Director: George Armitage
Writer: George Armitage, based on the novel by Charles Willeford
Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto
Editor: Craig McKay
Music: Gary Chang
Notable Cast: Alec Baldwin, Fred Ward, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Charles Napier, Paul Gleason, Jose Perez, Kenneth Utt, Shirley Stoler
My mother, God rest her soul, was never a big Dallas person. Or Dynasty. Or even Falcon Crest. No, my mother was a Knots Landing kind of gal. She loved that show, and as a result, I too love that long ago nighttime soap opera. It’s probably why I always have a soft spot for late 70’s Southern California suburbs. Knots Landing may be my earliest memory of wanting to live inside filmed entertainment. I wanted to live on that cul-de-sac with Karen and Mack, Gary and Val, Laura and Richard, hell even Ginger and Kenny for the real OG fans.
And as such, Knots was my first introduction to Alec Baldwin, as the duplicitous TV preacher, Joshua Rush. It wasn’t a great character or storyline, but there was something magnetic about Baldwin’s presence. Yes, he had those movie star looks, but there was something else about him, a certain danger.
It was no surprise to me, then, when the movies came calling and Baldwin answered the bell. But it was clear from the start that the dopes who run things in tinseltown didn’t really know what to do with Baldwin. He’s one of those in between actors. Has leading man good looks, but isn’t a natural at playing good guys, and he’s not exactly villainous either. After bouncing around in supporting roles in flicks like She’s Having a Baby, Married to the Mob, Working Girl and Beetlejuice, 1990 was his coming out, with leading roles in two decidedly different films.
The Hunt for Red October and Miami Blues were both released in 1990, but it was the latter that really put Baldwin on the map, at least for this guy. No film before and certainly none since really showcased Alec Baldwin’s skills and range as an actor as Miami Blues did. Sure, he has that one classic scene in Glengarry Glen Ross, but in terms of lead roles, it starts and ends with Miami Blues. Though I confess a deep love for The Edge, with him and Anthony Hopkins, it pales in comparison to the film we discuss here today.
But how were the 1ST 5 Minutes of Miami Blues?
1ST 5 MINUTES
First thing we see is the old Orion Pictures logo. Does that bring you back or what? Orion was such a large part of my childhood, mainly because of Robocop, that one can’t help but feel a certain something when seeing that logo at the start of an older film. Maybe it’s just me? Then we get a proper credits sequence, which is rare these days but was still common last century, set to Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum. This takes up almost the entire first half of the 1ST 5 Minutes! The font isn’t great, and while I like this song, it portends an irreverence that makes me queasy. Not great so far.
Then we get shots of clouds as we cut to Baldwin looking out the window of a plane like he’s a 5 year old taking his first airplane ride. And for all we know, this is his first time on a plane. One thing you realize as you watch this film, is aside from a few scant pieces of evidence provided by Baldwin, who’s shown time and again to be a liar in this film, you don’t really know much about his character, Frederick J. Frenger Jr., aka, Junior. But in this brief opening, you know basically all you need to know about the guy. He’s a petty crook, who is always looking for crimes of opportunity.
First thing we see Junior doing on the airplane (Eastern Airlines! Talk about bringing you back in time) is looking through a wallet, a wallet that we quickly learn is not his, but some unfortunate chap named Herman Gottlieb, an identity Junior will adopt for the rest of the film. Did he kill Herman? Or merely rob him? Unclear. All we know is he has the guy’s wallet, complete with ID, as he tries to emulate the man’s signature as he repeats the name Herman Gottlieb under his breath.
Once he exits the plane, he almost immediately tries to steal the attache case of an unsuspecting passenger, unsuccessfully, before bribing a little kid sitting on luggage, whose mother has fallen asleep in the background. He takes the luggage and immediately makes for the escalator to leave the airport. Baldwin has such a wiry, nervous energy right from the start, befitting a petty crook who’s always on the lookout for a new opportunity to effortlessly steal something.
As he makes his way down the escalator, he’s accosted by a Hare Krishna. For you younger folks, Hare Krishnas were a running gag back in the 80’s. I confess that as a child my only exposure to Hare Krishnas was in the hilarious Airplane movie, which I watched religiously as a little kid. Apparently, Hare Krishnas were some religious cult or something that hung around airports trying to get people to buy shit and maybe adopt their religion. Again, this is only what I could glean from movies like this and Airplane, and for me, that’s enough. And while aggressive in trying to convert you, they were peaceful, docile types. So, when one of them doesn’t stop bothering Junior despite his obvious disinterest, Junior does what Junior does best to resolve an issue, resort to violence, and breaks the poor guy’s finger. The Krishna falls to the ground and convulses as Junior calmly exits the airport and boards a shuttle.
While I do indeed love this movie, there’s nothing particularly striking about this 1ST 5 Minutes. It’s serviceable, and gives some clues as to the type of character Junior is, as well as a preview of the style of the film, which mixes comedy and sudden violence rather effortlessly. While there’s nothing here that jumps out at me as portending greatness, there’s also nothing that makes me roll my eyes or consider for a minute not watching the rest. And not for nothing, but you can’t take your eyes off Baldwin. It’s a real star making turn from him.
The rest of the flick
It’s interesting when you watch a film repeatedly over the years. Sometimes when you watch it, it really hearkens back to that first viewing when you fell in love with it. But sometimes, your energy or vibe is just off, and the movie doesn’t land. Just recently, I got the 4K Blu of Bigelow’s Point Break, one of my personal favorites of all time, and I just couldn’t really get into it. It happens. And it was thus for this latest viewing of Miami Blues for this analysis. Hate when that happens.
Be that as it may, there’s so much about this film that is unique, original, and well done, and it starts with the performances. We’ve already discussed Baldwin and his magnetism and charisma in this role. Never before has this actor been so in sync with a role. It’s remarkable how he inhabits this scumbag. And his chest hair is legendary, really gives 1960’s Sean Connery a run for his money in that department. Baldwin’s chest hair should get its own credit.
And the writing for his character is top notch, always keeps you off kilter, as soon as he shows signs of having a heart and maybe even a sense of decency, he does something shitty, either to strangers or Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Susie, his paramour. It’s odd to have a main character that you can never really like or hate. For a somewhat zany movie like this, it’s a particularly human portrayal you rarely see in cinema, where black and white/good vs bad usually rules the day.
There’s dimensions to Junior, you can feel his striving for the good life, but an inability to escape his base desires. Fantastically complex performance that Baldwin pulls of effortlessly.
As he says in my Favorite Line, “My problem is I can have everything and anything that I want, but I don’t know what I want.” Perfect summary of his character. Always on a journey, on a mission, but to where and for what? Is it a spoiler to reveal that he never figures it out?
Also interesting is that the character is initially presented as basically a scoundrel that steals things, and sometimes hurts people in the process, usually other bad guys, but not always. By the middle of the film we realize that he is much more than that, he is also a killer. But because he is so compelling, you still kind of root for him to finally clean his shit up and get his act together. That he doesn’t is tragic in a way, but also realistic. People rarely change, especially once an adult, and Junior Frenger is the embodiment of that.
And just as I think Baldwin never really had the career to match his obvious talents, I can say the same for his co-star, Fred motherfucking Ward (RIP, brother). I love Fred Ward. LOVE. Fantastic actor. Movie star looks that he routinely subverts to play blue collar types, none moreso than his Sergeant Hoke Moseley. This film is actually based on a book that’s part of a series where Hoke Moseley is the main character. As I’ve stated before, I’m not really a book reader, and have never read any of the Hoke Moseley series, but it is a real shame they never made another film with Ward as Moseley on another adventure. Ironic, considering Ward was the one who supposedly shepherded this project along into becoming a film, and had his sights set on playing Junior himself!
That would have been interesting, I’m sure he would have nailed it in his own way, it’s just impossible not to see Baldwin in the role at this point. My personal favorite Ward performance is a tie between this and the great Robert Altman film, Short Cuts. I also dig Tremors, and he was good in The Right Stuff and the Dennis Hopper film alternately known as Backtrack or Catchfire, depending on where you look. Ward has such an easy and natural charm, and it is on full display in Miami Blues. Much like Baldwin’s chest hair, Ward’s dentures should have its own credit at the end. They do play a major role, afterall!
His partner is played the great Jonathan Demme favorite, Charles Napier (RIP, brother), who you may remember as the judge in Philadelphia. Love the part where him and Ward are having a laugh over the dead body of the Krishna at the airport. They definitely act like real cops.
The insanely good casting continues with the inclusion of the late, great Paul Gleason (RIP, brother), as Vice Sgt. Lackley. When he shows up to Ward’s dingy apartment, wearing a white suit straight out of the Miami Vice TV show, you can’t help but smile. Anyone who grew up on The Breakfast Club has a soft spot for Gleason. Yeah, his character in Die Hard is goofy and almost derails that film (pretty sure Roger Ebert thought Gleason killed Die Hard), but in general he is always a plus whenever he shows up. Here he has one scene and that’s it, but what a scene. No one plays a hard ass like Gleason, and the way he just intimidates and controls the situation in Ward’s apartment is fantastic. He’s a crooked cop who gets kickbacks from pimps to look the other way. He’s perfect for this tiny part. And I thank God actors like him exist.
And finally, completing the lead troika, we have the great Jennifer Jason Leigh. Who knew, way back when, that she’d be one of the few actresses of her generation to break the 10 year rule for women in Hollywood? And thank god for that, cause she is a really incredible actor that can play such a wide range of characters, it really is remarkable. From sweet and innocent (as here) to murderously evil (Season 3 of Twin Peaks) and everything in between, you name it and she has done it. Every performance from her is a masterclass.
She’s so genuine in this film. Her sweetness radiates off the screen. She takes the hoary “hooker with a heart of gold” trope and really imbues it with innocence and soul. When Junior mistreats her, like when he dashes her hopes of opening a burger joint, it’s crushing, both for her and the audience. Or how about the scene where she was supposed to cash in her CD at the bank and Baldwin asks her for the money and she tells him how she didn’t take it all out and he gets angry and lightly smacks her in the head with the envelope. She reveals that the bank told her if she left some money in for just a few more days she might win a toaster. It’s heartbreaking. And Junior’s reaction to this is one of his best moments. He immediately apologizes to her, and it is sincere.
Deep down he truly does not want to hurt her, but his base self is incapable of truly being the person she needs. Even when she tries to get “even” on him by baking that goddamn vinegar pie (is that a real thing down south? Jesus…), he tells her how great it is when it obviously is making tears in his eyes it’s so sour. But as she says after he dies, “I had to give him the benefit of the doubt. He always ate everything I ever gave him and he never hit me.” Not sure why, but the part about him always eating her home cooking has stuck with me ever since the first viewing. There’s something so incredibly pure and true about that. Easily one of her best performances in a career defined by great performances.
My Favorite Scene is the one scene that features all three leads at the same time in the same room, all interacting with one another.
The writing here is exemplary, and the performances so natural and true to who they are as characters. It’s funny, tense, illuminating. It’s got it all, and showcases the strengths of all three actors. And damn do those pork chops and mashed potatoes look good!
An equally great scene is the one where Junior stops a convenience store thief with a jar of tomato sauce right before being smashed in the face with the front façade of the store, ripping his eyebrow off.
Not to be outdone by the sequence in the middle of the film where Baldwin impersonates Ward’s Moseley and starts taking down thieves and drug dealers (is Junior a magnet for this activity? Seems wherever he goes some shit is going down. Unrealistic? Yeah. Fantastic? Most definitely!). Love when he recovers a purse from a robber and instead of returning it to the woman, he just runs off with it, or when he shoots a thief in the leg and THEN shouts “Stop or I’ll shoot!” This movie is nothing if not incredibly entertaining.
My Favorite Shot is near the end, after Baldwin returns home, his fingers chopped off, and he’s just sitting there, in extreme pain, near shock, sweating, crying, as he struggles to light a cigarette. There’s nothing wild about the shot, but sometimes a straight on shot of an actor really giving it his all as his end is near is all you need.
For a film shot by Tak Fujimoto, the camerawork throughout is workmanlike, and rather unremarkable. I almost considered leaving out a Favorite Shot, like with Sea of Love, as some movies are great despite having standard grade photography. Miami Blues is one of them. It doesn’t help that I watched this right after I finished Miami Vice. Most films would look like standard grade shit next to that brilliance. So maybe I need to grade this cinematography on a curve?
The director of this film, George Armitage, never really went on to do anything else of consequence. Grosse Pointe Blank has its fans, I’m not one of them. He directed one film after that and then… nothing. Fucking Hollywood, man. But you know what, right now, there’s thousands of people in L.A. that would die, DIE, to make just one film that is heralded as a classic and still talked about 30 years after its release, including your dear Substack writer, SBD.
Surely that wasn’t Armitage’s ultimate goal, but at the end of the day, he made a stone cold classic that stands the test of time, something more prolific directors can’t manage despite a much more voluminous output. Armitage was the right guy, at the right time, for the right movie. And for that, I am grateful.
The One Sheet
This one sheet is not bad, I had it on my wall back in the 90’s, but not so much for the graphic design as the fact I loved the fucking movie. I kind of detest posters that just have insert photos of the cast, like they did here with Ward and JJL, despite Ward getting top billing! The tagline, though, is fantastic. Ultimately, don’t think this poster does the film justice, or captures the essence of just how unique and singular this flick is. Marketing is hard, especially with movies that don’t fit neatly into a box, like this one.
And that does it for Miami Blues, the pastel noir capper to my Miami crime and cops trilogy that started with Bad Boys and Miami Vice.
I’m tempted to make it a quadrilogy with Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain, but since I already did Scarface (come to think of it, Baldwin has a great bit here where he apes Pacino’s performance as Montana), I think we’re Miami’d out at this point, no? Time to visit some other lands, other cities, other places, other realms.
But my heart will always be in Miami (I am a huge Miami Dolphins fans, so… yeah. You can send condolences for that to my inbox or in the comments below, thanks).
As usual, see you in two…