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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Noir-ish Fun under the SoCal Sun, September 12, 2001
...is how I view this film by writer Robert Towne (Chinatown, Personal Best, etc.), who also directs here. Tequila Sunrise is a wonderful, layered neo-noir set in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. Others have criticized this film for being confusing, but at its core, it is a solid character based melodrama laced with a little ambiguity and ever-moving boundaries. Just about everyone in this film is not quite what you'd assume. If you like films that need close watching, with intricate character motives--regardless of clear moral distinctions--this is it.Set in the 1980's, T.S. is a story of deceit, and betrayal, but primarily friendships. Mel Gibson plays Dale (Mac) McKussic, a retired South Bay cocaine smuggler of legendary proportions. Gibson is one actor who plays many hero types on-screen, but who is not afraid to convey the darker aspects of a character. Many other big names in Hollywood wouldn't take on this type of role. Here Mac wants to stay out of the drug business for a more normal life. But, as he puts it, "nobody wants me to quit." Not so much opposing him, but being the flip side of a morally dubious coin, is Lt. Nick Frescia, who heads up L.A. Sheriff's drug enforcement unit. The vastly underrated Kurt Russell plays this character as a smart, slick operator capable of breaking the law when it helps him enforce it. Like Mel, Kurt is quite capable of playing the ambiguous lead (and make you like/hate him at the same time). To really begin to understand these the two leads, though, southern Cal native Robert Towne gets to sprinkle some marvelous, sharp dialogue to their history. Friends since youth (and probably long time rivals), these two veered to opposite, but parallel paths by an incident alluded to in early character conversations. The two have a continuing yet uneasy connection. Here, Towne has a keen eye to those strangest of relationships: those life-long friendships that come out of cauldron known as "high school." The primary impetus for the trouble to come is from the outside. For Nick, it's the unwelcome intervention by D.E.A. agent Hal Maguire, done to slimy perfection by the late J.T. Walsh. Smarmy, and not the sharpest knife in the drawer, he forces Nick to try and nail his friend Mac (who he likes) to do his job for him (who he hates) so as to keep him out of federal hands. For Mac, coincidentally, it's the complication of his friend/drug overlord "Carlos" coming to town to clear up "an accounting problem." Without giving too much away, lets say that the late great Raul Julia gets to have loads of fun playing the mysterious Mexican cop Javier Escalante brought in by Maguire to help arrest this crimelord. The gorgeous Michelle Pheiffer plays Jo Ann Vallenari. She is the tough but tender restaurateur Mac longs for throughout the story. The problem with that is Nick immediately sees her as someone who can help him with his case against Mac. However, he's just not prepared for his feelings and the resulting consequences. Tequila Sunrise is nothing if not a primer on the twists and turns of friendships and moral implications. This movie can be difficult to follow, but if you stick with it, by the end, it's worth it. Watch for some great cinematography done by Conrad Hall. The DVD edition has a good commentary track by Producer Thom Mount with insights on the production and how it evolved to it's final cut.
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DVD ~ Jeff Bridges
DVD ~ Dennis Quaid
DVD ~ Mel Gibson
DVD ~ Harrison Ford
DVD ~ Morgan Freeman
