[.ca] Mulholland Falls

From Amazon.com:
Too much surface. Director Lee (The Edge) Tomahori's noir story serves as a McGuffin to its ripe style. Amid secret agendas and unspeakable acts onscreen you stare at the fall of light across old cops' desks. Musing on super-8 footage of naked Jennifer Connelly, your mind wanders. Ah, yes, an allusion to the opening shots of Chinatown. Roman Polanski's grand reinvocation of the dark intuitions of 1940s noir is there, too, in the sumptuous look, the plump list of stars (Nick Nolte, Michael Madsen, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich), and the swoony, bittersweet soundtrack. The zigzags of the story that bring together two cheating husbands, one pneumatic babe, and (somehow) homosexuality waywardly recall The Big Sleep. The Atomic Energy Commission subplot feels like an homage to Kiss Me Deadly. With so many other movies to please, by the middle of the film it's clear that the story isn't going to thicken, that for all the amperage in Nolte's performance, for all the male rage in Michael Madsen and Chazz Palminteri, the hints of sexual malfeasance aren't going much past Nolte's domestic guilt about his affair with Connelly. And yet there are rich things. Tracing a path from his girlfriend to the head of the Commission (Malkovich), Nolte listens, hat in hand, to a purring existential science lecture about the invisible world of atoms. "Yeah," Nolte growls, "well, I see too much." Would that the filmmakers had let us see more. --Lyall Bush

entertaining:
with a early 1950's flair, this los angeles police drama and suspense movie is no oscar winner, however a saturday afternoon a the movies would be good. also after seeing the cast; nick nolte chazz palmenteri bruce dern kyle chandler treat williams william petersen rob lowe they could have had more of a movie, such as l.a.confidential than this mess. i liked it, up to a certain point.

Mulholland...FALLS--Oh, NOW I get it!:
Let's get to the good stuff about this movie before the real fun of dissecting it. For Nick Nolte fans, you'll enjoy it because he's good in it and cuts a swaggering figure in a fedora. For Jennifer Connally fans, this is a must have (you naughty boys) and you'll want to keep your finger hovering over the pause button. In the meantime, you'll be cursing the director for editing the heck out of that really good 8mm B & W movie starring the impressive Miss Connally and spending most of the film on something about radiation and men with hats in a shiny Buick. Even though this impenetrable storyline features the additional treat of one of the Baldwin brothers (Adam? Stephen??) getting the crap beat out of him, I still found it lacking since the complete footage of Miss Connally's kinky films were never found and fully displayed to their archival stature. Talk about an extra for your DVD edition! Now for the bad stuff. The film tries for atmosphere, but only occasionally succeeds. The shot out at the A-bomb crater is impressive, but on the whole, the movie spends too long doing too little. Of the cast, only Nolte is given enough meat to excel. This is a strong cast, but with the exception of Nolte, they have little to do. Melanie Griffith looks fresh off collagen injections to enlarge her upper lip, sadly ruining her beautiful face. Lord help me, but I kept expecting her to go "quack!" Why is it some gorgeous women keep obsessing about their bodies-tattooes, piercing, injections, etc.? They are like masterpieces that continue to have work done to them and hence ruin their natural beauty (ahem, end soliloquy). And miscasting reaches new heights with uber-quirky John Malkovich as an Army General! Apparently they offered him the part in the B & W porno flick and he was theirs for whatever role nobody else wanted. Well, I don't want to give away the ending, but for me , the whole movie FELL FLAT. My interest PLUMMETED in the climactic scene. So don't feel you should DROP EVERYTHING to go out and rent this movie.

Modern Film Noir... a classic!:
This movie is NOT on the level of Chinatown, LA Confidential or some of the genuine film noir made in the late 40s.... however... if you enjoyed them, you will enjoy this one, and I give it 5 stars for the atmosphere, music, style, costumes, and story so typical of those other great films. ESPECIALLY interesting is Jennifer's portrayal of a "Black Dahlia" type character, pale blue eyes and all.... and Treat Williams role as a military thug, which he plays beautifully. The score by Dave Grusin is absolutely gorgeous and brings the perfectly beautiful shots of period Los Angeles and matching sets to life. Cinematography and sound is first rate. I can hardly wait to own this on DVD.

Great 40's -50's Feel:
If you enjoy a good feel for the 50's mysterious atomic era, along with a murder mystery, this film is for you. It involves a team of LA police investigating a murder involving a person from the Atomic Energy Commision ( A.E.C ). naturally, there are some problems when the team tries to enter the test site. There are some GREAT shots of the Nevada Test Site Plowshare crater formed by a large nuclear explosion ( Yes it's real !!! ). In a few words.....a great movie, and a very good plot.

A Cops vs. Federal Government story of murder:
Format: Color Not for sale to persons under age 18. Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Video Release Date: June 23, 1998 Cast: Nick Nolte ... Max Hoover Melanie Griffith ... Katherine Hoover Chazz Palminteri ... Elleroy Coolidge Michael Madsen ... Eddie Hall Chris Penn ... Arthur Relyea Treat Williams ... Colonel Nathan Fitzgerald Jennifer Connelly ... Allison Pond Daniel Baldwin ... McCafferty Andrew McCarthy ... Jimmy Fields John Malkovich ... General Thomas Timms Kyle Chandler ... Captain Ed Lauter ... Earl Larry Garrison ... Perino's Maitre d' Chelsea Harrington ... Lolita Johnna Johnson ... Bar Woman Rick Johnson ... Staff Car Sergeant Britt Burr ... Staff Car Driver Melinda Clarke ... Cigarette Girl Ernie Lively ... Foreman Richard Sylbert ... Coroner Michael Krawic ... Assistant Coroner Titus Welliver ... Kenny Kamins Robert Peters ... Cop #1 Father William M. Thigpen ... Priest Drew Pillsbury ... Chief's Assistant Brad Hunt ... Guard Aaron Neville ... Nite Spot Singer Buddy Joe Hooker ... DC-3 Pilot Eddie Caicedo ... Gasping Patient Price Carson ... Honor Guard Azalea Davila ... Perino's Girl Sky Solari ... Perino's Girl Alisa Christensen ... Spaghetti Girl Bruce Dern ... The Chief Rob Lowe ... Hoodlum Johnny Martin ... Mafia Hitman William L. Petersen ... Jack, Mafia Mobster Sharmagne Leland-St. John ... Woman in Night Club Louise Fletcher ... Esther Max Hoover (Nick Nolte) is the head of a special police squad that is given carte blanche when it come to methods of running bad guys out of L.A., including throwing them off cliffs; hence the title: as one of the bad guys observed, "There are no falls on Mulholland Drive," Until of course, he discovers them as he falls down the cliff. The instant crime which the story centers around is the death of a young woman, whose body, it turns out, is discovered to be radioactive, and was a paramour of General Thomas Timms (John Malkovich), who is in command of an Atomic Energy Commission base. The AEC and the FBI, on the one hand, and the LAPD on the other, head for an inevitable jurisdictional clash, in spades. I will not divulge further details of the plot, except to say that it is rated "R" for language and violence--deservedly. But, unlike several other reviewers, I found the film interesting and am watching it for the second or third time. Perhaps not a "great" film, but certainly entertaining within its genre, and well acted and directed. Joseph (Joe) Pierre author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance and other books