Mike's Murder (1984)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

James Bridges

Writer:

James Bridges (writer)

Release Date:

9 March 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

The mystery that led her into a world of incredible danger.

Plot:

Betty has a crush on her tennis coach Mike. He keeps on promising to call, but never does - she doesn't know that he's a little dealer...

Plot Keywords:

Neo Noir

Cast

Debra Winger	...	Betty Parrish
Mark Keyloun	...	Mike
Darrell Larson	...	Pete
Brooke Alderson	...	Patty
Paul Winfield	...	Phillip
Robert Crosson	...	Sam
Dan Shor	...	Richard (as Daniel Shor)
William Ostrander	...	Randy
Gregory Hormel	...	Kid Drug Buyer
John Stewart	...	Tough Guy #1 (as John Michael Stewart)
Víctor Pérez	...	Tough Guy #2
Mark Brandon	...	Ben
Ken Y. Namba	...	Sushi Chef
Ruth Winger	...	Betty's Mother
April Ferry	...	Bosslady

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

Skyewiay

Trivia:

Writer/director James Bridges originally wrote and edited the film so that the story played chronologically backward, similar to what Memento and Irreversible did 16 years later. However, the studio got nervous, thinking it was too complicated and hard to follow, and had the film re-edited in chronological order for release.

Quotes:

[Betty is on the phone with Mike]
Mike: So you don't feel like coming up and swimming with me?
Betty: How about tomorrow night?
Mike: You know I can't plan that far in advance.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

Cosmopolitan

Good Mystery

Last night, Debra Winger spoke about this film at UCLA. The campus theatre that shows films to the general public was renamed the James Bridges Theatre in honor of the writer and director of Mike's Murder. Debra said that Bridges was an actor's director. The scene in the film where Debra's character checks her phone messages and we hear a voice say it's mom-that was Debra's real life mother Ruth-Debra didn't know she would hear that voice until the moment the scene was shot!

That example really highlights the strength of the film, the acting. All of the performances are first-rate. I was touched by Debra's quiet strength in the face of some sad and even bizarre discoveries by her character about her dead lover. A very underrated film!