MULHOLLAND FALLS
A film review by Scott Marcus
Copyright 1996 Scott Marcus
Cast: Nick Nolte, Chazz Palminteri, Chris Penn, Michael Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Melanie Griffith, Treat Williams, Andrew McCarthy, John Malkovich, Bruce Dern, Louise Fletcher, Daniel Baldwin Director: Lee Tamahori Writers: Peter Dexter, Floyd Mutrux Running Time: 107 minutes Grade: B-
One word review: unsatisfactory. This is a movie that that could have been much more than it is. From top to bottom, the cast is good. Every part, large or small, is filled with a name actor. None of the performances stand out as either extremely good or extremely bad. The dialogue is okay, though it tries to be more hip than it should, considering that the film takes place in post-World War II LA MULHOLLAND FALLS tries to be too much; it alternates between the gritty, conspiratorial atmosphere of CHINATOWN, and the in- your-face violence of PULP FICTION, and it can never make up its mind about which to be.
Just how many Baldwins are out there, anyway? In this film, one that I havent seen yet pops up; in every movie I see, it seems that another unfamiliar Baldwin shows up. Its almost like deja vu, as they all sound alike, and resemble one another; it just remains to figure out if Ive seen this one before.
Four cops, Nick Nolte, Michael Madsen, Chazz Palminteri and Chris Penn, make up a special unit in the LA police force. They are charged with keeping LA clean for the upstanding citizens the city needs wants to attract. A young girl shows up murdered, under vaguely strange circumstances. It turns out that one of the cops is acquainted with the victim, and solving the homicide becomes the focus of the film.
Along the way, there are pornographic home movies, villainous Army officers, obnoxious FBI agents, atomic bomb tests, and hats--lots of extremely stylistic hats. Style seems to be the main reason the film is set in the late 40s or early 50s; so that the group of buddy-cops can drive around LA in period outfits with neat-looking hats, and exchange witty banter.
The four main characters, the cops who make up the special unit, are definitely the most interesting part of the film. When theyre together, MULHOLLAND FALLS works. None of the other characters, with the possible exception of General Timms (John Malkovich) is very interesting. The murder victim, Allison (Jennifer Connelly), seen in flashbacks, is beautiful (and she has some rather impressive attributes), comes the closest to holding our attention--but thats probably only because Im a heterosexual male. Melanie Griffith, Treat Williams and Andrew McCarthys characters are all uninteresting, despite being fairly well developed. The story is nothing special; the solving of the murder, while ostensibly the point of the film, becomes almost an afterthought.
This is a near-miss; with a little sharper plotting, and more time spent with the four cops, MULHOLLAND FALLS could have a very good film. As it is, it is only slightly worthwhile.
Revision date: 29 April, 1996
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