Miami Blues (1990)

Director: George Armitage

Starring: Fred Ward, Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Jason Leigh

An ex-con’s first act of freedom is moving to Miami where he restarts his old criminal ways with even more potency.

Ok, so why is ‘Miami Blues’ such a highly rated movie? Except for Alec Baldwin’s lovely fluffy hairy body, there was nothing memorable here. I mean, honestly…

Alec Baldwin (when he was still incredibly handsome!) stars as thief, fraudster and con artist Frederick. Arriving at the airport, he steals a suitcase. Shortly thereafter he breaks a guys finger, and later it is revealed the guy died. Now a homicide case has been opened, which Sgt. Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward) investigates.

Arriving at the hotel, Frederick hires a hooker, Susie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). They have a bit of fun, and then he goes out stealing again. They have dinner. He steals from more unsuspecting victims. They have dinner. He steals from thieves who steals from unsuspecting victims. They have dinner. Now he starts stealing from thugs. They have dinner… (yawn!)

Sgt. Mosely keeps taking out his teeth, and then puts them back in again…so he can have dinner. Then he takes his teeth out again, and puts them back in… What’s the story with his teeth?? Since it doesn’t contribute to the film – or his character – in any way, I can only assume this was added for comic relief, but I found it annoying and distasteful.

Having stolen a lot of money, Frederick rents a house and him and Susie are now a couple. The have dinner. Occasionally she makes breakfast. Frederick now pretends to be a cop, steals more, goes home and him and Susie have dinner. Oh boy! I didn’t find the movie the least bit interesting. The movie felt like a bunch of random ideas thrown together, but it definitely did not make for an entertaining watch. I was so happy when the credits rolled!!

On a positive note; I really liked Jennifer Jason Leigh here, who delivered a wonderful performance.

On a budget of $11 million the film only earned $9.9 million. I guess I wasn’t the only one who found the film uninteresting…