Review: One Screening Only
Miami Blues | George Armitage | USA | 1990 | 97 min
UW Cinematheque, 4070 Vilas Hall, Friday, July 3, 7:00pm»
Edwanike Harbour finds the 1990 George Armitage adaptation of the Charles Willeford novel to be a bit overrated despite its strong pedigree of young Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Jason-Leigh, and producer Jonathan Demme.
There are some good crime comedies from the 1990s but unfortunately producer Jonathan Demme and director George Armitage really missed the mark with Miami Blues, based on a novel by Charles Willeford. Demme and Armitage were keen students of Roger Corman’s exploitation flicks from the 60s. Where Corman was the master of sleazy exploitation (The Intruder), Demme dips his toe in here but doesn’t fully commit to full on exploitation. Nothing ever had to be pure genre one way or the other but sometimes it’s better to be a jack of all trades instead of a master of none. Miami Blues is a mediocre blend of several genres even though the materials seem to be in place to build something more powerful. Demme has a flimsy crime caper here instead of a solid crime thriller with a few laughs mixed in and that’s where the let down lies.
Few producers have had such an uneven career as Jonathan Demme. In the 1990s, there seemed to be some middle ground to his work that errs on side of being watchable. As a director, Demme often features characters with quirks and over the top, eccentric behavior, but this approach needs to be couched within a solid story arc and well written script, like Something Wild (1986), one of his most underrated films. Miami Blues is filled with that signature Demme eccentricity but there is little in the way of character development and the script is pretty lackluster. The production value stays true to Demme’s form so it’s hard to argue that the movie would have been better in the hands of a more capable director.
Alec Baldwin stars as Frederick Frenger Jr., an ex-con who can’t quite seem to let go of his old habits as he arrives in Miami. Frenger is a con-man and thief who has the uncanny ability to find himself in the midst of every conceivable financial opportunity. He immediately steals another man’s identity at the airport and practices forging his signature. Soon after, a Hari Krishna member makes the mistake of engaging Frenger in conversation. The Krishna goes into shock and dies after Frenger breaks his finger. Frenger is unaware of the destruction in his wake and has a call girl sent to his room for a little company.
Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Susie Wagner, a.k.a. “Pepper,” a 23 year-old college student who makes money as a call girl. Susie is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, which is odd given she is a student at Metro-Dade and is part of a profession that requires you to be relatively streetwise. Frenger at times appears to want to settle down into a regular, crime-free life with Susie, but he hasn’t quite figured out how to get to that point. He tells her that he makes his money through “investments” even though she is surrounded by clues that indicate otherwise. They embark upon a steamy relationship and Frenger appears to being doing a good job of hiding his current activities from her until Sgt. Hoke Mosley (Fred Ward) comes to their door one night.
There were witnesses to the incident at the airport and Sgt. Mosley has managed to track Frenger down. He immediately picks up on some of the clues that Susie missed and suspects that Frenger is not who he says he is. Mosley is not too concerned about the man’s murder, however, as he sits down for Susie’s pork chops and Frenger’s beer. Later, Frenger pays a visit to Sgt. Mosley and beats and robs him of his badge and gun. Now, this charming psychopath can pretend he is a cop as he somehow finds himself in the middle of one caper, after the other after the other.
Alec Baldwin does a good job playing this smarmy character but that really is not a stretch for him. Jennifer Jason Leigh nails the role of dimwitted Susie but it is hard to empathize with her. Even when confronted with some serious flaws in Frenger’s character, Susie continues to cling on to him. Fred Ward is reliable as the cop, but he doesn’t really have to do a great deal of sleuthing to track down his man. He also has some odd dental issue going on and is constantly taking his false teeth in and out which served no purpose other than being gross and annoying after a while. Overall, the three had little to no chemistry. Even as a bit of early 90s camp, the film offers little of anything.
The plot moves along at a quick pace with only a few lulls, but Frenger is so unlikeable, Susie is so clueless, and Sgt. Mosley is pretty inept that the whole endeavor turns into a mediocre caper. The laughs are few and far between even though Armitage tries to serve up some humor in some very ridiculous scenes.
The violence may seem tame by today’s standards, but it also seems out of place given the tone of the film. There is indeed one scene with Shirley Stoler that takes place in a pawnshop that is probably one of the most memorable in the movie. Shirley Stoler (Klute, Deer Hunter) had a storied career prior to this role and she gives you the impression that she has lived quite the life with every frown and quip. Stoler plays a pawnshop owner with a keen sense of danger and naturally suspicious disposition. She gives him the once over that he should have gotten earlier on. Baldwin counterbalances her suspicion perfectly with his greasy charm. The snappy repertoire they have does not last long as Frenger is not one for long in-depth conversations. Things escalate quickly and leave the viewer wincing, which may be for the best as the film leaves very few impressions.
The premise of the movie sounds interesting on its face, but as a viewer that was expecting something as good as Something Wild, this was really a let down. Being a cop in Miami in the late 80s was probably quite exhilarating and the film missed a true opportunity to explore any of this. Many will argue that this is the kind of film that Demme excels at which may be true, but this was a serious miss. If you are looking for a chunk of late 80s/early 90s cheese to decompress in front of this summer, look elsewhere.