The Mighty Quinn (1989)

When police officer Xavier Quinn's childhood friend, Maubee, becomes associated with murder and a briefcase full of ten thousand dollar bills, The Mighty Quinn must clear his name. Or try to catch him, which could be even trickier.

Director:

Carl Schenkel

Writers:

Albert Z. Carr (novel) (as A.H.Z. Carr), Hampton Fancher (screenplay)

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Robert Townsend, James Fox

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Xavier Quinn
James Fox	...	Thomas Elgin
Mimi Rogers	...	Hadley Elgin
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Fred Miller
Sheryl Lee Ralph	...	Lola Quinn
Art Evans	...	Jump Jones
Esther Rolle	...	Ubu Pearl
Norman Beaton	...	Governor Chalk
Alex Colon	...	Jose Patina
Robert Townsend	...	Maubee
Tyra Ferrell	...	Isola
Carl Bradshaw	...	Cocodick
Maria McDonald	...	Jax
Fitz Weir	...	Athens
Baldwin Howe	...	Bim

Storyline

When police officer Xavier Quinn's childhood friend, Maubee, becomes associated with murder and a briefcase full of ten thousand dollar bills, The Mighty Quinn must clear his name. Or try to catch him, which could be even trickier.

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Plot Keywords:

caribbean island | resort hotel | fixer | wife | son | 

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Taglines:

THE CHIEF OF POLICE AND THE CHIEF SUSPECT. They know each other too well to let a little thing like murder get in their way.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 February 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Finding Maubee

Filming Locations:

Port Antonio, Jamaica

Box Office

Gross USA:

$4,557,214

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,239,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

A&M Films, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Star Partners II Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Washington, a scene of him and Mimi Rogers kissing was deleted due to negative reactions from test audiences. He told The Chicago Sun-Times: "Black women hated the scene. White men hated the scene."

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Goofs

When Quinn enters the beach structure towards the end, he is wearing an empty gun holsters. Shortly afterwards when he fights Maubee, the holster is mysterious gone.

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Quotes

Dr. Raj: You may cut a man's head off, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you kill him. Especially if he's already dead, which appears to be the case in this case. The victim died suddenly, but not instantaneously, due to a combination of searing, profound pain, and the emotional shock of seeing his arm turn deeply cyanotic. Uh, that means purple.
Xavier: Yeah, go on?
Dr. Raj: He died of a snakebite.

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Alternate Versions

An interracial love scene between Denzel Washington and Mimi Rogers was rumored to have been cut out of the film when it was learned both black and white test audiences didn't like it.

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Connections

Referenced in A Century of Black Cinema (2003)

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Soundtracks

I GOTTA KEEP MOVING ON
Written by Curtis Mayfield
Performed by UB40
Courtesy of A&M Records and Virgin Records Ltd.

User Reviews

Where's Belafonte when you need him?

Relaxed -- very relaxed -- murder story, with Denzel Washington as a detective ordered to find and capture his friend so the murder can be rapidly cleared up and the tourist trade flow along liquidly. Halfway through, Washington begins to believe that there is more to the case than meets the eye, and that his buddy will be no more than a scapegoat.

Very nice location shooting in Jamaica. If you like reggae, you will LOVE this film's score. There are lots of shots of the beautiful beach. Hey, mon, why you jomp in dee wah-tah faw? The more desperately seedy areas of Kingston are avoided, as they would be in one of Hitchcock's movies set in an exotic locale. The viewpoint is that of the tourist used to saying in nice hotels, the kind with jacuzzis but no venomous snakes.

Denzel Washington handles the accent pretty well without quite shedding his own phones. Sometimes it fades more than others. The other performers don't really have too much to do. Everyone seems to be enjoying himself, as if on vacation.

The movie is rather good-natured considering the plot. The white guys tend to be bad, while the local people of color are at worst raffish. Is there still such racial friction in Jamaica? I don't know, but in the Bahamas the races get along well with one another, as they do in much of the Caribbean. Maybe big cities breed animosities spontaneously.

There's nothing truly outstanding about this routine flick, except, as I've noted, the score. It's not especially exciting, mysterious, amusing, or engaging in any other way. It's not a bad flick if you're prepared to let it take you by the hand and lead you along the colorful streets, pointing out sites of interest, suggesting you taste the jerky and try one of those pink drinks in a tall glass with a flower and a paper umbrella sticking out of it. We call it Captain Bluebeard's Mango Flavored Rum Punch. Mind the umbrella. One of awah tourists lost an eye last year. Don't drink? Fine, bad faw the health. Care for one of awah Jah-may-can cigars?

You might not remember much of it later but you won't object to having watched it.