Movie Review: The Getaway (1994)

Genre: Crime Thriller  

Director: Roger Donaldson  

Starring: Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Michael Madsen, Jennifer Tilly, James Woods, Richard Farnsworth, Philip Seymour Hoffman  

Running Time: 116 minutes  

Synopsis: Master thief "Doc" McCoy (Alec Baldwin) and his wife Carol (Kim Basinger) join fellow criminal Rudy (Michael Madsen) to free a drug cartel member, but after the job Rudy abandons Doc, who spends time in a Mexican jail. Carol trades sexual favours with crime lord Benyon (James Woods) in exchange for Doc's freedom, and Benyon again partners Doc with Rudy to hold up an Arizona dog racing track. The theft turns violent, Rudy attempts a double-cross, but Doc and Carol end up with the heist money and on the run to El Paso, hotly pursued by Rudy and Benyon's men.

What Works Well: This faithful remake of the 1972 Sam Peckinpah original offers sun-scorched southwest locations, well-staged action scenes, and an enjoyable collection of bad and worse criminals doggedly plotting against each other. Kim Basinger is a significant upgrade on Ali MacGraw, and the heat between real-life couple Baldwin and Basinger is intensified by Doc's understandable annoyance at his wife's sexual liaison with Benyon. 

What Does Not Work As Well: While the production is slick and competent, it's also hard to justify. Alec Baldwin tries to exude a sense of cool but is no match for Steve McQueen, and many of the weaknesses carry over from the original. These include Rudy's cartoonish ability to escape death, and his prolonged side-quest romance with a veterinarian's lusty wife (Jennifer Tilly). Doc's pursuit of an unworthy low-level train station thief only serves to prolong the running time.

Key Quote:

Rudy Travis: It's been my experience that having friends is overrated.

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Movie Review: Mulholland Falls (1996)

Genre: Neo Noir Crime Drama  

Director: Lee Tamahori  

Starring: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, John Malkovich, Treat Williams, Chris Penn, Andrew McCarthy, Michael Madsen, Daniel Baldwin  

Running Time: 107 minutes  

Synopsis: It's the early 1950s in Los Angeles. A tough squad of police detectives led by Max Hoover (Nick Nolte) and consisting of his partners Ellery (Chazz Palminteri), Eddie (Michael Madsen), and Arthur (Chris Penn) play outside the rules to push back against organized crime. When high-class prostitute Allison Pond (Jennifer Connelly) is found dead, Max is compromised because he was one of her clients. Seedy cameraman Jimmy (Andrew McCarthy) secretly filmed Allison with her illicit lovers, including General Timms (John Malkovich). Max's dogged investigation leads to a Nevada atomic bomb test site, and a tangle with Colonel Nathan Fitzgerald (Treat Williams).

What Works Well: This character-based mood-focused drama rides on the brute charisma of Nick Nolte as Max Hoover, a detective determined to keep his town clear of mob figures. His world is suddenly upended when his trysts with the alluring Allison are exposed, collapsing his stable relationship with his wife (Melanie Griffith). The Peter Dexter script balances expertly-delivered punctuations of violence with interesting characters brought to life by a dream supporting cast, with Andrew McCarthy's opportunistic photographer a stand out. At the heart of this investigation is a strong bond of male friendship, Max's squad a cacophony of barbs united by an ends-justify-the-means ethos.

What Does Not Work As Well: The period set designs, vehicles, and wardrobes leave the conspiracy behind, the sequence of events leading to Allison's death becoming fuzzier, less interesting, and ultimately illogical with every reveal. The resources available to the antagonists should have ensured that she simply disappeared, rather than dumped in plain sight of a construction project. 

Key Quote:

General Timms (talking to Max Hoover): That's the history of the world, Lieutenant. Some people die before their time so that others can live. It's the cornerstone of civilization. War, religion, democracy. A hundred die so that a thousand may live.

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Movie Review: Diamond Cartel (2017)

An action crime thriller and Peter O'Toole's final film, Diamond Cartel is notable for somehow collecting some famous actors who should know better and throwing them into a Grade Z Kazakh production.

The barely comprehensible plot involves two lovers caught up in a feud between numerous gangsters somewhere between Siberia and Kazakhstan. Gang boss Mussa (Armand Assante) attempts to negotiate a $30 million deal to purchase a massive diamond from a Mr. Liu. But the exchange, which includes a brief appearance by an undefined Mr. Mike (Michael Madsen), is violently disrupted by the crew of Mussa's disgruntled henchman (played by Nurlan Altaev).

The bloodbath triggers an unexpected reunion between Aliya (Karlygash Mukhamedzhanova) and her childhood friend and former lover (actor Aleksey Frandetti), a soft-spoken non-violent man. Aliya was forced into becoming an assassin by Mussa. Now in possession of both the diamond and the $30 million, Aliya and Frandetti traverse Kazakhstan from end to end, hotly pursued by a large group of heavily armed bad guys. At the end of the journey is none other than Peter O'Toole as a crusty boathouse keeper, waiting to deliver his final two minutes of screen time.

O'Toole passed away in 2013. His last role was in this film, initially called The Whole World At Our Feet and released in the local Kazakh market in 2015. Two years later the film was redubbed, re-edited and renamed as Diamond Cartel, and released more widely.

Directed by Salamat Mukhammed-Ali, Diamond Cartel is a throwback to low budget mindless 1980s action movies. Horrifically dubbed (even the English-speaking actors appear victimized) with stupefyingly plastic dialogue, and featuring acting talent that oscillates between non-existent to over-the-top, this is an impenetrable chase film, serving intermittently as a Kazakh tourist video and otherwise aiming for ultra violent set-pieces delivered with no wit and less context.

To be fair, as a viewing experience it's not a total loss. The production values are decent, director Mukhammed-Ali does demonstrate regular doses of in-your-face panache, and leading lady Mukhamedzhanova shows flashes of promise. The film is delivered with a vivid, almost over-exposed colour palette, and the combination of a stark aesthetic bolted onto a bizarrely disjointed plot manages to hold interest, if not always for the right reasons.

And then there is Armand Assante, the one recognizable import with substantive screen time. He spends the film establishing a new fashion trend of slick jackets with no shirt underneath, and bites into the Kazakh scenery with unrestrained venom.

A so-bad-it's-bad curiosity, Diamond Cartel has shiny star names but the glitter is all fake.

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Movie Review: Reservoir Dogs (1992)

A violent crime drama, Reservoir Dogs introduced Quentin Tarantino to the world and unleashed stunning levels of profanity and violence in a tight independent production.

After a seriously botched off-screen jewelry store hold-up that ended in a wild shoot-out with police, a group of gang members who only know each other by pseudonyms convene at a warehouse to regroup and recriminate. Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) has been shot in the stomach and is slowly bleeding to death. The veteran Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) feels responsible for Orange taking a bullet during the getaway. The excitable Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) is unhurt, having shot his way out of the chaos and then stashed the prized jewels at an unknown location. Pink is sure that an informant double crossed the group.

The cool and detached Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) is blamed for starting all the shooting, and White labels him a psychopath. In the melee Blonde has also managed to abduct a police officer (Marvin Nash), who may hold information about the double cross. The group was brought together by crime lord Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) and his sidekick son "Nice Guy" Eddie (Chris Penn). Now Joe and Eddie need to clean up the mess and figure out what went wrong. With emotions running high among the group of armed strangers, sorting out who is responsible for what will not be easy.

Tarantino's directorial debut is a stunning crime film, filled with sharp dialogue, intriguing characters, and a story that gradually reveals itself through clever use of flashbacks. The central heist that causes the carnage is never seen, as Tarantino prefers to make his 100 minute compact film about people rather than events. The gang members are all strangers to each other, and the film is as much about a bunch of criminals getting to know each other and not liking what they uncover, as it is about the audience enjoying the experience.

The film is mostly set at the one warehouse, and stylistically Reservoir Dogs resembles a stage play on steroids. Most of the action is through intense, threatening dialogue exchanges, with guns being drawn and bullets flying at strategically timed intervals. There are numerous highlights, including several red mist Mexican standoffs, not all of which successfully de-escalate. Tarantino's staging and choice of perspective is often audacious, never more than when a character is shot and falls to ground long seconds later, after the camera has seemingly lost interest only to catch a crucial glimpse.

Oozing Blues Brothers-type cool in black suits, thin neckties and old-fashioned shades, the cast have a blast. The performances are excellent, with Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen particularly impressing. Keitel brings surprisingly prominent principles to Mr. White and Roth delivers most of his role from the ground and flat on his back. Madsen is a vision of understated insanity, a man so far on the edge he alienates hardened criminals.

The violence and profanity are legendary. The thugs basically converse through streams of expletives and insults interspersed with a just the few non-profane words. Appropriately, Reservoir Dogs is male-only territory, and the film features no talking parts for any women.When it comes to blood and gore Tarantino also does not hold back, with messy bullet wounds and large puddles of blood literally painting parts of the set a bright red. But the peak of depravity is a torture scene not for the faint of heart, as Mr. Blonde reveals his inner derangement dancing to radio tunes while administering some impromptu butchery.

At this reservoir, the dogs bark, bite, bleed and back stab, and all are off leash.

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Movie review: Species (1995)

A science fiction horror film inspired by Alien, Species competently transforms the premise to a murderous hybrid alien on the loose in Los Angeles, but suffers from plastic characters and routine execution.

A secret government space exploration lab has made contact with a seemingly friendly superior alien race. The aliens transmit an ingenious DNA sequence, and scientists under the direction of Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley) mix the code with human genes to create a girl they call Sil (Michelle Williams). When she starts experiencing painful nightmares, Fitch decides to exterminate Sil with cyanide. She breaks out, escapes the facility and makes her way to Los Angeles. Killing when cornered, Sil quickly grows into a woman (Natasha Henstridge), and starts seeking men to procreate with.

Fitch assembles a team of experts to hunt down Sil. Press (Michael Madsen) is a specialist in exterminating inconvenient fugitives on behalf of the government, and he is joined by Dan (Forest Whitaker), who has special empathetic powers, while Stephen (Alfred Molina) and Laura (Marg Helgenberger) are scientists. With Fitch they track Sil to Los Angeles, where she is leaving a trail of corpses in her pursuit of the perfect man to mate with.

With the monster effects created by H.R. Giger, the similarities with the Alien universe are numerous. Here again the alien is close to indestructible, seeks to breed, and uses humans to grow. When the Species alien beneath the skin is revealed, it may as well be the close cousin of the critters battled repeatedly by Ripley and company. Even the black-green tone and spaced title font on the film poster is derivative.

Species is never less than moderately exciting as an action movie with good, yucky special effects, and the occasional gory scare. But director Roger Donaldson, working from a Dennis Feldman script, is unable to do much with the premise. A fundamental problem resides with the characters of Fitch and his team members, who are underdeveloped, quite simplistic and generally unsympathetic. With no human protagonists worth investing in, Sil herself emerges as the most compelling character. And as a half-alien in a strange world, there is plenty for her to learn and then manipulate to gain the advantage over humans, LA style. Most appropriately, she picks up most of what she needs to know by watching television.

Sil's journey from frightened child to irresistible schemer is helped by newcomer Natasha Henstridge saying little and happily trading on her looks and sex appeal. She may be an alien in heat, but she is also in frequently naked human form, and the combination of seductive vulnerability and killer instinct becomes the driving force of the film.

But too often, the film defaults to stock humans-chasing-alien. A routine, prolonged, seemingly interminable climax in cave-like sewers below Los Angeles, trying hard to simulate a distant planet environment, sucks the remaining energy out of the film. Ironically, Species is at its most compelling when the alien is above the surface, disguised as just another California blonde.

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The Movies Of Michael Madsen

All movies starring Michael Madsen and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

WarGames (1983)

The Natural (1984)

Thelma And Louise (1991)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

The Getaway (1994)

Wyatt Earp (1994)

Species (1995)

Mulholland Falls (1996)

Donnie Brasco (1997)

Die Another Day (2002)

Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)

Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)

Sin City (2005)

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Diamond Cartel (2017)

Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood (2019)

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The Movie Star Index is here.

Movie Review: Donnie Brasco (1997)

Based on the true story of legendary mob infiltrator Joseph Pistone, Donnie Brasco is a gritty journey into the belly of the Mafia. Al Pacino and Johnny Depp are captivating as the entrails of an organization at war with itself are revealed in bloody detail.

Posing as a shady jewel trader in the grimy New York City of the 1970s, FBI agent Pistone, operating under the alias Donnie Brasco (Depp), attracts the attention of Ben "Lefty" Ruggiero (Pacino). A low level but respected hit-man in the crew commanded by Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano (Michael Madsen), Lefty has always been passed over for promotions within the mob's hierarchy. With his own son a drug addicted failure, Lefty takes Donnie under his wing, introducing him to the family as a trusted associate.

Donnie gains the confidence of the various mob operatives in Sonny Black's crew, including Nicky Santora (Bruno Kirby). But as Pistone burrows deeper into the Mafia, his personal life begins to feel the strain, with his wife Maggie (Anne Heche) effectively leading the life of a widow, never knowing where her husband is.  Meanwhile, Sonny Black gives Donnie increasing responsibilities, including running a club in Miami, and Lefty realizes with growing resentment that his protege has surpassed him in influence. When an internal mob war erupts, Donnie finds himself at the hot end of the hostilities, and his FBI handlers have to find a way to pull him out before he kills or gets killed.

The script by Paul Attanasio, adapting Pistone's book, takes some artistic liberties, but in general Donnie Brasco recaptures the grim reality of the FBI's most successful mob infiltration. The six years that Pistone spent undercover resulted in over 100 convictions, and the film provides an immersive lesson on life within a criminal enterprise. While some drag creeps into the second half of the story, with a vaguely unsatisfying  highlight reel composition taking hold, the raw power of the events and the central performances help pull the movie through.

The New York City of the 1970s is always fertile ground for rampant criminality wedded to resignation, and director Mike Newell ensures that the clothes, cars, locales and dialogue do nothing to alleviate the overbearing sense of crime as routine business. "Fogettaboutit" is the most common phrase exchanged within Lefty's circles, and as Donnie explains in one humorous scene, it can mean anything, depending on the exact pronunciation.

Al Pacino and Johnny Depp both deliver hypnotic performances. Pacino's Lefty is a man looking in the rear view mirror at what might have been, holding on to a bit of pride but fully aware that his chance at glory, if he ever had one, has long since passed. With an economy of movement but a defiant face ready to switch from aggressive to aggrieved in an instant, Pacino effortlessly succeeds in making a multiple killer sympathetic.

Depp matches Pacino, as Donnie walks a tightrope between outwardly respecting Lefty while he comprehensively betrays him. Depp exudes a cool confidence mixed with just enough of a propensity for violence for Donnie to gain the confidence of Lefty and then Sonny Black, as he worms his way into the mob's business and ever deeper into an alternate reality. Depp's achievement is a masterful portrayal of a man whose mind is always racing ahead of the events surrounding him, since he is only ever one mistake away from death.

Donnie Brasco is a worthy addition to the long list of mob crime dramas, with the added shine of real people and events serving as the basis for a gripping narrative. Fogettaboutit? Not likely.

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