Wanda's Café

"Trouble in Mind" is a moody and decidedly different film. Take your pick as to whether it's set in an alternate reality or a retro-future. Either way, the inhabitants of Rain City are drifters and lost people whose lives collide as they go on to whatever fate awaits them. Divine makes a surprisingly good bad guy, while Kristofferson is a little wooden but still fits the part. Worth seeing.

A terrific, quirky film by Alan Rudolph. As an earlier reviewer wrote, he has weird things going on that are never explained. They are just features of his "alternative future". Remember that so much of the world we live in goes by, unexplained. It helps break this film away from the Hollywood-spoonfed blandness.

A real treat not commented on is Keith Carradine. A veteran of Alan Rudolph films, he has a wonderful transformation. Without any commentary, he goes from a rural-type (flannel shirt & jeans) to a denizen of the city (wild clothing, make-up, boufant hairdo). And his behavior gets more bizarre with his change in locale.

Also, watch for one of cinemas most unique murders. Let's just say it involves water, a major feature of the movie, but it takes place in a location you would never fathom.

This is one film I would love to see get the deluxe DVD treatment. Widescreen, director commentary, deleted scenes. It is an overlooked wonder.

The person who compared this film to Bladerunner is not only doing this film a disservice, but is so far from the mark as to be untrue. The chief protagonist is a cop true, and though initially spurned, he does get the girl in the end, but that's about where it ends...

From the opening strains of the muted trumpet, and Marianne Faithfull's beautifuly broken voice, this film is a masterpiece, it's moody, quirky, low key and not without a little menace, especially when Hilly Blue "puts the anchor" on Solo, "they should all blow each other's balls off, make my life easier..." to quote Lt. Gunther.

It's everything that Bladerunner isn't, if anything it's set in some alternate vision of a disfunctional 50's & 80's combined, down at heel low life's, trashy outfits, too much drab neon & hairspray, allied with a little mob glamour and modern art.

I guess I just feel for the characters, Hawk's hunger for a life he never had, the Zen stillness of Wanda, the wild eyed innocence of Georgia and the weirdness that is Coop, Solo freaking out as a Bhudhist, and last but not least, Divine in a suit... "let everybody get what they deserve..."

It's not a fast movie, or an ensemble piece, but at some deep level it resonates.

"what are you looking at?" "you a cop?" "you know damn well I'm not a cop" "that's what I'm looking at then, a woman who isn't a cop..."

It's the film I watch when I get down, I've lost track of the number of times I've watched it, I caught it first at the ICA West Bank in London, on it's last showing before they started a series of Mexican masked wrestling bario movies :) I bought it recently on DVD in a shop in Schipol airport after being delayed in Amsterdam for two hours, I'd been looking for it for years at that point... Even Amazon had it on back order.

It's really a wonderful movie, from icy lake to mountain road, I always come away from it happy, I guess you can ask no more from a movie than that.

TROUBLE IN MIND is a heavily atmospheric neo-noir from Alan Rudolph that is quite intriguing and interesting to watch. The story, if one can call it that, is about an ex-cop, a coffee shop owner and a young couple who are each trying to make their own way in RainCity, a fictionalized/alternate universe version of Seattle. Like the name implies, there is a lot of rain and there is a pervasive sense of melancholy that hangs over it like a cloud. The people who live there all have their pasts, but what really drives them is the hope that they will make it and overcome their circumstances. That, I believe, is at the heart of what this movie represents. In many film noirs past, the general thematic tone was one of fate and destiny, and it being out of human control. Here, in a similarly constructed world, we have people trying to wrest control back into their own hands. Overall, I thought the movie was rather good. Kris Kristofferson gives a great performance as the ex-cop with a checkered past, and Genevieve Bujold, Lori Singer and Keith Carradine give equally decent performances as the coffee shop owner and the young couple, respectively. Ample time is also spent with each character, so that you get to know and sympathize with them (although, to a lesser, degree with Genevieve Bujold). The effect that the city has on a person is seen most explicitly with Coop, played by Keith Carradine, as his appearance changes considerably over the course of the film, and he gets deeper and deeper into the underworld. Also worth mentioning is Divine, who takes a supporting role as the top gangster in RainCity. This is probably his best performance, and he brings shades of flamboyance and menace to it. He is only in a few scenes, but his presence is felt over the entire film and he makes the most of his limited screen time. The movie also has a fantastic jazz score and some great songs sung by Marianne Faithful. But despite how great the film is, there are a few drawbacks. The biggest one is a climactic shoot-out which comes out of nowhere and seemed poorly choreographed. There's also some spotty acting from people in minor roles. Overall, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I first heard about this, but I was pleasantly surprised. Alan Rudolph managed to create a neo-noir which doesn't wallow in misery, and which maintained its own unique style. I'd recommend checking this one out, especially if you're into the noir genre. You probably won't be disappointed.

The forecast is overcast. Director Alan Rudolph sets the tone early on and TROUBLE IN MIND never once strikes a sour note. The cinematography is superb: the camera never stops moving, drifting slowly toward or pulling slowly away from the ex-con, Kristofferson, the country bumpkin-cum-Big City thug, Carradine, his mentor, Morton, the naive engenue, Singer, the survivor, Bujold, or the king of queens, Divine. The story unfolds gradually, logically. The music is appropriately moody. THIS is the way to tell a story. Anyone seriously interested in writing or directing needs to add this one to their list of must-see movies. To miss it would be to miss out.