Nadine

It's Austin, Texas, 1954, and Jeff Bridges's biggest ambition is a gaudy neon to top-off his tacky, no-business, beer bar, while estranged wife and apprentice hairdresser Kim Basinger sends her "art photos" to Playboy magazine. Obviously they're made for each other. Meanwhile, her sleazo photographer turns up dead and they're on the run. It's delightful madcap as they bumble their way through a series of misadventures. Their subtly affectionate sniping reminds me of a bad grammar version of Nick and Nora Charles in the uptown Thin Man series. Surprisingly, the California born Bridges has the "good ol' boy" drawl down pat, while even the usually snooty Basinger manages a convincing honky-tonk queen. Good period detail without the distractive sounds of Golden Oldies. -- With a delightfully arch Rip Torn as the slyly superior villain. It's amazing how these little gems keep getting produced with little or no recognition. All in all, great escapist fare for a slow evening at home.

If watched in 1987 "Nadine" could be labeled as one terrible movie which only wasted time, energy, money and a good cast on a loose plot. But when one watches this now, one must see it in a different light. It's far from being bad. It's very cool actually. Take two attractive actors, make them as an unusual pair in between loving and hating each other, trying to survive dangerous people and thrilling situations, then you have a movie. And quite a short one (78 minutes).

What prevents "Nadine" of being found good by viewers relates in seeing who's involved in it and why they're stuck with such a heavily clichéd, flawed picture. Why Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger would star in something like this, playing loud, talky, cheap characters who try to be smarter than smartness itself? Or why Academy Award winner Robert Benton would go forward in writing and directing such a strange project? The conclusion reached was that this was a way of doing something fun, a child's play. Hollywood indulging itself with plenty of fun in the making and hoping people notice that and perhaps enjoy it for what it is. In this department, as being a fun work, it succeeds despite the pros and cons. Today it's easier to make things like this and with better results ("Ocean's Eleven" is a living proof of this, a movie made among friends, very easy and it became quite profitable, going with two more sequels).

How come no one notices that in this film? It's not trying to convey messages or have a higher purpose, it's just a small entertainment, fine. It's the kind of story presented time and time again in countless pictures: Nadine (Basinger) testifies a murder, then she gets chased by people involved in it who want something she might have taken out from the victim, something that belongs to them. Endangered and with nothing better to do, she contacts her soon to be ex-husband (Bridges), a lousy bar owner drowned in debts and misunderstandings, who's desperately for divorcing his wife to marry his new girl (Glenne Headly) as fast as possible. Fun thing about this is seeing the story made in the 1950's, for whatever reasons.

Basinger and Bridges make a very exciting couple, they're pretty good together. Hearing their accents might be a problem to many, I think it's quite hilarious at parts. Not much of an intelligent, brilliantly written comedy, it just goes in presenting goofy situations and bright action sequences (final shootout is the best and also the bit with the snakes in the room). Final analysis: it never gets great as it could be and even gets weary in such short running time but it's an amusing film, well acted by everyone involved, and with a nice soundtrack. Let go of everything and just enjoy the show. It manages to save the day. 6/10

I say 'surprisingly' because the rating is so low, I didn't know what to expect.

But it's a delightful little caper movie, driven (as all good movies are) by the performers and a tight script by Robert Benton, not known for his enjoyable caper movies!

Jeff Bridges all but steals the film from a delightful Kim Basinger, and the two of them together set the screen on fire. They are surrounded by some of the best character actors working today, including Rip Torn. As I was watching this I thought how smart Robert Benton is for casting real actors, and having the comedy come out of their behaviour and talent, rather than casting 'wacky comedians' and reducing the story to little bits.

A lot of fun, and worth seeing.

I'm not sure where I was in 1987 when this film came out, but I saw it for the first time tonight, and I'd never heard of it. I found it highly entertaining.

Kim Basinger is Nadine, a pregnant, soon to be divorced woman living in small-town Texas in 1954. She posed for some "art studies" and wants to get them back from the sleazy photographer (Jerry Stiller) who told her that he knew Hugh Hefner. She's very insistent, so he lets her into his studio, even though he has an appointment coming, and sticks her in the back room. When he opens the door with what seems to be her file, he falls over, dead from a knife in the back. Nadine grabs her file and gets out of there. When she arrives home, the file has maps of an area of town in it. She lies to her ex-husband (Jeff Bridges) so that he will return to the studio with her; soon, they're on the run from the police - and the owner of the maps (Rip Torn).

This is a funny, fast-moving comedy with excellent performances from Bridges, Basinger, Torn, Stiller, Glenne Headley as Bridges' girlfriend, and Gwen Verdon, who plays Nadine's boss. Written and directed by Robert Benton, "Nadine" is a small film and an enjoyable one. Recommended.

This film centers on an about-to-be divorced couple (Basinger and Bridges) in the Austin of 1954, who get thrown back together when Basinger accidentally comes into possession of the state's secret plans for a new highway. Bridges steals the plans from her and figures on using the information to get rich, until the arch-hustler criminal Torn gets other ideas. It's a classic mix of romantic comedy and caper movie, with a pair of thugs working for Torn who might be straight out of Home Alone. It's not as if the plot is all that thrilling, and in truth if it had been shot in black and white and were 50 years older, it wouldn't stand out from some of Jimmy Cagney's potboilers from the 30's. But the three main actors are all terrific (especially Basinger), and we even get a brief cameo appearance by George Costanza's father (Jerry Stiller), who winds up in a way that George Costanza might have dreamed about. Recommended.