Tequila Sunrise (1988)

Mac Mckussic is an unlikely drug dealer who wants to go straight. His old and best friend Nick Frescia is now a cop who is assigned to investigate and bring him to justice. Mac is very ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Towne

Writer:

Robert Towne

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Dale 'Mac' McKussic
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Jo Ann Vallenari
Kurt Russell	...	Det. Lt. Nicholas 'Nick' Frescia
Raul Julia	...	Carlos / Comandante Xavier Escalante
J.T. Walsh	...	DEA Agent Hal Maguire
Gabriel Damon	...	Cody McKussic
Arliss Howard	...	Gregg Lindroff
Arye Gross	...	Andy Leonard
Daniel Zacapa	...	Arturo, Bartender at Vallenari's (as Garret Pearson)
Eric Thiele	...	Vittorio Vallenari
Tom Nolan	...	Leland
Dawn Martel	...	Sin Sister #1
Lala Sloatman	...	Sin Sister #2 (as Lala)
Budd Boetticher	...	Judge Nizetitch
Ann Magnuson	...	Shaleen McKussic

Storyline

Mac Mckussic is an unlikely drug dealer who wants to go straight. His old and best friend Nick Frescia is now a cop who is assigned to investigate and bring him to justice. Mac is very attracted to Jo Ann, the owner of a stylish restaurant. Nick gets close to Jo Ann attempting to know more about Mac's drug dealing plans and his connections with the Mexican dealer Carlos, who the police believe is coming to town to meet with him. Nick also falls for Jo Ann's charms and his friendship with Mac is in danger.

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | police | restaurant | friendship | mexican | 

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Taglines:

A business on the line. A friendship on the edge. A woman caught in the middle. [Video]

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

2 December 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Traición al amanecer

Filming Locations:

Manhattan Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$41,292,551 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Mount Company, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to producer Thom Mount, Alec Baldwin was the original choice to play Nick Frescia and had actually come back twice to audition for the role, but Towne and Mount decided to go in another direction.

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Goofs

During surveillance scene showing beach house, a c-band satellite dish is shown on the right side of house during shot showing the beach in the background. Because the dish is pointing north instead of south, it would be unable to receive signals from geosynchronous satellites over the equator.

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Quotes

Gregg Lindroff: [off camera] I don't know what it is about going to high school with someone that makes you feel you're automatically friends for life.
Gregg Lindroff: Who says?
Gregg Lindroff: Who says friendship lasts forever?
Gregg Lindroff: We'd all like it to, maybe.
Gregg Lindroff: But maybe
[pause]
Gregg Lindroff: it just wears out like everything else - like tires.
Gregg Lindroff: There's just so much mileage in them and then you're riding around on nothing but air.

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Connections

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Unsubstantiated"
by The Church

User Reviews

Classic 80's Noir

Three views on three different occasions and ages and it finally worked on the third time. Sounds like the divisions of a play and acts but it was just how my perception over "Tequila Sunrise" has changed over the years, and now I find it a excellent film, with many positive aspects. The screenplay is smart, confusing at times, it has many terrific things and the actors made this story even more interesting, exciting. This is a film-noir, but not in the traditional almost melodramatic sense, so if you're looking for gunshots, action and chase sequences it's better pick another movie to watch.

In Robert Towne's film everyone is divided between love (on someone or something) and friendship, and things isn't always what they appear. McKussic (Mel Gibson) and Nick Frescia (Kurt Russell) are long time pals who have opposite lines of work: Mac is a nice drug dealer who has a perfect ability of escape from problems, trying to retire himself from the "job"; while Nick is a cop investigating a huge drug shipment coming to the country and McKussic might be involved in it. But friendship worths more than anything in the world and one won't be after the other as long things don't turn into something illegal. In the middle of these two there's three things: Nick's FBI partner Maguire (J.T.Walsh) coordinating McKussic's investigation; Mac's friend the drug dealer Carlos (Raul Julia) coming from Mexico for a big drug operation; and the gorgeous Jo Ann Vallenari (Michelle Pfeiffer) owner of a successful restaurant where Mac is a regular costumer and both friends are interested in this woman who is divided between the love of both men. The audience must try to hold the pieces together and figure what happens next, who's telling the truth and who's lying in this intricate plot.

If the plot itself sometimes wanders a little bit, at least the characters are so well constructed and the performances go in the right direction that the film doesn't suffer one bit, but I must say that attention is required to follow everyone and everything, otherwise you lost yourself with no chance of getting back to the story, and you'll probably hate it. My earlier problems with "Tequila Sunrise" on other views was exactly that; it was right in front of me, this is a picture made exclusively with dialogs and they matter a lot, it is all well written out.

Now, this is a helluva film from the 1980's filled with elements all nostalgic fans from that decade love: Gibson in the peak of his career, Russell as well, Michelle beautiful as ever, Raul Julia stealing the show from everybody, Dave Grusin's jazzy music featuring David Sanborn sax solos with the love's theme, the spectacular cinematography from Conrad L.Hall (Oscar nominated for his work here) capturing fantastic sunny shots and the most beautiful sunsets ever captured on celluloid.

There's a strange magnetism about "Tequila Sunrise" that even before the time I like it, there was something good about it, and I'm glad for it because it always made me want more of it, something makes me watch it every time I can (even though I still don't understand the title. Towne played the enigmatic again with the title, remember "Chinatown"?). Here's a story about the value of love and friendship among unusual friends with more unusual types of work. 10/10