Based on a novel by Charles Willeford, whose Cockfighter and The Woman Chaser were adapted into cult films, Miami Blues is an eminently appealing, if unassuming, neo-noir leavened by a streak of black humor. Essentially a three-hander character piece, writer-director George Armitage’s film focuses on the exploits of career criminal Frederick J. Frenger Jr. (Alec Baldwin), who prefers to go by Junior; gruff homicide detective Sgt. Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward), who’s soon hot on Junior’s trail; and the earnest, if not especially bright, call girl Susie Waggoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh), with whom Junior takes up in a peculiar parody of domestic bliss.
On arrival at Miami Airport, Junior’s first bit of mischief consists of breaking the fingers of a pesky Hare Krishna, which somehow inexplicably results in the man’s death from shock. From there, Junior’s crime spree escalates in frequency and intensity, which is only compounded after he pays a surprise visit to Moseley’s home, beating him into unconsciousness and seizing his badge, gun, and dentures. It’s that last bit of business that gives you some idea of the film’s offbeat sensibilities. Armitage came out of the “Roger Corman film school” in the early ’70s, where he specialized in exploitation movies with a political subtext like Private Duty Nurses, and he peppers Miami Blues with unexpected shifts in tone and narrative direction.
A film with a fairly limited cast of characters largely succeeds or fails depending on the prowess of its leads, and Miami Blues gets a major boost from its central trio of actors. Baldwin’s chiseled good looks and movie-star charisma feed into his character’s allure, but there’s ice in Junior’s veins, and Baldwin expertly navigates Junior’s mercurial nature. Leigh gives a wonderful warmth to the naïve Susie, allowing just the right amount of bruised suspicion and native intelligence to glimmer through, painting the portrait of woman who expects little out of life because that’s all it’s ever offered her. And Ward fairly oozes world-weary sarcasm, and he’s got those dentures (and, more importantly, their absence) to play around with as a choice bit of actorly business.
Miami Blues cynically explores the overlap between the world of the cop and the criminal. One of things that Junior does is use Moseley’s badge to horn in on the weekly graft that Susie’s former pimp, Pablo (José Pérez), pays out to a vice cop, Sgt. Frank Lackley (Paul Gleason), then arrange for the money to be delivered to Moseley’s lodgings. It’s an amusing little setup that’s intended as nothing more than more harassment for Moseley. Junior also uses to badge to foil a number of crimes, taking the proceeds for himself, and, at one point, he even loots a convenience store window after chasing off the prospective burglar.
These incidents are amusing in themselves, but they also lull us into a false sense of complacency (not to mention complicity) with Junior’s criminal undertakings. That is, until everything comes crashing down when his encounter with an overly cautious coin dealer, Edie Wulgemuth (Shirley Stoler). If, in a metaphorical sense, we are Junior’s accomplices, then Susie has been turned into a literal one, and it rests on her moral compass where to draw the line with her assistance. This development gives Susie’s character a real moral arc, allowing her to show more resolve than she has until then. The epilogue has Susie giving a rueful elegy for Junior’s character. Sure, he might have been a murderous sociopath, but he always ate everything she put in front of him. What else can you ask from a man?
Image/Sound
MVD’s 1080p transfer of Miami Blues looks excellent overall, with plenty of clarity to the fine details of costume and set design, a vivid color palette (largely pastel, fitting the locale), and well-modulated grain levels. There’s some minor speckling during the title cards, but otherwise the image seems free of damage. Audio comes in English LPCM 2.0, as well as French and Spanish mixes. The English track sounds great, with clean dialogue and a bouncy soundtrack that opens and closes with Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky.”
Extras
The big bonus here is nearly half an hour’s worth of interviews with actors Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh. They talk about where their careers were at when they made Miami Blues, their characters’ motivations and chemistry, and the extent to which director George Armitage allowed them to improvise. The always voluble Baldwin describes his character as “a baby with a big gun,” and offers an interesting take on straight male characters in the movies of Jonathan Demme, who acted as producer here. Leigh discusses the effects that the release of this film and Last Exit to Brooklyn had on her career, extols the virtues of the script, and talks about filming on location. Aside from an attenuated photo gallery and a handful of trailers, there’s a nifty fold-out poster inside the keep case that replicates the cover art.
Overall
Writer-director George Armitage’s captivatingly eccentric neo-noir is assisted by three magnetic leads and a healthy dose of black comedy.
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