Description: Brace yourself'this intoxicating cocktail with rum and cyanide (Time) is at once brutal, funny, unpredictable and a bit unhinged (Newsweek)! Fred Ward, Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh star in this offbeat black comedy about a murdering thief, his simple-minded wife and the denture-wearing cop closing in on his trail. Veteran criminal Junior Frenger (Baldwin) has moved to Miami to get a fresh start at robbing a whole new set of people. But when his streetwalker-gone-straight wife (Leigh) begins to suspect his criminal behavior, and an obsessed cop (Ward) begins to close in, Junior will need a lot more than luck and a bogus badge to escape a crossfire hotter than the barrel of a smoking gun!
Amazon.com: Alec Baldwin should have had an Oscar nomination for his cunning performance as Frederick J. Frenger Jr., the sleek sociopath and master of quicksilver improvisation who sets the pace for this deceptively breezy crime comedy. Junior's a genius in his fashion, yet not especially bright. In moments of repose, his mouth has a way of falling open slightly, like that of an animal panting in the shade, or Marilyn Monroe thinking. Miami Blues, written and directed by George Armitage, from the novel by Charles Willeford, divides its attention among Junior and two other characters who, in their respective ways, are as eccentric as he: Susie (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a room-service hooker enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College who dreams of acquiring middle-class stability (say, a Burger King franchise); and Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward), a Miami P.D. detective with false choppers who gets on Junior’s trail. Junior and Susie set up housekeeping in Coral Gables, and when Hoke catches up to his quarry, he sits down in the couple's newly rented kitchen and joins them in a meal of pork chops and beer. At which point--well, see for yourselves.
Jonathan Demme coproduced Miami Blues, and the movie operates as a companion piece to Demme's black-comedy meditation on the elusiveness of contentment in these United States, Something Wild ('86). The three principal actors are all terrific, but it's through Susie--and by all means Jennifer Jason Leigh's complex portrait of this down-to-earth creature--that Miami Blues finally touches a deep, abiding sadness, and the bruised tenaciousness of the American Dream. --Richard T. Jameson
Good Flick I won't summarize the plot/themes, that's already been done and you can read some of the lengthy reviews that have already been posted. I just wanted to mention the excellent scene with Baldwin sitting on the bed with the Uzi water gun - it's worth taking a look at the movie for his acting in that scene alone.
EVERYTHING WORKS That MIAMI BLUES has exceptional elements - writing, casting, acting, directing and on and on - should be reason enough to see this unexpected gem. Even though it was done years ago, the concentration on basic human character and constant plot surprises make it the most interesting, entertaining, hard-to-classify movie you might ever see.
This DVD release is technically fine, from audio to video. All actors are fine, but seeing Jennifer Jason Leigh in action reminded me of the edgy, complex characters she's played. Seems like she has pretty good taste in the scripts she picks, too. Check her movies, all are keepers. My favorite is MRS PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, another 5-star film where everything works so well.
Great Movie This movie featured a lot of a-list actors at the time. It was based on a book by a gentleman named Charles Willeford. The movie is filmed in Miami, Florida (back before Miami became extremely cosmopolitan and South Beach was unheard of). It's definitely a crime-drama but has also been listed as a dark comedy, rightfully so. I find this flick to be VERY entertaining and it's one of my favorite movies of all time. Realistic acting, great filming locations and an OUTSTANDING PLOT/STORY make this movie much more than the title might suggest. I live in Miami, so that makes me enjoy this movie even more. 'Miami Blues' is filmed all over south Florida/dade county and not in just one general area, so you see a lot of different places... the plot alone makes this flick worth seeing!
-Eddie
It's all about fun! It's just a fun film that's superbly done on all levels. It could easily be a full-fledged drama as much as a full-fledged comedy. The strange this is, I've never really decided what this movie is, I just know I enjoy it. Only problem is, it's unavailable in widescreen format. Everything and everyone clicks in this film. It shouldn't disappoint anyone.
best_movie_ever
this was an earlier movie in alec balwin's career. baldwin always plays a great bad azz and this role was right up his alley. if you like baldwin, you'll like this. the movie was based on a novel by author charles willeford. basically, a life-long criminal (baldwin) gets out of jail and has trouble adjusting to the real world. he wants a straight life but keeps reverting to his violent, bad habits. he's a con man thru and thru.
balwin accidentally kills a religious nut at the airport when he violently breaks his finger (the guy dies of shock) and he immediately sweeps a young dingbat (jennifer jason leigh), who's a wannabe call girl, off her feet.
a grizzled, jaded cop (fred ward) gets on his case and starts putting heat on baldwin. baldwin winds up going to ward's home and jumps him, beating him badly, stealing his gun, badge...and even his false teeth! then baldwin goes around playing "cop"- he winds up robbing people who rob people, like robin hood...'cept he doesn't give the money to the poor people. there are some outrageous funny scenes as baldwin goes hog wild with his newfound power of posing as a cop.
3 brilliant performances by baldwin, ward and leigh with tons of incredible dark humor. even the minor roles are extremely well done. this movie is more of a cult classic but i can't recommend it highly enough. after many, many years, it's now out on dvd. if you look around, you should be able to find it for $10. my only complaint is that i WISH baldwin and ward (and even leigh) had done commentary as a dvd bonus/extra.
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