Mulholland Falls

Forget comparisons to Chinatown — this movie’s not in that league. But it’s well worth watching. The plot is solid, and a lot of the acting is top-notch: Nick Nolte as a rogue detective who doesn’t mind extending his duties to the occasional execution, Andre McCarthy as a gay peeping Tom with a Bolex, and above all others, Melanie Griffith as Nolte’s wife. (I fell in love with her.) The last third of the film doesn’t hold up well. Nolte and his Federal government opponents throw credibility to the winds, and then John Malkovich appears as a General. Malkovich is a superb actor, but either he’s never seen a general, or he decided to screw up the part because it was too small for him: his clothing, voice, gestures and attitude to LAPD interference would each have ended his Army career before he got second lieutenant’s bars. You get the feeling director Lee Tamahori suddenly got cold feet, and decided to take out insurance by camping it up when it was too late to play the whole film for laughs. But by that point Mulholland Falls has enough momentum to carry you through to the end, and leave you happy you saw it.

I’ve seen this twice. It’s great stuff. Great noir movie with a ton of good actors. Forget the critic. He had to view the movie by himself and couldn’t afford popcorn.