A former police detective, still recovering from his alcohol addiction, is seemingly drawn into L.A's criminal underworld after stumbling upon a local drug ring.A former police detective, still recovering from his alcohol addiction, is seemingly drawn into L.A's criminal underworld after stumbling upon a local drug ring.A former police detective, still recovering from his alcohol addiction, is seemingly drawn into L.A's criminal underworld after stumbling upon a local drug ring.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Hector Lopez
- (as Wilfredo Hernandez)
- Homicide Detective
- (as Chip Arnold)
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsWhen Scudder shoots Hector in the chest, a small amount of blood leaks out of the wound, and there is no blood on the blue door behind Hector. This suggests the bullet stayed inside Hector's body. Hector continues standing for several seconds, with a small amount of blood trickling. The next second, Hector drops and the front of his shirt is drenched in blood, as well as the door behind him. This suggests an explosive through-and-through shot.
- Quotes
Angel Moldonado: You think I'm a fool? That's rude, man. You're being disrespectful and rude.
Matthew 'Matt' Scudder: Rude? Come on, you were rude all over the fucking street with Sunny, weren't you? Rude?
Angel Moldonado: Let me explain something to you, what happend to Sunny, man. What happened to her, is people think that if you have to kill somebody in the course of... doing business, sometimes it pays to advertise. You know, make it messy. Remind people they bleed when they die. It might even prevent more killings.
Matthew 'Matt' Scudder: You're a real humanitarian.
Angel Moldonado: I am.
- SoundtracksCachumbambe
Written and Performed by Miguel Cruz
From the album, "Musico Poeta y Loco" by Miguel Cruz and Skins (1982)
Sadly, this was the final theatrical credit for editor turned director Hal Ashby. A recovering substance abuser himself, he had little to no creative control over the final product. He wanted something grittier and closer to the novel (which this movie barely resembles), the producers wanted a feature film version of 'Miami Vice'. But what really hurts it is the poor script (credited to Oliver Stone and R. Lance Hill (a.k.a. "David Lee Henry"), which moves at a snails' pace and doesn't encourage us to really care about the characters.
The lack of success is not for lack of effort on Bridges' part. He, the intense Brooks, and the amusingly slimy Garcia entertain the viewer sufficiently. But Paul is miscast, and Rosanna Arquette, as one of Sunny's co-workers, looks like she couldn't care less. Familiar faces in supporting roles and bits include Vyto Ruginis, James Avery, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Rosalind Allen, and Loyd Catlett.
Absolutely gorgeous photography, good use of locations, an atmospheric score by James Newton Howard (one of his earliest), stunning helicopter shots, and some jarring violence work in the films' favor. But it goes on too long (especially that climactic confrontation in the warehouse, which becomes unbearable rather than tense), and has too much inane dialogue.
The man who made "Harold and Maude", "Coming Home", and "Being There" deserved a better theatrical swan song than this.
Five out of 10.
- Hey_Sweden
- Aug 13, 2017
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $18,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,305,114
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $609,955
- Apr 27, 1986
- Gross worldwide
- $1,305,114
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