Woodyanders
Life in the dangerous urban cesspool of Rain City: Tough and crusty ex-cop Hawk (an excellent and engaging performance by Kris Kristofferson) gets out of jail after serving time for murder, eager young father Coop (a fine portrayal by Keith Carradine, who sports a wild punk hairdo) neglects his sweet innocent wife Georgia (luminously played with considerable doe-eyed charm by the gorgeous Lori Singer) and falls in with a bad crowd, and ruthless mobster Hilly Blue (deliciously essayed with slimy gusto by Divine, who comes across like an effeminate Sydney Greenstreet) runs the local crime syndicate. Writer/director Alan Rudolph expertly crafts a beautifully bizarre, garish, and stylized reto 40's film noir alternate universe that's punctuated with witty dialogue, populated by colorful oddball characters, and further enlivened by nice moments of inspired quirky humor. Moreover, Rudolph offers a truly singular cinematic meditation on morals, corruption, thwarted desires, and possible redemption. The tip-top cast helps a whole lot, with especially praiseworthy work from Genevieve Bujold as wise and weary diner owner Wanda, Joe Morton as philosophical hoodlum Solo, George Kirby as the hard-nosed Lieutenant Gunther, John Considine as sleazy creep pedophile Nate Nathanson, and Dirk Blocker as brutish thug Rambo. Mark Isham's jazzy score and a couple of songs sung by Marianne Faithful greatly enhance the eccentric brooding atmosphere. Toyomichi Kurita's striking cinematography gives the picture a great gaudy'n'smoky look. Hovering precariously between affectionate homage and campy send-up, this exquisitely idiosyncratic treat qualifies as recommended viewing for fans of outré celluloid fare that doesn't fit into a simple easy category.
christopher-underwood
Very fine moody film, made after, 'Choose Me' and good as that is I have always preferred this. In many ways (until the end) a fairly quite film with people drifting in and out of each others lives. Laid back they may be but there are great performances from Keith Carradine, Genevieve Bujold, Kris Kristofferson and even the lovely Lori Singer, who has probably never bettered this performance. Despite the strange neo noirish look of the rain drenched, neon light streets and signs of decay there are also hints at some future setting and the ambiguity coupled with Kristoffersen's model making constantly create a dreamlike quality to proceedings. The soundtrack is immaculate and the use of the crackling elder Marianne Faithful inspired. Divine is brilliant as the chief baddie and should the uncultured out there drop off for lack of constant action be assured you will awake at the end.
praxis22
The person who compared this film to Bladerunner is not only doing this film a disservice, but is so far from the mark as to be untrue. The chief protagonist is a cop true, and though initially spurned, he does get the girl in the end, but that's about where it ends...From the opening strains of the muted trumpet, and Marianne Faithfull's beautifuly broken voice, this film is a masterpiece, it's moody, quirky, low key and not without a little menace, especially when Hilly Blue "puts the anchor" on Solo, "they should all blow each other's balls off, make my life easier..." to quote Lt. Gunther.It's everything that Bladerunner isn't, if anything it's set in some alternate vision of a disfunctional 50's & 80's combined, down at heel low life's, trashy outfits, too much drab neon & hairspray, allied with a little mob glamour and modern art.I guess I just feel for the characters, Hawk's hunger for a life he never had, the Zen stillness of Wanda, the wild eyed innocence of Georgia and the weirdness that is Coop, Solo freaking out as a Bhudhist, and last but not least, Divine in a suit... "let everybody get what they deserve..."It's not a fast movie, or an ensemble piece, but at some deep level it resonates."what are you looking at?" "you a cop?" "you know damn well I'm not a cop" "that's what I'm looking at then, a woman who isn't a cop..."It's the film I watch when I get down, I've lost track of the number of times I've watched it, I caught it first at the ICA West Bank in London, on it's last showing before they started a series of Mexican masked wrestling bario movies :) I bought it recently on DVD in a shop in Schipol airport after being delayed in Amsterdam for two hours, I'd been looking for it for years at that point... Even Amazon had it on back order.It's really a wonderful movie, from icy lake to mountain road, I always come away from it happy, I guess you can ask no more from a movie than that.
poe426
The forecast is overcast. Director Alan Rudolph sets the tone early on and TROUBLE IN MIND never once strikes a sour note. The cinematography is superb: the camera never stops moving, drifting slowly toward or pulling slowly away from the ex-con, Kristofferson, the country bumpkin-cum-Big City thug, Carradine, his mentor, Morton, the naive engenue, Singer, the survivor, Bujold, or the king of queens, Divine. The story unfolds gradually, logically. The music is appropriately moody. THIS is the way to tell a story. Anyone seriously interested in writing or directing needs to add this one to their list of must-see movies. To miss it would be to miss out.
AD
