Arresting, oddball and darkly comedic crime fiction from the mind of the late Charles Willeford, written for the screen and directed by George Armitage and co-produced by Jonathan Demme. Some people may find it a little too unpleasant for their tastes, but others will delight in its unpredictability. It's got enough interesting faces in its supporting cast to help it make an enjoyable cult-favourite type of film.

Alec Baldwin plays psychopathic hoodlum "Junior" Frenger, who arrives in Miami intending to "start over", or in his case simply move on to a new assortment of victims. (He begins by messing up a Hare Krishna in an airport.) He hooks up with Susie Waggoner, a sweet, simple minded hooker played by the endearing Jennifer Jason Leigh. A tough homicide detective, Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward, good as always) follows his trail, but gets victimized himself when Junior gets the drop on him, and steals Hokes' gun, badge, and false teeth. Junior then has the time of his life pretending to be a cop, while entering into a domestic situation with Susie.

"Miami Blues" does get fairly violent sometimes, but if this sort of thing doesn't bother you, you can have a good time with this story and these players. It's got a hip soundtrack including a score by Gary Chang (this viewer loves the use of Norman Greenbaums' "Spirit in the Sky"). Among the supporting actors are Nora Dunn of 'Saturday Night Live' & "Three Kings", Demme regular Charles Napier ("The Blues Brothers", "The Silence of the Lambs"),Obba Babatunde, and Jose Perez; cameos range from Martine Beswicke ("Prehistoric Women") to Paul Gleason ("The Breakfast Club") to Shirley Stoler ("The Honeymoon Killers").

Highly recommended to fans of cult cinema.

Miami Blues is different to most crime comedies I've seen in that it doesn't rely on one liners for its laughs but on situations that are intrinsically funny without being madcap or slapstick. The acting is solid throughout and even though Baldwin's character is clearly a sociopath he isn't totally without charm and seems to genuinely love Susie.

Alec Baldwin plays Frederick J. Frenger Jr an ex con who we first meet as he flies into Miami. We know he isn't nice when he breaks the finger of a Hare Krishna devotee as he leaves the airport, unknown to him this causes the Krisna to go into shock and die. He then goes to a hotel where, being the classy gent he is, he orders a prostitute from the manager.

Susue, the prostitute, played by the always excellent Jennifer Jason Leigh, doesn't appear to be too bright although she claims she is doing it to pay her way though college. They clearly hit it off fairly quickly as not long after meeting they are engaged and Susie has retired from prostitution; Junior however has not retired from his life of crime.

The killing of the Krishna is investigated by a rather unusual homicide detective, he seems a bit of a loner and keeps forgetting to put his false teeth back in. He soon finds Junior but doesn't have the evidence to arrest him so instead stays for dinner and ends up exchanging recipes with Susie.

Junior decides to pay Sgt. Moseley a visit and steals his gun, handcuffs and badge which he then uses to assist him when he takes the ill-gotten money of various criminals. He also takes Moseley's false teeth.

The rest of film follows Sgt. Moseley as he attempts to retrieve his badge and teeth and bring Junior to justice.

Over all this film is definitely worth watching if you have the chance and if you in the unlikely event that don't like it it is only ninety minutes long so you won't have wasted much time.

You know what this reminds me of? Godard's "Breathless," one of the first of the shockingly original Nouvelle Vague flicks of the early 60s. I remember first seeing "Breathless" with some friends in a theater in Ithaca, NY, and emerging arguing about what it meant. I don't mean trying to identify any great load of symbolism or moral lesson it might be towing behind it. I just mean, what happened, and why? As I recall we decided that "Breathless" was an "existential" movie and didn't really need to be specific about what was going on. It was a story about a man making a life choice. You can be or do anything you want, said Sartre, and you can break all the rules -- as long as you're willing to take the consequences.

In "Miami Blues" the Belmondo part is played by Alec Baldwin, a guy fresh out of prison who has chosen a life of wilful disobedience. His girl friend (who really ought not to be in college) is a part-time hooker with aspirations that are utterly bourgeois. Jennifer Jason Lee wants to live with her husband and babies in a house with a white picket fence. Fred Ward, looking grizzled and great, is a homicide detective whom Baldwin clobbers and whose identity he steals.

I don't know why certain things happen. For instance, I have no idea how or why Baldwin manages to dig up Ward's home address, then goes there and beats hell out of him, and winds up stealing his false teeth, handcuffs and other cop accoutrements. What was THAT all about? I'll give one more example. Baldwin is in a convenience store and stumbles on an armed robbery. "I'm the police! Drop that gun and walk out of here!" he shouts -- and threatens the armed robber with a jar of spaghetti sauce.

See, in an existentialist movie like this, the characters don't really need to have motives. They do whatever they feel like doing.

There IS continuity though, even if in its details the movie makes very little sense. The characters are consistent, and there is a rudimentary plot, engaging and amusing without being in any way memorable.

I did enjoy the movie though, even the second time around, or maybe even MORE the second time around, since I'd learned not to expect an abundance of logic in the narrative.

The acting of the three principles is also admirable. Alec Baldwin had just appeared in "The Hunt for Red October," in which he struck me as not much more than a handsome leading man. Here, he's a different character entirely. Watch him as he struts down the street, arms swinging jauntily, grinning through pain, happily throwing off non sequiturs in dramatic situations. ("Do you own a suede coat?" he asks a criminal before murdering him.) Lee is more than childlike. She's positively childish with her overflowing emotions. I loved Fred Ward in this. He's full of quirks and rarely seems to be taking the role seriously. Instead of soaking his precious false teeth in -- what is that stuff, Polydent? -- he soaks them overnight in a glass of left-over booze.

Interesting exercise in style and acting.