O Anjo Assassino

You know what this reminds me of? Godard's "Breathless," one of the first of the shockingly original Nouvelle Vague flicks of the early 60s. I remember first seeing "Breathless" with some friends in a theater in Ithaca, NY, and emerging arguing about what it meant. I don't mean trying to identify any great load of symbolism or moral lesson it might be towing behind it. I just mean, what happened, and why? As I recall we decided that "Breathless" was an "existential" movie and didn't really need to be specific about what was going on. It was a story about a man making a life choice. You can be or do anything you want, said Sartre, and you can break all the rules -- as long as you're willing to take the consequences.

In "Miami Blues" the Belmondo part is played by Alec Baldwin, a guy fresh out of prison who has chosen a life of wilful disobedience. His girl friend (who really ought not to be in college) is a part-time hooker with aspirations that are utterly bourgeois. Jennifer Jason Lee wants to live with her husband and babies in a house with a white picket fence. Fred Ward, looking grizzled and great, is a homicide detective whom Baldwin clobbers and whose identity he steals.

I don't know why certain things happen. For instance, I have no idea how or why Baldwin manages to dig up Ward's home address, then goes there and beats hell out of him, and winds up stealing his false teeth, handcuffs and other cop accoutrements. What was THAT all about? I'll give one more example. Baldwin is in a convenience store and stumbles on an armed robbery. "I'm the police! Drop that gun and walk out of here!" he shouts -- and threatens the armed robber with a jar of spaghetti sauce.

See, in an existentialist movie like this, the characters don't really need to have motives. They do whatever they feel like doing.

There IS continuity though, even if in its details the movie makes very little sense. The characters are consistent, and there is a rudimentary plot, engaging and amusing without being in any way memorable.

I did enjoy the movie though, even the second time around, or maybe even MORE the second time around, since I'd learned not to expect an abundance of logic in the narrative.

The acting of the three principles is also admirable. Alec Baldwin had just appeared in "The Hunt for Red October," in which he struck me as not much more than a handsome leading man. Here, he's a different character entirely. Watch him as he struts down the street, arms swinging jauntily, grinning through pain, happily throwing off non sequiturs in dramatic situations. ("Do you own a suede coat?" he asks a criminal before murdering him.) Lee is more than childlike. She's positively childish with her overflowing emotions. I loved Fred Ward in this. He's full of quirks and rarely seems to be taking the role seriously. Instead of soaking his precious false teeth in -- what is that stuff, Polydent? -- he soaks them overnight in a glass of left-over booze.

Interesting exercise in style and acting.

Arresting, oddball and darkly comedic crime fiction from the mind of the late Charles Willeford, written for the screen and directed by George Armitage and co-produced by Jonathan Demme. Some people may find it a little too unpleasant for their tastes, but others will delight in its unpredictability. It's got enough interesting faces in its supporting cast to help it make an enjoyable cult-favourite type of film.

Alec Baldwin plays psychopathic hoodlum "Junior" Frenger, who arrives in Miami intending to "start over", or in his case simply move on to a new assortment of victims. (He begins by messing up a Hare Krishna in an airport.) He hooks up with Susie Waggoner, a sweet, simple minded hooker played by the endearing Jennifer Jason Leigh. A tough homicide detective, Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward, good as always) follows his trail, but gets victimized himself when Junior gets the drop on him, and steals Hokes' gun, badge, and false teeth. Junior then has the time of his life pretending to be a cop, while entering into a domestic situation with Susie.

"Miami Blues" does get fairly violent sometimes, but if this sort of thing doesn't bother you, you can have a good time with this story and these players. It's got a hip soundtrack including a score by Gary Chang (this viewer loves the use of Norman Greenbaums' "Spirit in the Sky"). Among the supporting actors are Nora Dunn of 'Saturday Night Live' & "Three Kings", Demme regular Charles Napier ("The Blues Brothers", "The Silence of the Lambs"), Obba Babatunde, and Jose Perez; cameos range from Martine Beswicke ("Prehistoric Women") to Paul Gleason ("The Breakfast Club") to Shirley Stoler ("The Honeymoon Killers").

Highly recommended to fans of cult cinema.

Fred Frenger Jr is just out of prison when he flies into Miami. When he accidentally kills someone at the airport he becomes hunted by the police - something that his criminal activities can't afford. When Sergeant Moseley gets too close to catching him, Jnr robs him taking his badge, gun and false teeth. Living with his wife (under a lie) Jnr starts to live out the life as a cop AND a criminal while Moseley tries to get him.

I've seen this film a couple of times and still am not 100% sure what it wants to be, a comedy, a violent crime thriller or a mix of both. A mix of both would seem to be the answer but the two don't seem integrated only separate throughout the film. What the film comes across as, is the story of two men, both of whom have their own humorous touches and quirks that make the story work quite well.

The story is quite violent and is best viewed as a crime thriller that happens to have dark humour through it. While the plot seems to lack a real obvious direction it is the characters that take the film along. Frenger is violent and unhinged and played very well by a crazy looking Baldwin. Moseley is a stronger character whom I would have liked to have seen more of in the film - he is cheap, dirty and very interesting. Ward fits him like a glove and plays the character well. The third strong in the bow is rather sympathetic and is well done by Leigh who delivers an interesting character.

Overall this is a strange hybrid but it works well. It has all the traits of a pulp thriller with dark comedy, even if the plot is less substantial than I'd expected it to be. Overall this is an underrated little film that is well worth keeping an eye out for, if only for it's characters and dark humorous violence.

Alec Baldwin sports a great haircut in Miami Blues and knows it. He struts and swaggers through the movie like the cock of the walk, having a high old time and giving us one, too. It's an exhilarating, watch-this performance that can't help but call attention to itself but luckily happens to fit the character.

The character isn't so much fun. He's a happy-go-lucky psycho just sprung from prison and landed in Miami, where he brushes off a Hare Krishna acolyte in the airport by breaking his finger (the poor guy dies of shock). At his hotel he orders up a hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh); they hit it off and pair up, mainly because `Princess Not-So-Bright' has trouble with independent thought. Then Baldwin is off and running through Dade and Broward Counties, stealing wallets and identities, staging impromptu holdups, and running giddily amok.

Tired old cop Fred Ward picks up his scent, and even shares a meal of many brews and Leigh's pork chops with the couple. But Baldwin turns the tables and ambushes Ward in his ratty old residential hotel, putting him in the hospital. The upside is that now Baldwin's got a new identity – Ward's – with a gun and a badge to prove it. Flamboyant and reckless, he continues his felonious spree like an overgrown kid playing cops and robbers. But he can't keep it up forever, not even in the anything-goes milieu of South Beach....

Miami Blues is drawn from a crime novel by Charles Willeford, who wrote (he died before the picture was adapted) in the playful, inventive Elmore Leonard vein. There's not much plot, just enough to hold together the characters, which it's about (and the movie's full of quirky characters, memorably including Shirley Stoller). But, though Ward gets top billing and Leigh flashes her credentials as a graduate of the Meryl Streep Academy of Accents, it's Baldwin's movie. If you're fond of ham, you're in for a feast.

It's hard to peg this movie. "Miami Blues" seems to dance along the lines of black comedy, quasi-psycho thriller and pastel noir. And it's offbeat, to say the least; something like this doesn't just come along every day. But the comedic elements didn't work for me; I guess I was just never in sync with its sense of humor.

I was much more interested in Jennifer Jason Leigh's character, of the three (Ward and Baldwin are certainly no amateurs). Her character's not bright, but just sweet enough to make you feel bad when she's emotionally abused. It'd be an understatement to say she walks away with this movie.

5/10