miami blues

Despite its popularity and a wealth of material to draw from, Hollywood has a hard time adapting modern pulp fiction to the screen. There’ve been some exceptional exceptions: Elmore Leonard hit the bulls eye with Out of Sight and Get Shorty while the prolific Donald Westlake’s most faithful flick was way back in 1973 with The Outfit. Filled with villains who can be downright depraved and heroes who are often morally questionable themselves, it’s a genre that requires courage to even attempt…and balls to do right!

Based on the first Hoke Moseley novel by noir novelist Charles Willeford and written / directed by George Armitage, Miami Blues (1990) is as close to perfect as a you can get. It’s pulp fiction without the Tarantino pretension, stripped down to its raw criminal brutality but balanced with a worldview so pessimistic you can’t help but laugh. That it even exists should probably be credited to producer Jonathan Demme, who created a similar offbeat style with Something Wild. But it’s the film’s commitment to the twisted text and tone by everyone involved, especially Alec Baldwin in his first leading role, that make this one something special.

Baldwin plays the charming sociopath “Junior,” fresh out of prison and practically jumping with criminal ambition (“My problem is I can have anything in the world…but I don’t know what I want,” he says). A chance meeting with a naïve hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) develops into an unlikely domestic relationship that jeopardizes his unorthodox lifestyle. Even more problematic, a slovenly cop, Sgt. Moseley (Fred Ward) targets Junior as a likely suspect in the killing of a Hare Krishna at the airport.

Like a cornered animal, Junior fights back by stealing Moseley’s badge, gun and false teeth; then adds insult to injury by accidently solving a number of cases while pretending to be a cop. On an enjoyable rampage, Junior must choose between his life of crime and the love of a good woman.

Although Fred Ward’s character is central to the story (the actor even has a producer credit), it’s Baldwin who runs away with the film. Thanks to 30 Rock and his 15-plus SNL appearances, it’s now obvious that the actor has comedic chops, but Miami Blues proved it decades earlier, combined with a nervous intensity that swerves dangerously between funny and genuinely frightening. Junior is a pulp fiction persona made flesh, but he seems terrifyingly true-to-life. Meanwhile, Jennifer Jason Leigh is so likable and compelling with her country accent and Disneyfied expressions, it’s easy to overlook what an equally tremendous performance she’s turning in.

Armitage, a graduate of the Roger Corman school of filmmaking, directs with such a perfect ear for the sublime ridiculousness inherent in the story, it’s amazing he’s only found cult success once since with Gross Pointe Blank (although he tackled the genre again with Elmore Leonard’s The Big Bounce in 2004). Miami Blues launched a couple careers but didn’t make a dent at the box-office, so it’s not surprising that this Shout Factory collector’s edition is the first time it’s hit Blu-ray. The transfer itself bounces between bright, beautiful colors in some scenes and flat, rather lifeless details in others. Hazarding a guess, it looks like a very early HD transfer handed off from MGM. But Shout managed to sit down both Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh for a 30-minute interview (padded with a ton of film clips). Both stars are positive about the film and their experiences with each other but, unfortunately, don’t bring much insight to the conversation.

That’s OK, because the film does all the talking for them. Buy it, rent it, just see it!