his all time best: "10", "S.O.B.", "Trail of the Pink Panther" (a surprisingly cohesive film considering the circumstances; see my review for more details), "Victor/Victoria", "The Man Who Loved Women" (an underrated film), "Micki and Maude", "A Fine Mess" and the remarkable "That's Life!" By comparison, "Sunset" is a weak film.

But it is a good Blake Edwards film and good Edwards ("Blind Date", "Curse of the Pink Panther") is much better than horrible Edwards ("Switch", "Bring Your Smile Along", "Justin Case"). "Sunset" is Edwards' attempt at a risky genre, film noir, which if handled wrong, gives us films such as "Palmetto". When handled right, the results can be very entertaining.

"Sunset" is indeed very entertaining. It has laughs, but they're not important here. The atmosphere is what's important here and Edwards drenches us in it. And his casting of James Garner and Bruce Willis is inspired and right. They work wonderfully together and it is a testament to Garner and Willis as actors that they are so utterly believable as Wyatt Earp and Tom Mix, respectively. The bigger surprise here is Willis, who has a fresh faced charm that he doesn't show all that much anymore. I had forgotten what a solid actor he really is beneath that cliched "ACTION STAR" persona.

What prevents "Sunset" from approaching greatness is that Edwards is weighed down by the plot. He wants to create a complex mystery and he achieves that. But after getting to know such rich and likable characters, I really wish he had just forgotten about the plot and focus on them. All of his very best films are about character. Look at the list in the beginning. Each and every one of those films has characters we care about and he wisely forgets about resolving the plot. He observes and that's how he gets our attention (and laughs where appropriate). I only wished he had remembered. Luckily, his next film "Skin Deep" remembered that.

I still recommend "Sunset", if only for the charm of Willis and Garner and that wonderful atmosphere. This isn't a great film, but you just can't resist smiling at the end.

*** out of 4 stars

A very interesting premise ends up with a rather tame execution here, however the cast is full of talent, and they help to pull the film through. The best performance of the film is delivered by James Garner as Wyatt Earp. Although, no thanks to a poor makeup job, Garner does not look or act like he is approaching eighty years of age, Garner still portrays the charisma that one would expect from Earp very well. Of interest also is Mariel Hemingway, who is quite good as needing woman. The main problem with the film is that the mystery is rather dull, and its implementation into the plot comes at the cost of sacrificing room for further character development. Blake's directing work is slightly heavy-handed here, full of silly spectacles and violence that add little flavour to the film - and his work directing the film won him a Razzie award. It is not half bad as a film overall though. Garner and the rest of the cast, which includes Malcolm McDowell, help make some interesting segments when on screen, and Henry Mancini's music is as good as ever.

"Sunset" is the blackest of black comedies. I was surprised to learn from watching it on TV last night what a really fun movie it is, given the uniformly bad reviews it received. Pay no attention to the critics, this is good stuff. Bruce Willis, as Tom Mix, and James Garner, as Wyatt Earp, have never been better at their laid-back charm-boy schtick. The plot, while complex and often violent, is not to be taken seriously -- or better still, not to be thought about at all. In this connection, just remember what the movie itself tells you, "It's all true, give or take a lie or two." In addition to Willis's and Garner's stellar performances, Kathleen Quinlan, as Mix's long suffering girl friend, is a hoot. The mood of time and place -- 1929 Hollywood -- is perfectly captured: interesting costumes, great looking vintage cars, the last gasp of the Jazz Age just before the Depression. Highly recommended, 7 out of 10.