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(More customer reviews)In my earlier review of another one of Alan Rudolph's movies, "The Moderns", I cited this film as being the ONLY movie to cover what life was like in the weird period in western pop history between 1975 and 1982. This was a period when David Bowie's bizarre influence permeated just about everything having to do with American and Western European night life and sexual rebellion. NOBODY sought to document this strange footnote in the 20th century timeline other than Rudolph, and he does an excellent job!
This is one of a trilogy of movies Rudolph directed when he was "hot", just after he had developed his own style, apart from Robert Altman, his mentor. "Choose Me" and "The Moderns" were the other two. (To appreciate the difference that eventually set the two apart, rent Rudolph's "Welcome To L.A", which could have EASILY been an Altman movie, and compare it to any one of these three.) Unfortunately, since these three movies, Rudolph hasn't done much that could be considered landmark, with the exception of "Mrs. Parker and The Vicious Circle". A damned shame, really.
The story centers around Kris Kristofferson, starring in one of his few really good movies, as a disgraced cop who gets paroled back into Seattle society after serving time for murdering a crime lord for harassing an old flame of his, Wanda, played by Genevieve Bujold, whom he reunites with after he gets out. Wanda owns a popular diner haunted by weirdos and hangers-on over which Kristofferson takes an apartment she offers to him out of gratitude. Into this mix comes Coop, played by Keith Carradine, a young married with the requisite financial problems all working class young marrieds face: New baby, new expenses, a wife to support....After finding out that jobs are hard to come by, (this IS after all, set in the late 70s and early 80s,) Coop soon turns to crime after meeting with a strange, black habitue of Bujold's diner, played by Joe Morton. Coop soon transforms from an average Joe to something resembling a cross between the Joker from Batman and Bowie's Thin White Duke, turning off his young wife, played by Lori Singer. This drives her into the arms of Hawk, Kristofferson's character. Hawk happens onto her right after Coop comes home late one night from one his first forays into petty crime with his newfound friend, Morton, and Hawk just happens to be passing by their shabby motor home after the fight between the two younger people ends.
Eventually, Coop and his friend try to deal with Hilly Blue, a fey crime lord played by the well-known, late transvestite actor Divine, and nobody's life from there on in is quite the same again.
This movie captures the neon world of the late seventies new-wave/punk era near-perfectly and is unique in the fact that it is the ONLY movie to do so! The acting, specifically Carradine, Bujold and Morton, is top-notch, the music, by Mark Isham, is moody, jazzy and noir-perfect and humor abounds throughout.
One of the oddest portions of the movie is a latter part involving Coop and Morton and yet another crime lord of the city named Nate. Nate is, quite frankly, a sissy with an eye for VERY young ladies. However, he's powerful enough to make life very rough for the two punks.
Buy this movie, and I assure you, it will stay in your OWN mind for quite a while.
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