18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A must-see for fans of Mike Figgis, Sean Bean, or Sting., May 9, 2002
A slick noir piece set in Newcastle, England (yes, Sting's hometown), Stormy Monday is a little-known but beautiful film by Mike Figgis (also the director of "Leaving Las Vegas"). When guileless Irish drifter Brendan (Sean Bean) arrives in town, he befriends a shady nightclub owner Finney (Sting) and falls in love with a ill-used waitress, Kate (Melanie Griffith). As the film's off-beat, strangely elliptical plot advances, all three characters find themselves at odds with a villainous real estate developer, Cosmo (Tommy Lee Jones), who is busy snatching-up an entire portion of the city. (Presumably, Cosmo plans on turning it all into one giant shopping mall, and the film works nicely as a commentary on American-style "globalism" masking good-old American greed.) When Brendan thwarts an attempt on Finney's life (Finney is the last business-owner refusing to sell-out to Cosmo), he and Kate become bystanders in a power struggle between the two men-a situation complicated by Kate's moonlighting as a call girl for Cosmo. As the love story between her and Brendan unfolds-played out against a darkly lyrical backdrop of underworld violence-the film perfectly captures both the promise and menace of the 1980's.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stylish, slick, suspenseful, stars Sting, June 22, 1999
How can this movie be so unknown and underrated? The cast is swell: Tommy Lee Jones makes a terrifically creepy/suave villain -- he's worth the price of a rental alone. Melanie Griffith is quite appealing (and how often is that the case?) Sean Bean has one of his earliest starring roles, and he's great, and Sting rounds things out in a role tailor-made for him: jazz club owner. The movie is full of clever moments and artistic touches. If you like a good suspense drama with romance, and especially if you like nightclubs and slick jazz, this is a fine choice.
The director, Mike Figgis, later gained fame for directing LEAVING LAS VEGAS. STORMY MONDAY is more entertaining.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Early Figgis, dark-themed, worth a look, February 16, 2004
One of Mike Figgis' first films, Stormy Monday fuses an intriguing mix of American greed, crudeness, and innocence with British coolness, toughness, and civility. But added to the mix, interestingly enough, is a Polish element (more on that later).
One American is Melanie Griffith as a cocktail waitress and vaguely defined moll (or former moll) of the other, Tommy Lee Jones, a ruthless moblike businessman who plans on making Newcastle, England his own--commercially, of course. (Political takeover is a little hard to imagine circa 1988). Melanie emits a sexy blend of sensuality and innocence, pretty much irresistible. The British are Sting, as the owner of a club (a role he neatly reprised in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels), and Sean Bean as his cleaning person/gofer. Both are civil and, as it happens, tough as well. And Sting's coolness is in the ultra category, a real neat piece of work.
Sean and Melanie meet and then do a whole lot more; they do the romantic thing, all the while being pursued, as is Sting, by Tommy's henchmen. Tommy plays rough, as it turns out. The mingling of Yank and Brit romantically (Melanie and Sean) is paralleled by battling of Yank and Brit commercially (Tommy and Sting).
The Polish element? Melanie's character is half Polish, and, as well, the band slated to play in Sting's club has an accident so the Cracow Jazz Ensemble (or some such), all Poles, steps in instead, among which is Andrej, a sympathetic band manager, the only one who speaks English. Andrej is destined to play a critical role in the film, but rather than provide a spoiler here, see the film to understand what this means.
Violence plays a large part in the proceedings, as is obvious from the above description. This is a well-plotted film that put Mike Figgis on the map. Doesn't hurt that he not only wrote and directed it, but also composed the music for it, an effectively moody jazz score.
Recommended.
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