Customer Reviews

Mulholland Falls [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I must first confess my undying admiration of the gorgeous Jennifer Connelly. Now, with my bias out of the way, married plainclothes detective Nick Nolte and doomed party girl Connelly have a torrid affair such that it hurts both to break it off. Hard-guy Nolte and his 3 partners are members of the thuggish but sharply-dressed "Hat Squad," who take it upon themselves to rid the city of organized crime figures transplanted from Back East. With the gracious assistance of the "Hat Squad," these organized crime figures have a way of rolling down the side of the canyon off Mulholland Drive, which is their "hint" that they have overstayed their welcome in L.A., and that it is time to leave town. Hence the title. This was obviously before the days of Internal Affairs divisions and Citizen Review boards.

In what looks to be a routine murder investigation, Nolte and his posse are surprised to discover Connelly's body. Probing deeper, Nolte and his partners determine that Connelly may have been killed for what or whom she knew. Nolte takes it personally. He and his men place themselves in harm's way with the FBI and other well-armed federal agencies. The plainclothes L.A. cops do battle the Feds and, of course, get way in over their heads. Ultimately, no one wins. When you dig deeply enough, no one ever wins.

The upside: this film stars a great ensemble cast--Nolte; Melanie Griffith, his wife; Chazz Palmintieri, Chris Penn, and Michael Madsen, his partners; Connelly; Andrew McCarthy, an effeminate witness; Daniel Baldwin, a smug FBI agent; John Malkovich and Treat Williams. The film looks super, and it recreates 50's L.A. in clear detail, and the dialogue is convincing. Philosophy and psychology are also briefly discussed, which earns it a half-star with me.

The downside: although most scripts made into movies are implausible, the film has difficulty making a believable transition from everyday murder investigation to the scale of atrocity uncovered by the "Hat Squad." This lack of a smooth transition detracts from the credibility of the plotline and the cohesiveness of the film.

The director was obviously influenced by "Chinatown," which is superior viewing, as is "L.A. Confidential," which was released soon afterwards. "Mullholland Falls" is a "Chinatown-lite," although set 15 years or so later.

If you can avoid overly critical comparisons with the best films of this type, you should enjoy it, too.

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.

Let's face it. The director was probably overwhelmed by the talent and let control slip. The movie doesn't quite work until about three quarters way through and enjoyment of it will rest a great deal on whether you like the actors. Me? Most of them could read a relephone book and I would be fascinated. Nick Nolte is just brilliant in this and can pack a whallop with a blackjack not seen since the thirties. Not a great movie but a hell of a lot better than most that go under that name. The big car cruising with the hats aboard, terrific music on the soundtrack, an anti hero who does not take banana from anyone, and great costumes also add to the pleasure of this noir.

Mulholland Falls refers to a place in the film that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. The rest of this mystery, set in the 1950s, is just as mindboggling. The cast sleepwalks through most of this, the "twists" are neither surprising or very credible, the period atmosphere is barely believable, and the ending is pretty pedestrian. Overall this heavily produced/underwritten drama manages to sink under its own weight.

This 1996 no-let-up police drama set in LA in the 1940s is an excellent film on many levels, including the acting and suspense. The principle moral of the tale, which is played out in many ways, is the question whether society should overlook the wrongs that leaders do to some few people as long as these wrongs are done for the sake of the majority of the population. This idea is reflected in the personal life of Nick Nolte, who plays a hard-nosed police lieutenant who has an outside of his marriage relationship, who leads three detectives who constantly wear hats, and the way the foursome treats criminals. It is seen again in how the government handles its atomic war experiments and in the personal life of the general who is in charge. It reappears in the behavior of the murdered girl and in the reason the people murder her. It also shows itself in how the FBI treats Nolte and in his reaction to their act.

The murdered girl was once Nolte's mistress for six months and Nolte's wife, who is very fond of him, knew nothing about the affair. His boss supports Nolte and his squad's brutal treatment of criminals. Obviously this behavior is wrong, but how will it affect the foursome?

Although I live in the US and the seller knew this, they sent me a DVD that was from the UK and unusable to me. Don't buy from this company and shame on Amazon for letting people who sell through them get away with this.

I had to comment after reading review after review of whole-movie reviews for this product - which is the SOUNDTRACK for the film.

Dave Grusin is as accomplished a writer as he is a player - Mulholland Falls particularly shows off a lush period score that fits the movie perfectly (whatever you think of it). I only liked the central actress in the film (Jennifer Connelly - she's stunning) but was thouroughly impressed the the ultra atmospheric score, with rich jazz harmony and dark, dynamic swells - it really fits into the detective film-noir genre.

I don't usually pay attention to film scores that much but I heard this one and wanted to transcribe it. Now I know it's Grusin I'll get around to it sooner.

Uninteresting CHINATOWN ripoff gives a good cast nothing to do. Director Lee Tamahori (ONCE WERE WARRIORS, THE EDGE) has seen better days, and what's up with that awful Dave Gruisin score (sounds like elevator music). What can you say about a movie that even its lead actor (Nick Nolte) admits is bad. Don't bother with this boring mess.

I bought this because I am a big Louise Fletcher fan. She has a VERY small, uncredited cameo here as Esther, the foul-mouthed secretary of Nick Nolte. She is worth watching in anything (to me, at least). She has starred and costarred in some pretty bad, low-budget pictures. This is a big-budget film with big stars, however, which leaves me to ponder at just how mindnumbingly awful it is. How anyone who has seen LA Confidential and Chinatown can sit through this sloppily constructed, poorly written waste of celluloid is beyond me. Louise Fletcher earns my 1 star (this deserves none); she is lovely, well costumed, and beautifully photographed (in what little time she has). Unless you like bad movies, stay away from this one!

The biggest problem with Mulholland Falls, is that it is often compared with "Chinatown" and "L.A. Confidential", both masterpieces in my opinion. It should not. It should be viewed on it's own merit. Yes, it has a "hat squad" and takes place in vintage Los Angeles... but this is a different kind of film.

What I love about this film are the marvelous performances. In particular: Nolte's character, who has married a one-time "ornament" in Griffith, and now after a few years, she has matured and he now takes her for granted. His eyes roam a bit, and she confronts that. Their interaction is fascinating. Treat Williams also is amazing as the military man who shows he has more than one side... and it's compelling to watch. I feel like I care about nearly all the characters in this film.

My main reason for loving this film, however, is the magnificent way old Los Angeles is recreated in many actual locations. The photography, set decoration, costumes and even the dialog has been carefully recreated to be accurate. I saw the film "Bugsy" recently, and remember how the fine production value was almost ruined by the 90s style four-letter words which peppered the dialog. It was very distracting and "put on". Not so here. This movie looks and sounds very authentic and from a person who was raised in L.A. during the 1950s, it was nostalgic for me on several levels.

Finally, there is a beautiful score by Dave Grusin. Though not sounding accurate in style to the music of the period, it is thoughtful, atmospheric and appropriate. I own the soundtrack and the music truly carries the mood of the film in a fresh and vibrant way. Haunting and beautiful.

Before this beautiful film was released recently, eBay was selling copies from Brazil for up to 60.00 each because there because there was such a demand for this film on DVD. I am thrilled MGM has decided to release it. One of the very few film noir classics made in the past 40 or 50 years. One of the pitiful few film noir films made in color. The new DVD is gorgeous in color, clarity and transfer, by the way.

I highly recommend this fine film!