A former L.A. drug dealer tries to go straight but his past and his underworld connections bring him into the focus of the DEA, the Mexican feds and the Mexican drug cartels.
A farming family battles severe storms, a bank is threatening to repossess their farm, and there are other hard times in a battle to save and hold on to their farm.
A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.
When a multimillionaire man's son is kidnapped, he cooperates with the police at first but then turns the tables on the kidnappers when he uses the ransom money as a reward for the capture of the kidnappers.
After a successful heist, Porter is shot by his wife and his best friend. They leave him there to die but when he recovers, he seeks revenge and wants his share of the money.
After a break-in at their house, a couple gets help from one of the cops that answered their call. He helps them install the security system, and begins dropping by on short notice and ... See full summary »
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.Written by
Sami Al-Taher <staher2000@yahoo.com>
Raul Julia, a trained singer, sings a few Spanish songs in the film. See more »
Goofs
When Pfeiffer is at the police station getting her chef released, Russell pulls up and parks directly in front of her car. When they leave the station, his car isn't there and Pfeiffer is able to drive away unobstructed. See more »
Quotes
Dale McKussic:
Nobody wants me to quit. You know, don't quit, don't get caught, stay on top long enough for us to knock you off - I mean, that's the motto around here. Nobody wants me to quit. The cops want to bust me. The Colombians want my connections. My wife, she wants my money. Her lawyer agrees and mine likes getting paid to argue with him. Nobody wants me to quit. I haven't even mentioned my customers here. You know they don't want me to quit.
Jo Ann:
That is completely paranoid.
Dale McKussic:
Hey, I'm just talking here. ...
See more »
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
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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