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Tequila Sunrise (1988) More at IMDbPro »

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30 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
Very Underrated, 3 June 2000
Author: Khaled Yafi-2 from London, England

Many perceive Tequila sunrise to be a routine, formulaic cop thriller with some nice sets, pretty actors, some guns, some sex....etc. Cynics go on to say that Gibson has never acted worse, that the plot twists are predictable and the love triangle is overly cheesy. I, on the other hand, feel that the film profits greatly from expert cinematography, fluent storytelling and convincing(albeit rather undemanding)acting. Pitting Gibson (the now-retired drug dealer lured back for one last deal) and Russell (the reluctant sheriff assigned to bust him) as best of friends on opposite sides of the law was a strong premise, made even more compelling by the fact that the drug dealer (Gibson) is the sympathetic character and the cop (Russell) is the sly, manipulative sort. There is an apparent sense of irony and it goes a long way to making an otherwise average story, interesting and very watchable. Pfeiffer is the glamorous love interest whose character does a lot to intensify the rivalry between the two men. Much of the drama and strength however comes from the late J.T Walsh as Russell's superior, hell bent on bringing Gibson down and his Mexican drug counter-part who nobody has ever seen. A special sense of irony presents itself at the denouement for Walsh unknowlingly becomes a pawn in the drug ring that has now become the talk of the town thanks to his vendetta.

The also late Raul Julia never disappoints as the charismatic yet enigmatic Mexican law enforcer. Julia and Walsh complement the film beautifully as side characters with dubious intentions. They are multi-faceted and like all the other people in this film are torn between what they should do and what they want to do, and in fact what they end up doing. Nothing is black and white in Tequila Sunrise; it's a very grey area. With every development we learn more about the people and how they are so far from being what we originally perceived. Hats off to to Robert Towne for his writing. Tequila Sunrise may lack the inventiveness, vision, and dynamism of Chinatown (Robert Towne wrote both scripts), but it should, by no means be discarded as a mediocre cop thriller.It is a very slick piece of cinema with fine acting, glamorous sets, and great dialogue. Furthermore, unlike some of it's predecessors it's a film that can be seen repeatedly without losing it's cutting edge. Under appreciated and underrated, Tequila Sunrise is an excellent film

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13 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
vastly underrated noir, 1 June 1999

Author: kpd1 from NYC

Robert Towne, best known as the writer of Chinatown, directed this backstabbing corkscrew of a film from his own script after several notable directors didn't meet interpretation. A dark brooding piece, that is as meditative and murky as it is tightly written for suspense and twists, Tequila Sunrise focuses on the expectations that conventional mores place upon our freedom to interct and even love whomever our heart bids us.

Gibson plays a drug dealer with, if not a conscience, at least a code of some sort of ethics. He is raising a son and wants to retire from illegal activities so that he may be a good role model.

Russel plays a narcotics cop bucking for a promotion. In order to get his promotion he needs to bust the area's most notorious dealer... guess who. Problem: he and Gibson and childhood mates.

Pfeiffer is a woman caught between them, each one wanting her for different reasons. Raul Julia and J.T. Walsh complete the central players in a fine ensemble on people with agendas that may be worth sacrificing the alliances they have made along the way.

As the various subplots tie themselves into impossible-to-unravel knots, every character will be forced to question what it is he or she holds sacred. Tough and even regretted decisions are made. Friendships are made and dissolved, hearts are broken, revenges plotted...

Gibson is at his best here, Pfeiffer brings great depth to what could easily have been little more than a trophy role. Walsh and Julia are so poker-faced that an audience member who succeeds in reading all the angles should account himself no more than a lucky guesser as they leave you very few clues to work with.

Ironically, despite the desires of Gibson and Towne, the ending had to be altered to please test audiences. Later critics would harp severely on the final shot, the reviews keeping away significant audience. While the ending may be unsatisfying to the typically cynical noir fan, it does not change the fact that this a far-above-average genre flick with an excellent cast and a superb script.

Worth a watch, worth several.

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14 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
A really good film with an excellent twist., 29 July 2002
Author: bigeddie69 from London

This film is all about what was great about the 80's, it has it's own style and all three main actors obviously enjoy there roles. I admit it's not one for challenging your intellect, but it is fun, honest and above all well acted. Great scenery, great story.

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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Interesting plot setup and although dated, very enjoyable, 24 December 2004

Author: Richard Brunton (imdb-update@brunton.org.uk) from Edinburgh, Scotland

I remember this movie for one real thing, the soundtrack. I bought it on vinyl and played a few songs until they were scratched, the fabulous "Do you believe in shame" by Duran Duran was one of my favourites and remains so to this day.

I like this film, I really do. Okay so it now looks dated, but the rest of the film is extremely good. Mel Gibson plays a big time Drug Dealer now trying to go straight but seemingly lined up for one final big deal, or so the Police think, and his old school friend who is now the Chief of Police in the same city, Kurt Russell. Russell rocks, he really does, and they play off each other so perfectly. Michelle Pfieffer is the female caught between them who falls for one, and then the other, each playing the reverse of what you think their character may be and each, in their own way, using her to gain information on the other. That plot device alone makes the movie work for me and I love watching the dynamics between all three characters.

Although a couple of plot turns need a little twist of the imagination, it's still very well written and carried through to the screen with these actors giving good performances to take it there. I still have a soft spot for this movie.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A sexy and complex story about love, honesty, and overall friendship, 15 August 2005

Author: cchandler73 from United States

All in all, I really like this movie. The chemistry is definitely there, and the cinematography is excellent (I love the scene where Mac and Nick are talking while sitting on the swings, in pure silhouette).

Occasionally the dialog does seem stilted, like when Nick's character is telling Joanne how much he wants to see her that night. And you really wonder how Nick has his job, with all of the compromises he makes for relationships (as with Mac and Joanne).

But, Mel Gibson's eyes when he tells Michelle Pfeiffer about his interest in her... swoon! And there's a literally steamy love scene involved that is one of my all-time favorites.

All in all, the whole movie is a very interesting commentary on friendship and the ties that bind. 1) Friendship is the only choice you have in life (you can't choose your family...) vs 2) at some point friendship's obligations can go beyond the real life of the friendship itself.

Raul Julia has a great speech about that in this movie. Seeing this made me miss him all over again!

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
More of a writer's film than a director's one, 26 June 2008

Author: James Hitchcock from Tunbridge Wells, England

"Tequila Sunrise" is sometimes quoted as an example of neo-noir, a genre of film which uses modern cinema techniques while trying to capture the spirit of the classic films noirs from the forties and fifties. Other examples include Polanski's "Chinatown", the Michael Winner remake of "The Big Sleep", Lawrence Kasdan's "Body Heat" and Curtis Hanson's more recent "L.A. Confidential".

The title is derived from the well-known cocktail which has three ingredients, tequila, orange juice, and grenadine. Mel Gibson is seen drinking this cocktail on a couple of occasions, but the significance of the title may be that the film explores the triangular relationship between a "cocktail" of three main characters, Dale "Mac" McKussic, Nick Frescia and Jo Ann Vallinari. (The film was advertised in France under the slogan "Un Cocktail Explosif").

Mac is a former drug dealer who claims that he is now trying to go straight. Nick is not only the head of the Los Angeles narcotics squad for but also Mac's close friend. Jo Ann is a local restaurant owner with whom both Mac and Nick are in love. The two men's friendship is therefore under severe strain, and not only because of their feelings for Jo Ann. There are suspicions that Mac has slipped back into his old ways and may be trying to pull off one last deal with another old friend, a Mexican drug baron named Carlos. If these suspicions prove correct, Nick will be duty-bound to arrest him.

Like many examples of both film noir and neo-noir, "Tequila Sunrise" has a complex plot, one where the motives of all the characters are suspect and where nobody knows whom they can trust. (The writer/director Robert Towne was also the scriptwriter for "Chinatown", a film with one of the most convoluted plots in cinema history). Nevertheless, I have never really regarded it as authentic neo-noir. There was always more to film noir than a crime-related theme and a complicated storyline. Atmosphere was equally important; in some cases (such as Howard Hawks' original "The Big Sleep") it was paramount. In the eighties it would have been virtually impossible to make a film using the moody black-and-white photography which characterised film noir, but neo-noir directors were often able to give their films an equivalent atmospheric look. "Body Heat", for example, has an atmosphere of extreme heat, of sweat, of physical lassitude, of moral decay and of sexual tension, something emphasised not only by John Barry's jazz score but also Kasdan's colour scheme dominated by blacks, reds and oranges.

The film stars three of the up-and-coming stars of the eighties in Gibson, Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer. None of them really give their best performance here, although Pfeiffer is always very watchable. Although in the eighties Gibson was best known for his "tough guy" roles, especially in the "Mad Max" series, he does not bring much menace to the role of Mac or suggest his criminal background. Roger Ebert called him "the nicest drug dealer you'd ever want to know".

In 1988 Towne was much more experienced as a screenwriter than as a director. He had worked on the scripts for more than a dozen films and several TV series, but had only directed one previous film, the very different "Personal Best". It is therefore perhaps not surprising that "Tequila Sunrise" comes across as more of a writer's film than a director's one. Towne inserts all the plot twists and turns that we have come to expect from noir and neo-noir, but there are none of the visual touches we associate with the genre. The film is surprisingly slow-moving and wordy for what is supposed to be a crime thriller, dominated more by talk than by physical action except during the (literally) explosive finale. Towne may have had ambitions to become an auteur director like Polanski, but "Tequila Sunrise", a run-of-the-mill crime drama, is not the work of an auteur. 5/10

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6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Eighties classic, 30 September 2002

Author: Jolo-2 from North Carolina, USA

This is one of those guilty pleasures. I still find myself watching it over and over some 14 years later. After a while, who even cares about Robert Towne's serpentine plot twists. The reason this movie still works is simple - it is great entertainment. This movie takes 3 stars at the peak of their physical beauty who were just beginning to realize their acting potential (admittedly, in the years since, only 2 of them realized that potential). Michelle Pfeiffer attained a perfect trifecta in 1988 with comedy (Married to the Mob), drama (Dangerous Liasons), and this melodramatic actioner. The movie takes itself too seriously, but we don't have to. It's a silly fantasy world with stunning beach sunsets, tequila and sports cars, good drug dealers and bad cops, etc. Like Miami Vice, this movie portrayed the late 80s, and for those of us who grew up during that flashy, fun decade, _Tequila Sunrise_ is a fun-filled nostalgic trip. It's about a beautiful people living angst filled lives.

It's mindless and fun. So enjoy it for what it is.

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7 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Very underrated movie, 2 March 2002

Author: deanrl1 from edmonton canada

This is a very underrated movie about lifelong friends with the bad guys having a lot of good in them and the good guys a lot of bad. The michelle pfeifer part of the movie is actually the worst part but of course a romance plot has to be included. She serves the purpose of dividing kurt russel and mel gibson even farther yet they remain friends because they always have been.

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Conrad and Raul, 16 June 2003
Author: tedg (tedg@FilmsFolded.com) from Virginia Beach

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Spoilers herein.

This film is at root a mess, another rehash of the buddies who end up on opposite sides of the law. Naturally, they compete over the same female trophy. Drugs, stupid cops bossing a breezy detective. These are all trotted out as the formula requires. Ho hum. I suppose the producers thought that attractive Mel and Michelle would gloss over the vapid framework. At least they are early enough in their careers to energetically try. Later, they would simply show up. (Michelle obsesses over her unattractive neck and here has hair that is the perfect solution.)

But behind the machinations of the product, two fine craftsmen do their work. Sadly, both are now gone. Conrad Hall does the cinematography. You can see how blunt the director is in how things are blocked and how crafty Hall is in getting around those limitations, even exploiting them. My favorite example of this is Mel answering the phone after predictably bedding Michelle and leaving her in the trailer. Upstairs, pooltable, the Carlos-twist, are all visually conveyed.

And then there is Carlos himself, an actor leagues beyond everyone else we see and a character more fulfilled. Raul knows how to act a man that acts, how to live large in a body that is living large and to have the two largenesses interact internally. A fine man. Two fine men: one the tequila, one the sunrise.

Ted?s Evaluation -- 2 of 4: Has some interesting elements.

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
an unusual mix, 28 December 2001

Author: Writer Nyc (sevnminsinheaven@aol.com) from New York City

A return to adult filmmaking is robert towne's tequila sunrise. There is more here than the average girl gets in the middle of two boy story. This is a very entertaining and intriguing mix of characterizations and the meanings of friendship. Robert towne writes well rounded characters and situations that may on page seem fantastic but come across very natural on screen. The cinematography is top notch by conrad hall further proving his talent.

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