MIRACLE MILE
A film review by Shane R. Burridge
Copyright 1995 Shane R. Burridge
(1989) 87 min
Right from the pre-credits opening you'll assume from Anthony Edwards' retrospective narration that you are about to see a quirky, affectionate romance. But by the time MIRACLE MILE has ended you'll have realized that this is a cunning maneuver by writer/director Steve de Jarnatt to plant a subconscious sense of reassurance in the minds of the audience, one that will prevent most people watching from believing that the worst can happen, right up until the very end.
Ten minutes into the story, Harry Washello (Edwards) is late for his second date with new romance Mare Winningham. While waiting on a street corner in the early hours of the morning he answers a phone ringing in a public booth. To describe the events that happen afterward would undermine the surprising developments that Jarnatt has in store, but suffice to say that Harry is informed that inadvertently launched nuclear warheads are winging their way towards his sleeping city. Throughout the rest of the film we watch in frustration as Harry gets swept up in the circumstances he sets snowballing into motion. As in our worst nightmares, he never gains control; he can't seem to get beyond the same limited geographical area; he (like the audience) is deprived of essential knowledge - we are never sure whether the missile scare is real, a hoax, or literally his nightmare.
Jarnatt juggles humor and action with ease, but it is at the moment when the film's nightmare logic spills over into the daylight, where it shouldn't belong, that MIRACLE MILE becomes just plain chilling. We watch his portrayal of suppressed panic, which breaks at different levels for different people, and wonder if we would fare any better in a similar situation. Jarnatt and cinematographer Theo Van de Sande create images that will stick with you, including an unforgettable final shot viewed from within a helicopter cockpit. MIRACLE MILE was Jarnatt's pet project after CHERRY 2000, but was held over for release and undeservedly overlooked. A film that looks good on a big screen, with a characteristically persistent score by Tangerine Dream. For the sharp-eyed: Jarnatt plants a clue pointing toward the conclusion of the film by inserting a shot of study notes for Thomas Pynchon's book GRAVITY'S RAINBOW.
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