Mulholland Falls (1996)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Lee Tamahori

Writers (WGA):

Peter Dexter (story) and
Floyd Mutrux (story) ...

Release Date:

26 April 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

This isn't America, this is Los Angeles

Plot:

In 1950's Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Investigation | Murder | Police | 1950s

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Nick Nolte	...	Max Hoover
Melanie Griffith	...	Katherine Hoover
Chazz Palminteri	...	Elleroy Coolidge
Michael Madsen	...	Eddie Hall
Chris Penn	...	Arthur Relyea
Treat Williams	...	Colonel Nathan Fitzgerald
Jennifer Connelly	...	Allison Pond
Daniel Baldwin	...	McCafferty
Andrew McCarthy	...	Jimmy Fields
John Malkovich	...	General Thomas Timms
Kyle Chandler	...	Captain
Ed Lauter	...	Earl
Larry Garrison	...	Perino's Maitre d'
Chelsea Harrington	...	Lolita
Johnna Johnson	...	Bar Woman

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, violence and language.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Largo Entertainment

Trivia:

Cameo: [Virginia Madsen]Opening credits when her brother Michael Madsen's name is shown.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene where the four detectives are trespassing on the military area in the desert the paved road they are on driving on has a double YELLOW center line. Yellow was not used in the USA until 1971.

Quotes:

General Timms: Some people die before their time so that others can live. It's a cornerstone of civilization.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Open Water (2003)

Soundtrack:

Mr. Anthony's Boogie

Atmosphere, Photography Outshine The Story

As a fan film noir, I loved the 1940s and '50s period atmosphere in this movie. This particular story takes place in the early 1950s. Parts of this reminded me of "Chinatown," but this film doesn't have the impact of that one. It's just not as memorable.

You get an idea that this might be another cops-or government officials-are-a- little-over the top when you see who plays them: Nick Nolte, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Chazz Palminteri, Treat Williams, Bruce Dern, John Malkovich, Ed Lauter, Andrew McCarthy, etc. Those guys usually play crooks, not cops. Same with the women in here. Jennifer Connelly and Melanie Griffith aren't exactly Irene Dunne and Doris Day!

We also see CSI star William Petersen playing a Chicago mobster! Unbilled in this film were Louise Fletcher, of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" fame, and Rob Lowe.

This story is a rough-edged for my tastes, with the normal political agendas (government is bad.....again) thrown in here and there, but what I really liked - outside of the look, the "whodunit" angle and the deep cast, was Haskell Wexler's photography. He makes it fun to watch, even if it is no "Chinatown" or "The Big Sleep."