Film Review: ALAMO BAY (1985, Louis Malle)

Stars: 3.9 of 5. Running Time: 98 minutes. Notable Cast or Crew: Ed Harris, Amy Madigan (NOWHERE TO HIDE, THE PRINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA), Ho Nguyen (FINAL VERDICT), Donald Moffat (THE THING, TALES OF THE CITY), Caroline Williams (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2, THE STEPFATHER 2), Music by Ry Cooder. Written by Alice Arlen (SILKWOOD, THE WEIGHT OF WATER). Tag-line: "Alamo Bay. A place where everyone risked everything for a piece of the American Dream." Best one-liner: "Communist cunt!" Wow. Said by Harris to Madigan. 

 

More in the vein of his working-class documentaries than his arthouse fare, Louis Malle's ALAMO BAY was unjustly maligned by critics at the time of its release and has basically languished in obscurity ever since. I'm not suggesting that Malle is one of the most perceptive commentators on race in America, or that this film isn't at times a little ham-fisted in its approach (i.e., climactic shootouts), but there's a lot to like here. Ed Harris plays a racist Nam vet who wears confederate flag hats, works on a boat named the "American Dream Girl," and has the beard of a sub commander.

  

Ed is one of my favorite actors, and I was fully expecting to see glimpses of his now-classic 'Ed Harris as a crazed madman' role. Instead, Ed delves deeply and delivers a performance where he doesn't quite seem like himself at all- he genuinely transforms into a terrifying, real-McCoy redneck.  

He and a bunch of other white guys are fairly rankled that a bunch of Vietnamese immigrants are shrimping in their waters. At first, they have valid concerns- the newcomers engage in overfishing and ignore just about every rule and regulation. Of course, the native Texans haven't got a moral leg to stand on as soon as they make it 100% racial, enlist the aid of the KKK (via right-wing grassroots organizing), and start wavin' the guns around.  

Donald Moffat plays a grizzled, well-meaning, cigar-chomping entrepreneur who runs the only fishery that'll employ (or is that exploit?) the Vietnamese.

   

Moffat weighs some shrimp. 

Amy Madigan plays Moffat's resolute daughter and Ed's old flame (by the way, Ed and Amy are real-life husband and wife, and there's genuine, scary chemistry),  

a delicate predicament which could explode into violence at any moment, given the community's volatility.

   

Ed dances for the first time since CREEPSHOW. 

Ho Nguyen plays a newly-arrived immigrant whose callow enthusiasm belies his unwavering resolve; he's not about to let a bunch of douches with guns rule his life- he's already lived that nightmare before.

   

Ho, like the rest of us, is transfixed by the natural electromagnetic energy that flows between Madigan and Harris. 

Malle imparts his tale with quotidian realism: failing to obtain a loan at the bank, striking nets and sorting shrimp at sea, knockin' back a few Lone Stars at the bar... it's extremely vivid, and you can almost feel the briny sting of the seawater or smell that miasma of oily, piscine, sweaty deck odors mixed with the remnants of stale cigarettes.  

And in the world of ALAMO BAY, everyone has a got a beer in their hand at all times. Driving? Have a beer. Working? Have two. Going to church? You're gonna need a bunch of beers. You'd almost think this was a dive bar-topia if it wasn't for all the hate crimes. Ry Cooder's score is decent, but phoned in to the max– it's nearly an exact retread of his work on PARIS, TEXAS. He was generally making a much greater effort on the Walter Hill films of the day. Although, who knows? Maybe Malle told him to senselessly plagiarize himself. Also of note is a bit part by native Texan Caroline Williams (Stretch from TEXAS CHAINSAW 2, Lady in Truck from THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN, etc.) as a xenophobic bar waitress.

   

Caroline Williams serves some ice cold Lone Stars to some grassroots KKKers. Yeesh. Note the light-up Schlitz sign. 

In all, an atmospheric social drama which certainly deserves to be seen. Nearly four stars.

Film Review: NOWHERE TO HIDE (1987, Mario Azzopardi)

Stars: 4.1 of 5.
Running Time: 90 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Amy Madigan, Michael Ironside, Maury Chaykin (TWINS, THE ADJUSTER), Garrick Hagon (Biggs in STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE), Daniel Hugh Kelly (CUJO, MACSHAYNE: THE FINAL ROLL OF THE DICE). Co-produced by Julie Corman (Roger's wife).
Tag-line: "Amy Madigan. Wife...mother...Ex-marine...caught in a conspiracy that's exploded her word. They left her no choice. She's giving them... NOWHERE TO HIDE." I love that the tag-line makes it sound as if Amy Madigan plays herself in this movie...and maybe she does.
Best one-liner: "What's wrong with your boy?"

NOWHERE TO HIDE is a classic 80’s military conspiracy flick (along with ABOVE THE LAW, DEFENSE OF THE REALM, THE FOURTH PROTOCOL and the best of them, FLASHPOINT). Special thanks to Ollie North for making this sort of thing fashionable. Our heroine is Amy Madigan. Madigan is notably Ed Harris' wife, and allow me to say that you don't get to be Ed Harris' wife by knittin' sweaters- the lady is intense. She's also a damned fine actor, playing scenes of hysterical personal trauma and over-the-top badassery with equal levels of truthfulness and commitment.

Madigan wields a welding torch.


There is truly nowhere for Madigan to hide in that sweater.

Anyway, Madigan's military husband is assassinated by the feds (with one thug played by the omnipresent Maury Chaykin) after he discovers they've been skimping on helicopter safety costs. The body count rises, the cover-up spirals out of control, and there's a chase scene through a cemetery that gets a few extra points for having a car brutally ram a coffin, mid-funeral.

In DEATH RACE 2000, this would totally get you, like, a million points.

Anyway, with nowhere else to turn, Madigan enlists the help of hardass mountain man Michael Ironside.

Ironside plays the kind of guy who'll toss two bloody rabbit corpses at a kid, and then ask "What's wrong with your boy?" when the kid starts sniveling.

sniffle, sniffle


"What's wrong with your boy?"

But Ironside gets a chance to play a father figure, too, which clearly makes me very happy. As a form of catharsis, Ironside makes the kid wash rabbits’ blood from his hands- “I’ve seen this before, he’ll be okay.”



After just a few, brief Ironside parenting sessions, this kid will assuredly not become a pansy.

Far be it from me to question the parenting techniques of an Ironside character, but there ya go- the man gets results.

Surrogate pappy Ironside delivers a hearty hug as his terrifying dog looks on.

Later, evil commandos lay siege to the cabin in the film’s best sequence, and we got Ironside taking guys out with a bow & arrow– life is good.

Did I say "life is good?" I meant, "Life is GREAT."

We even get an extended canine low blow when one of Ironside’s dogs chomps a henchman’s genitals.

As part of a continuing series, Junta Juleil endeavors to provide you with the best and most brutal low-blow coverage possible.

Ironside is even killing dudes with his bare hands after getting shot and stabbed like 47 times.

Bravo. The ending is pretty damn convenient, but any implausibilities (Madigan flying a helicopter like a pro) are negated by the fact that the main villain’s car flies off of an incredible precipice, and THEN gets blown-up, mid-descent, by one of Madigan’s perfectly placed rockets.

!

!!!

To quote Yello, “Ohhhhh yehh-yuh.” [Chickah-chickah]

-Sean Gill

Film Review: THE PRINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA (1988, Ron Nyswaner)

Stars: 4 of 5.
Running Time: 87 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Keanu Reeves, Fred Ward, Bonnie Bedilia, Amy Madigan, Jay O. Sanders (JFK, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD).
Tag-lines: "He's The King Of The Badlands... The Rebel Of The Road... "
Best one-liner: "We offend the common rabble with our truth." (but said in the Keanu Reeves-voice it takes on a more colorful quality).

Well, let's see here. First, let's talk about why I rented this. The cover. The rookie Photoshop floating heads combined with Keanu's side mullet and muttonheaded smirk made this seem like it could be a forgotten trash gem.

It's not. Instead, it's a pretty thoughtful indie dramedy. It's exactly the sort of movie that, if it were made today, would be a mawkish, groan-inducing shitstorm starring a bunch of CW actors or worse on their summer hiatuses. And I'm not talking current films getting trumped by the nostalgia factor, or unintentional laughs, or anything I usually talk about when I talk about an 80's film. It's just a fact. This is the kind of movie they fuck up when they try to make it today. Written and directed by Ron Nyswaner (the writer of PHILADELPHIA and the underrated SOLDIER'S GIRL) and starring Keanu Reeves, Fred Ward (REMO WILLIAMS, SOUTHERN COMFORT, many an Altman film),

Bonnie Bedelia (DIE HARD), and Amy Madigan (POLLOCK), THE PRINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA manages some solid moments. It even played at Cannes!

The main thrust is the bleak, overcast, suburban depression caused by living in Buttfuck, Pennsylvania, and the painful values systems therein. It tackles these themes similar to Hal Hartley would, and creates some memorable scenes- a drugged Fred Ward having flashbacks to a Vietnamese brothel and confusing his son for a prostitute (which is wisely not played for laughs), biker punks crashing a prim 'n proper high school dance, Keanu wandering around in oversized winter clothes, and Amy Madigan acting as intense as the wife of Ed Harris should. Madigan even wears a Freddy mask at one point,

which is probably an in-joke from Rachel Talalay, production exec here and line producer on several NIGHTMARES and director of FREDDY'S DEAD.


Bonnie Bedelia in Keanu's garage bedroom. Side note- why do so many 80's characters randomly have mannequin parts in their living spaces (i.e., Ferris Bueller, Pee-Wee Herman, etc.)?

Anyway, there's likable, relatable characters, believable quirk, and some existential angst that works.

(Without a doubt it's what made Gus van Sant want to use Keanu in MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO.) And see Keanu pronounce "Socrates" properly, one year before BILL AND TED. Four stars.

-Sean Gill