Miracle Mile
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Movie Reviews of Miracle Mile
Movie Review: THE BEST SLEEPER MOVIE OF THE 80s
Summary: 5 Stars
VERY SHORT REVIEW
WHEN YOU WATCH THIS MOVIE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET IT.
Movie Review: A Valentine from Dr. Strangelove
Summary: 4 Stars
It genuinely hurts not to be able to give this, one of the most perfect films about nuclear apocalypse, only four stars ..... but I am totally in concurrence with the other reviewers who are disappointed that MGM chose to release this title in full frame format, rather than theatrical widescreen. On the other hand, it's just good to see it available again at all.As the film opens, our protagonist Harry practices his trombone into the West L.A. evening skyline and reflects on how he had, earlier that day, finally met Julie, the girl of his dreams. "Where do I begin?" he asks in the voice over ..... then we cut to a video about the beginning of life in the universe he is watching at the Museum of Natural History. What follows is a quirky and genuinely sweet romantic unfolding, starting with a chance meeting at the museum, discovering unique mutual interests, meeting the family at a concert in the park, and ending the date with a rather explicit promise of the passions to come on the next date.
But a cruel twist of fate makes Harry late to that next date. When he arrives at the all night cafe where Julie waitresses, he intercepts a call in a phone booth that was intended for someone else, learning that the U.S military has launched a secret preemptive nuclear missile strike on an unnamed nation. The frantic caller barely has time to tell Harry that we would be "getting it back" in just under an hour ..... before he is silenced by the sound of gunfire. Then Harry hears a different voice tell him to forget everything he just heard, and go back to sleep.
Once Harry has shared this unpleasant revelation with the other early morning cafe patrons, they throw together whatever they can on the spot, cram into the owner's truck and head to the airport to catch the next plane to Antarctica .... but Harry can't bear the idea of leaving without Julie, and bails out to look for her. What follows is a sometimes comical, other times surreal, accumulative nightmare as Harry desperately tries to reunite with his lady love and escape before the unthinkable happens. As word gets out on the impending disaster, the city of Los Angeles is transformed into a madhouse of terrified mobs, gridlocked autos and others bound to fellow humans they can't leave behind. Sometimes just getting out of town is not as simple as it seems it should be .....
Steve de Jarnatt wrote and directed this seamless thriller in 1988, and it was one of those positively (but somehow not widely) received releases that kind of came and went in the theaters. There is a lot of subtle humor that would probably appeal mostly to Angelenos, but the sweet and ultimately desperate romance at the core of this tailspin tale has a universal appeal, I think even to the not-romantically inclined. There are parts that smack of Hitchcock (the scene in the cafe where Harry agonizes over how to reveal this terrible discovery amidst the mundane goings ons), and de Jarnatt has indeed fashioned a bona fide classic here. It is very timely in light of recent events, weaves a shattering vision of the Powers That Be robbing us of the freedom to just live and love without fear, as well as gives us a cautionary look at how society at large would deal with such an event. At the film's less than optimistic finish, we are left with a sense of how precious life can be, if only in the few final moments.
Miracle Mile is one of those thrill rides that will make you think and haunt you when it's over .... and had the company that released it given the title the treatment it deserves, this reviewer would have awarded it six stars. It will no doubt find a higher place of honor once our nation adopts a somewhat more responsible stance on military aggression. Until that time, I suppose a good smart adrenaline rush is sufficient.
* solo * aug 2003 *
Movie Review: Fantastic film, less-than-stellar presentation
Summary: 4 Stars
The only thing preventing me from giving the "Miracle Mile" DVD five stars is its disappointing presentation. The newly-released DVD is presented in fullscreen format only, with no option for widescreen. There are no special features to speak of, other than the original theatrical trailer for the movie. There's nothing, in a word, that would tell you much about what makes this film really unique. As one of my favorite movies, I was hoping for better from the DVD release of it. Still, I'm happy to see the DVD, as my ten-year-old videotape copy has seen better days, and this should at least last me a little longer. That doesn't mean I won't be hoping for (at least) a widescreen release of "Miracle Mile" at some point in the future!But enough about the DVD. I'd much rather talk about the movie, as it's an excellent one.
"Miracle Mile" starts out with a pretty simple premise: Harry Washello (played by a very young Anthony Edwards) meets Julie (Mare Winningham) at a museum. They begin to go out, and Harry becomes convinced that she's the girl for him. An unfortunate series of circumstances makes him very late for their third date. Harry tries to call her from a phone booth, and right after he hangs up, the phone rings. He picks it up. A frantic voice on the other end tells Harry that nuclear war has begun, and that there's a little more than an hour before it's all over.
That's when the movie really begins.
Harry doesn't know what to make of the phone call at first. It could be a prank, but it sounded real to him. When he tells others about it, their reactions range from anger to fear to disbelief. The rest of the film becomes an almost-real-time race to try to escape Los Angeles, as Harry tries desperately to find Julie and get her out of the city. Events quickly escalate as more and more people start to learn about the rumours of impending nuclear attack.
The incredible thing is that, for all its trappings as a thriller, what makes "Miracle Mile" so great is how it works as a character study. Harry, generally a good guy, lies and misleads in order to acheive his goals of finding Julie and getting out of the city. Julie, largely clueless about what's going on until near the end of the film, is a well-drawn character with some nice twists. The way she deals with the news is completely believable. A tangential story to the main plot, about Julie's estranged grandparents, is both touching and heartbreaking. The other characters in the story, some of which we only meet for a few minutes, others who show up more than once, are all paid equal attention, and could clearly tell their own stories. I'm always impressed when I watch "Miracle Mile" at how believable each of the characters is... they're not throwaway cardboard cutouts and they're not cliches. They're each people you might see walking down the street at any given time of the day, particularly 4 in the morning.
That said, "Miracle Mile" is still a great thriller, one which will keep you guessing until the end. And when the end comes (no, I'm NOT going to tell you what happens), it'll leave you thinking for quite some time afterwards. I've watched this film 20 times or more, and it always leaves me the same way: a little stunned, a little sad, and very impressed.
"Miracle Mile" has been one of my favorite movies for 15 years now, and will likely be a favorite for a long time to come, because it manages to be a skillful character study and a compelling, original thriller at the same time. There are very few films that make this combination work for them, but "Miracle Mile" accomplishes the task admirably.
I do wish they'd put out a better DVD, though. The film is certainly worth the best presentation they can give it.
Movie Review: The Night Before the Day After
Summary: 4 Stars
Miracle Mile is one of those unique and savagely brilliant films that has never quite gotten its due despite seeming to leave an undeniable impression on just about everyone who has somehow lucked into seeing it. The low-budget film tells the story of an L.A. jazz musician (Anthony Edwards), a nice, mild guy who is lucky enough to not only meet the woman of his dreams (Mare Winningham) but to convince her to go out on a date with him later in the night. He is also unlucky enough to end up oversleeping and missing their date. Still, he drives out to the diner where they were supposed to meet on the slim hope that maybe she's stuck around for a few extra hours waiting for him. And while she hasn't, Edwards does arrive just in time to answer a pay phone and discover that, in just a few more hours, Los Angeles is going to be destroyed in the first nuclear strike of World War III. The rest of the film follows Edwards comically hapless yet touchingly sincere efforts to both reunite with Winningham and to get out of L.A. in the small amount of time he has before the bombs start falling. What starts as a hilarious comedy of errors becomes an all-to-realistic portrait of absurd tragedy as the film reaches it's unavoidable conclusion. The film's power comes from just how seamlessly the film handles the transition from comedy to tragedy (often times shifting between the two a couple of hundred times in the course of just one scene) -- a tonal combination that may, at first, seem like a contradiction but one that accurately reflects the feelings that many of us felt, during the Cold War, growing up with the constant possibility of sudden nuclear holocaust in the back of our minds. Director Steve DeJarnett handles the film with just the right touch, never going overboard on either the comedy or the pathos. Though she doesn't have much to do beyond being sweetly perfect, Mare Winningham proves herself to be the perfect actress for the job. In Anthony Edwards, DeJarnett was lucky to find the perfect leading man for his story. Long before ER made him famous, Edwards here embodies the elusive concept of the everyman. Neither a super hero or a total schlub, Edwards is totally winning and believable as a guy who is both unlucky in love and fate. Watching him, you know that he's not the type of action hero who can prevent a nuclear war but you also know that he's not the type of guy who's willing to allow the world to end without first finding true love. In short, he's just like you and that's what makes Miracle Mile such a powerful and affecting little film.Movie Review: Quirky but enjoyable film
Summary: 4 Stars
Anthony Edwards (ER)plays a musician and romantic who finds the love of his life on the same day that he finds out the world is coming to an end. That is the basic premise of this quirky and eccentric film. When he misses his big date with his dreamgirl he accidentially intercepts a phone call from someone in the military who reveals that the world we know will end in 1 hour. He then shares this strange and prophetic message with the oddball characters at an all night diner. Everything gets crazy when instead of immediately leaving the LA basin area he decides to detour in order to save his new love.
This enjoyable movie was made in the late 1980s when the anxiety and worry about a possible superpower nuclear showdown, USA vs USSR, was still a real concern. There are some interesting performances here. Denise Crosby's(Star Trek Next Generation) character takes this information right to heart and pulls out all the stops to get out of town fast. Myleti T. Williamson (Heat, Forrest Gump)plays a petty criminal who gets caught up in the hysteria.
There are other fine performances by actors you will immediately recognize. And it's fun to take notice of the things that seemed to change right after this movie was made. By the early 90s the threat of the USSR-gone. People walking around restaurants and other public places with a cigarette in tow- (thankfully)gone. Pay phones on every corner- gone. Brick sized mobile phones-gone. Filmed in LA and mostly at night this low budget movie is accompanied by a fantastic musical score from Tangerine Dream. This surreal movie stays interesting and fun from start to finish.