Miami Blues (1990)

Recently released on collector's edition Blu ray, George Armitage's light hearted crime thriller plays more like a comedy caper at times with Alec Baldwin's sociopath Fred becoming romantically involved with the young and naive Susie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) a hooker who takes Fred for at his word and believes he's giving up his criminal ways.

The tone is a very odd one, and with the film only being ninety minutes long there's not enough time to fully flesh out the genres in the way Miami Blues wants or needs to.

The film commences with Fred beginning a new life in Miami after recently being released from jail, and he immediately finds trouble by breaking the finger of a Hare Krishna as he leaves the airport, who then dies of shock. For the rest of the film, he's pursued by Sgt. Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward) who suspects Fred of being responsible for the Hare Krishna's death, whilst Fred (who goes by "Junior") holes up with Susie, promising he's done with crime.

Unsurprisingly Fred continues his lifestyles of stealing from thieves and, eventually, Moseley himself, enabling Fred to take to the streets with a badge and gun.

Whilst there's enough to justify the idea behind Miami Blues, the tone is so uneven that it hampers the film to the point where you wish you were re-watching Natural Born Killers (1994), a film that traverses genres but maintains the strength of its convictions whilst it does so.

You can't accuse Baldwin or Leigh of not giving their all here; certainly, you buy into Susie's naivety, but Ward's Moseley seemingly attempts to imprint a comedic presence, and just adds confusion to the mood. 6.0/10