preppy-3
Betty Parrish (Debra Winger) loves Mike (Mark Keyloun) not knowing he's a drug dealer. He's murdered one night and Betty sets out to find who did it...and why.Muddled and downright boring attempt at noir. Director James Bridges also wrote the screenplay so he can accept full blame for this. Supposedly it was shot in non-chronological order and he was forced (by the studio) to recut it to run in chronological order. That could explain why it's so badly directed. However that doesn't excuse the confusing plot and lousy acting. Winger (a wonderful actress) is terrible in this. She shows next to no emotion and just wanders around. Only Paul Winfield is any good. The only good part of this movie is a very eerie sequence late at night. THAT worked but it came far too late to save the movie. I saw it in a small art cinema in 1984. When it started there were maybe 10 people in the theatre. When I left at the end (I kept hoping it would get better) I was the only one left! Boring and pointless. You can skip this one. It's obscurity is well-earned!
DaveJLA
Who the hell is anybody kidding? Some people say that this movie stinks? Get the hell out of here! Without a doubt, this movie was one of the best films Hollywood ever put out. From the first scene of intrigue, to the last moments of hell-raising ice-chilling fear, no sane person can say that this movie didn't scare the hell out of them! When watching this movie, you don't know "what the hell" will happen next. Debra Winger's subject is someone you just can't help but feel sorry for. She's kept totally in the dark about her love interest's real profession, and past times. And when you finally see, and feel, what truly kind of low-life bastards that really do infest the drug trade, a world that I unfortunately do know something about, you'll see for yourself that this film is very realistic and an absolute heart-stopper! You will not be disappointed!
SkippyDevereaux
This is one of the most harrowing pictures I have ever seen. It is a very good and very underrated film. All of the actors do a great job in their roles and Darrell Larson gives an outstanding portrayal of a young man who inadvertently signed his own death warrant.I only wish that this film was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, best actress and best supporting actor.!!If you have not seen this film, be sure and check it out--nerve wracking, nail-biting, and an edge of your seat film--you don't know what to expect from minute to minute.One of the best films of any year!!
NORDIC-2
For some inexplicable reason, critics find this film hard to follow. Actually, it's very coherent and surprisingly powerful. Debra Winger plays a bank employee who falls for her tennis coach, a young stud named Mike. When Mike is brutally murdered by drug dealers, Winger's character, Betty, is drawn into the L.A. underworld in her quest to find out why he was killed. What makes this film so great is its quiet realism. Most latter day noirs suffer from over-the-top plotting, mega-violence, and cartoonish effects. Moving by indirection and inference, MIKE'S MURDER skirts a hellish world rather than diving in, a narrative strategy that makes it eerily believable and deeply disturbing. Check it out.
AD
