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Visitors Review

Neil Doyle 2012-05-19 20:38:36

Style without substance...

MULHOLLAND FALLS is a wannabe version of films like CHINATOWN and L.A.CONFIDENTIAL, but neither the script nor the direction has anythingapproaching either one.NICK NOLTE is a tough police officer leading a squad of men who maketheir own rules when rounding up the usual suspects. He becomesinvolved in the mysterious murder of a woman he had an affair with(JENNIFER CONNOLLY) and his marriage to MELANIE GRIFFITH reaches a deadend when she discovers the truth about it on a reel of film he neverwanted her to see.***** SPOILER AHEAD ***** The plot is too convoluted to describe here,but it leads to the most interesting highlight, an encounter withmilitary men TREAT WILLIAMS and KYLE CHANDLER aboard an Air Force planewith an open door that Williams explains is "for parachute jumpers".But NICK NOLTE and CHAZZ PALMINTERI are suddenly aware of the fate instore for them--the same fate that happened to JENNIFER CONNOLLY whenshe learned too much about a military plan involving the Atomic EnergyCommission and some sick patients in a hospital ward. It's anintriguing scene and is staged for maximum effect.It's the link to the Atomic Energy Commission and JOHN MALKOVICH thatreally throws the plot into turmoil and seems a weak contrivance of thescriptwriter to give the story importance with this link.Unfortunately, it just scrambles the plot further--a plot alreadyjumbled to the point where it resembles a jigsaw puzzle.Nolte wears his fedora all the time (as do most of the men to remind usthis is a period piece), chain smokes, uses his tough guy persona tointimidate everyone in sight, including co-stars JOHN MALKOVICH, KYLECHANDLER, TREAT WILLIAMS and DANIEL BALDWIN. BRUCE DERN has aforgettable cameo (unbilled) and MELANIE GRIFFITH makes almost noimpression as Nolte's disillusioned wife. Director Lee Tambori strives for style and period atmosphere so thatthe film will bear some resemblance to the much better CHINATOWN andL.A. CONFIDENTIAL, but it doesn't work. Instead, the film is a heavyhanded crime melodrama with only one scene that really crackles withtension before the plot is over. Nolte gives a one-note performance inthe leading role.

Dream_Catcher 2012-05-19 09:20:04

Highly Interesting

Possible Spoilers This could have been an averge cops vs bad guys but thegreat cast makes all the difference its set in the 1950's Nick Nolte is adetective who makes his own rules for example he throws a gangster off acliff that is his way of cleaning up the streets this goes own for quitesome time until they find the body of a young woman who was blackmailing ahighranking general wonderfuly played by John Malkovich even if he isonlyin the movie for about ten minutes there are many twists and turns somepredictable some not go watch it 6\10 RATED R FOR VIOLENCE AND SOMELANGAUGE

2012-05-15 12:59:47

High priced garbage.

Wretched film. Manages to trash every good idea and runs all possible interest into the ground (over and over and over again). The entire cast (as well as the otherwise talented director) should be ahsamed! This one belongs in the trash bin.

2012-05-14 21:41:42

Entertainment plus

This review is from: Mulholland Falls (DVD) Mulholland Falls is one of Nolte,s best. A strong cast with no weak links coupled with a thriller/mystery.

2012-05-10 12:11:39

entertaining

with a early 1950's flair, this los angeles police drama and suspense movie is no oscar winner, however a saturday afternoon a the movies would be good.also after seeing the cast;nick noltechazz palmenteribruce dernkyle chandlertreat williamswilliam petersenrob lowethey could have had more of a movie, such as l.a.confidentialthan this mess.i liked it, up to a certain point.

2012-05-10 02:09:39

Dick Tracy gone bad

The opening of the film is the tumbling down a cliff of a mobster by the LA police hit squad.Nick Nolte plays a police detective who is a blunt instrumentand Melanie Griffith is his Tess Trueheart.I think the best acting in this movie is by Chazz Palminterias the partner.We have the LA police department meets Army Intelligenceand the FBI and the secret of radiation cancer exposure of soldiers in Nevada tests.Jennifer Connelly has a lot of exposure, but not a lot of speaking rolesas the girl thrown from an air plane over LAwhose murder is being investigated.This movie has everything to be a big hit:sex, violence, homosexuality and atomic secrets;so why doesn't it click like L.A. Confidential?I liked the movie, but think that it could have been done better.

paul weissman 2012-05-02 21:33:41

Glacial pace wastes great cast

When I watched this film recently I thought that it must have been madeby people trying to capitalize on the success of L.A. Confidential. Ithas the same look and it has nothing short of a phenomenal cast list.But it actually came out a year before L.A. Confidential. I suspectthat the L.A. Confidential producers wee quaking in their boots afterthis attempted film noir bombed at the box office. But of course, L.A.Confidential turned out to be a great success and is remembered as oneof the truly great modern film noirs, combining all of the bestfeatures of a great film, and getting that 40's and 50's feeling justright.About all the Mulholland Falls gets right is the 40's and 50's feeling.But the cast of the Hat Squad come off as almost comic book figures.They drive around town in a big convertible but their hats never evenflicker, less blow off in the breeze, even when they are trying tooutrace an Army jeep at a nuclear test site. Indoors, they take offtheir coats but never their hats.The pace of the movie is glacially slow. It's difficult to stay awake.The writing is sub-par and all too predictable. The two talented andbeautiful women in the movie, Melanie Griffith and Jennifer Connellyare largely wasted with relatively little screen time. In one comicalscene Connelly is slapped by her mobster boyfriend and barely flinches.She returns the slap and almost knocks the guy over. Aren't mobsterssupposed to be able to hit better than that? Or at least take a slapfrom a girl? Parts of the plot are beyond ridiculous. At the nucleartest site, the Hat Squad takes off down a road marked restricted,shoots the padlock off a locked gate, and then acts surprised when theArmy comes after them. And John Malkovich as an effete and intellectualArmy general in a red smoking jacket is so out of place to be absurd.Continuity is also a shambles in this film. During the airplane fight,Treat Williams has one of the rip cords from a parachute tied aroundhis neck as he is thrown to the floor of the plane in front of thedoor. The next shot is a close-up of him sitting on the floor and thecord is mysteriously gone. At the end of the film, the three survivingmembers of the Hat Squad place their hats on the coffin of their fallencomrade. Nick Nolte then proceeds to put on his hat (not the one on thecoffin) as they walk away. Where did that hat come from? The film hasits moments but its poor writing and incredibly slow pace waste a greatcast that tries as best they can to overcome the deficiencies of acrummy plot.

2012-05-02 09:22:50

LA Confidential and Chinatown, YES. Mulholland Falls, NO!

I bought this because I am a big Louise Fletcher fan. She has a VERY small, uncredited cameo here as Esther, the foul-mouthed secretary of Nick Nolte. She is worth watching in anything (to me, at least). She has starred and costarred in some pretty bad, low-budget pictures. This is a big-budget film with big stars, however, which leaves me to ponder at just how mindnumbingly awful it is. How anyone who has seen LA Confidential and Chinatown can sit through this sloppily constructed, poorly written waste of celluloid is beyond me. Louise Fletcher earns my 1 star (this deserves none); she is lovely, well costumed, and beautifully photographed (in what little time she has). Unless you like bad movies, stay away from this one!

2012-05-01 12:00:36

Great 40's -50's Feel

If you enjoy a good feel for the 50's mysterious atomic era, along with a murder mystery, this film is for you. It involves a team of LA police investigating a murder involving a person from the Atomic Energy Commision ( A.E.C ). naturally, there are some problems when the team tries to enter the test site. There are some GREAT shots of the Nevada Test Site Plowshare crater formed by a large nuclear explosion ( Yes it's real !!! ). In a few words.....a great movie, and a very good plot.

Mika Pykäläaho 2012-04-30 20:51:56

First class filmmaking and a terrific crime drama masterpiece

I have no idea whatsoever why the hell I didn't enjoy Lee Tamahori'sbreathtaking "Mulholland falls" when I watched it for the first time. Iguess I just somehow didn't get it, that's all. I'm so glad I decided togive it another chance. Impressive script, smooth camerawork, skillfuldirecting, marvelous dialogue, entertaining story and first-rate acting fromNick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen and ChrisPenn makes "Mulholland falls" a special treat for anybody who appreciates afine motion picture experience and definitive "Chinatown" of the decade.John Malkovich makes a tiny but magnificent appearance as General Timms.Movie I used to totally underestimate is nowadays a spectacular crime drama,highly exciting, extremely ingenious and downright irresistible 90'smasterpiece. Bravo! 10/10.

2012-04-26 09:25:40

Mulholland...FALLS--Oh, NOW I get it!

Let's get to the good stuff about this movie before the real fun of dissecting it. For Nick Nolte fans, you'll enjoy it because he's good in it and cuts a swaggering figure in a fedora. For Jennifer Connally fans, this is a must have (you naughty boys) and you'll want to keep your finger hovering over the pause button. In the meantime, you'll be cursing the director for editing the heck out of that really good 8mm B&W movie starring the impressive Miss Connally and spending most of the film on something about radiation and men with hats in a shiny Buick. Even though this impenetrable storyline features the additional treat of one of the Baldwin brothers (Adam? Stephen??) getting the crap beat out of him, I still found it lacking since the complete footage of Miss Connally's kinky films were never found and fully displayed to their archival stature. Talk about an extra for your DVD edition!Now for the bad stuff. The film tries for atmosphere, but only occasionally succeeds. The shot out at the A-bomb crater is impressive, but on the whole, the movie spends too long doing too little. Of the cast, only Nolte is given enough meat to excel. This is a strong cast, but with the exception of Nolte, they have little to do. Melanie Griffith looks fresh off collagen injections to enlarge her upper lip, sadly ruining her beautiful face. Lord help me, but I kept expecting her to go "quack!" Why is it some gorgeous women keep obsessing about their bodies-tattooes, piercing, injections, etc.? They are like masterpieces that continue to have work done to them and hence ruin their natural beauty (ahem, end soliloquy). And miscasting reaches new heights with uber-quirky John Malkovich as an Army General! Apparently they offered him the part in the B&W porno flick and he was theirs for whatever role nobody else wanted. Well, I don't want to give away the ending, but for me , the whole movie FELL FLAT. My interest PLUMMETED in the climactic scene. So don't feel you should DROP EVERYTHING to go out and rent this movie.

Christopher_K 2012-04-25 16:48:59

So bad it's funny

Paint-by-Numbers film noir:Cigarettes - check. Hats - check. Cigarettes - check. Corruption-check. Gorgeous California Scenery - check (but a little too sunny).More Cigarettes - check. Edgy detective w/drinking problem - check.Murdered innocent girl - check. Who is actually pretty slutty - OK,that may be a new one.The cast in this film is excellent. Top notch. Which only adds to thetragedy of how bad and funny this movie is. Nolte is leader of a police group called the Hat Squad. It quicklybecomes clear that their success is due to one thing - beating the crapout of almost everybody. They will do it in a restaurant, on an out ofcontrol plane (happily, the pilotless plane waits until they're donebefore it starts to dive), and even in a car in the middle of a busyarmy base. It remains to be seen why Nolte needs any help since he'sable to overpower 3 federal agents all by himself. Of course, they'restupid and one is Adam Baldwin, so I'll spot him that one. So what ithink they're saying is - these guys are tough.The cigarettes: I saw this with a friend and his girlfriend in thetheater when this came out and by the second half we were laughing andsuggesting drinking games every time they lit up. It's not so much thesmoking. We all know it was commonplace back then. It's the constantlighting up, and the sudden, subsequent flicking away that's sohysterical. There must be 100 cigs in the movie and I don't think oneis finished. There's also a scene right after a funeral where 30seconds or so is spent on nothing but watching the hat squad break outthe smokes, light up, light another guy up, pass the lighter, take adrag...Now, the hats. We also know that people wore hats in the 50's. But notthis much. These cops wear them all the time. In restaurants, inbasements, in planes. The 4 of them wear them even riding in the car.Did I mention the car is a convertible? Near the end, Nolte puts hishat on his buddy's casket out of respect. But hey - no big deal - hepicks another up that's conveniently waiting for him nearby! Kind oftakes the weight out of the gesture, doesn't it Nick?I'm well aware of the prominence of cigarettes and hats back in thosedays, yet I can't remember a movie of this ilk which made such a pointof reminding me. You don't have to show constant smoking or lighting ofcigarettes any more than you have to show when characters take theirbathroom breaks. We understand it. It's a given once you've establishedit in the film. So a handful of scenes with cigarettes is sufficient. A couple of bizarre scenes: After Nolte discovers a governmentcover-up, goes to kill the man he thinks killed his mistress, finds outthat's not the case, fights and kills the real killer in thesoon-to-be-diving plane, survives a crash-landing, and he and ChazzPalminteri stumble out of the plane. What do they do? They giggle. And- you guessed it - they light up.Finally, at the funeral, after the ponderous smoking/lighting up sceneand everyone else has moved toward the road to get in their cars, Noltehas a heavy meeting with his estranged wife in the middle of thecemetery. She says her last words, communicates to him that she'sleaving him, and walks away. From the road. Into the graveyard. Inheels. Stupid economy parking.Chinatown and LA Confidential did it better.

BloodTheTelepathicDog 2012-04-25 02:28:09

Not to be mistaken for Mulholland Drive.

David Lynch's abysmal "art" film Mulholland Drive doesn't compare withthis throwback to 1940s tough cop flicks. I wonder how long it took toshoot this film. They must have had constant breaks waiting for a bakedNick Nolte to get himself together.This film is made awesome by the cast, with the exception of overrateddrug factory Nolte. Michael Madsen(the coolest dude alive) and Chazzgive stellar performances as usual, but there was one giant miscast.That being John Malkovich as a military officer, he just wasn'tconvincing.The film centers around a dead prostitute(Hollywood's most sexiestwoman Jennifer Connelly) who has a past with Nolte and Malkovich'scharacters. Nolte, shaken up about seeing Jennifer's plane-tossedcorpse, goes about finding her murderer, and stumbles across agovernment cover-up.The majority of the bit characters did well, especially Andrew McCarthyas a squeamish homo, but Jennifer Connelly is the saving grace here.Her juicy archived scenes of pleasing costumers was greatentertainment. She is a living goddess!

2012-04-24 16:04:40

Mullholland Music

Excellent CD. Beautiful music to drive, walk, or just listen to. Takes you back in time.

2012-04-23 23:57:54

Film Noir in Color: Mulholland Falls

The biggest problem with Mulholland Falls, is that it is often compared with "Chinatown" and "L.A. Confidential", both masterpieces in my opinion. It should not. It should be viewed on it's own merit. Yes, it has a "hat squad" and takes place in vintage Los Angeles... but this is a different kind of film. What I love about this film are the marvelous performances. In particular: Nolte's character, who has married a one-time "ornament" in Griffith, and now after a few years, she has matured and he now takes her for granted. His eyes roam a bit, and she confronts that. Their interaction is fascinating. Treat Williams also is amazing as the military man who shows he has more than one side... and it's compelling to watch. I feel like I care about nearly all the characters in this film.My main reason for loving this film, however, is the magnificent way old Los Angeles is recreated in many actual locations. The photography, set decoration, costumes and even the dialog has been carefully recreated to be accurate. I saw the film "Bugsy" recently, and remember how the fine production value was almost ruined by the 90s style four-letter words which peppered the dialog. It was very distracting and "put on". Not so here. This movie looks and sounds very authentic and from a person who was raised in L.A. during the 1950s, it was nostalgic for me on several levels.Finally, there is a beautiful score by Dave Grusin. Though not sounding accurate in style to the music of the period, it is thoughtful, atmospheric and appropriate. I own the soundtrack and the music truly carries the mood of the film in a fresh and vibrant way. Haunting and beautiful.Before this beautiful film was released recently, eBay was selling copies from Brazil for up to 60.00 each because there because there was such a demand for this film on DVD. I am thrilled MGM has decided to release it. One of the very few film noir classics made in the past 40 or 50 years. One of the pitiful few film noir films made in color. The new DVD is gorgeous in color, clarity and transfer, by the way.I highly recommend this fine film!

2012-04-23 10:06:23

Worth revisiting...

They say timing is everything and this certainly applies to the release and reception of movies. Case in point: Mulholland Falls. Released a year before the very similar L.A. Confidential, Falls was also a retro-noir set in 1950s Los Angeles that featured a murder mystery leading to a vast conspiracy. However, Falls was promptly blasted by the critics and quickly disappeared from theatres while Confidential became the toast of critics and award shows all over the world. So, what went wrong? Falls featured a cast of solid character actors (it had more name actors than Confidential) and a critically acclaimed director with Once Were Warriors' Lee Tamahori as opposed to Confidential's Curtis Hanson who had only done adequate B-movies like The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and The River Wild. Now that a few years have passed, Mulholland Falls has aged surprisingly well.One of the first things that is so striking about this film is the gorgeous attention to detail with vintage cars, suits and music from the period. The casting of actresses Melanie Griffith and Jennifer Connelly is right on the money as they both have the voluptuous body type common to that era. Sadly, they aren't given too much screen time but this does give Connelly's character something of an ethereal, mysterious quality that is quite haunting and works well in the movie.With his gravelly voice and weathered good looks, Nick Nolte is well cast as the conflicted tough guy, Max Hoover. If there is one significant problem with the film it is the lack of screen time given to the excellent actors in his crew. They are given little time to develop their characters with only Chazz Palminteri edging out the others. There is little chemistry between them and as a result it isn't believable that they are a tight-knit crew. That being said, the chemistry between Nolte and Palminteri begins to kick in towards the end of the movie but it is too little, too late.There is somber tone that hangs over Mulholland Falls and the ending is refreshingly downbeat (unlike the very classic Hollywood ending of L.A. Confidential). Like any good noir protagonist, Max's shattered life stays shattered. The murder has been solved but at a terrible cost to his own life. While Falls is a flawed film and certainly not as strong as Confidential, it is not an awful film by any means and actually has a lot of merits. It is definitely worth another visit and this new DVD offers the perfect opportunity.

2012-04-18 04:08:46

Well made film noir

A fine cast led by Nick Nolte recreate early L.A. and L.A.P.D. An elite unit latch on to a murder and take it to the limit; not backing down for a minute against very powerful, sinister forces.Well worth the investment.

catheadcatheadcathead 2012-04-17 19:10:53

crater, schmater

Poster "jackjack-2" says that his/her father was the head of the NevadaTest Site and yet this poster insists that there was never such acrater as was shown in the movie. Well there is at least one crater atthe NTS- a BIG crater and it was created by the "Sedan" undergroundtest in, I believe, 1962. So maybe the poster meant that there wasn'tsuch a crater during the time period of the movie? I've been to theSedan crater a couple of times- it looks to me like they may even haveshot the scene at that actual site. But I doubt it- to this day they'repretty picky about the security and taking of pictures at the TestSite. Oh yeah- the movie pretty much "blows". Get it? I thought you would.

2012-04-17 09:25:17

A feel of suspense, 50's style

Kate's theme reflected an enchanting mood. and the main "Mulholland Falls" theme,quite literally, vindicated the masculinity of the hat squad in the movie.

pawpaw-3 2012-04-16 18:55:15

Overblown spectacle that stinks to high heaven.

How could an A-list cast, a talented director and a big budget with a neatperiod as a backdrop be reduced to such a third-rate film? What ever thereason, watching this doesn't do ANYBODY any favors. Everyone involvedshould be ashamed. Even the parts with the most dramatic elements come offlooking phoney. The only good part (aside from any scenes with JenniferConnelly) is the ending, mainly because you can finally shut this garbageoff.