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Tequila Sunrise (1988)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 8/04, 4/25

4/25: Mel Gibson...Michelle Pfeiffer...Kurt Russell.

How can it go wrong in Tequila Sunrise? That's easy: the script. I was already convinced many years ago that Robert Towne turned in an unfilmable screenplay for Chinatown and that Roman Polanski had to rewrite the whole thing. Since then, Robert Towne's career had been mostly filled with crap including the disaster of The Two Jakes, and somebody thought he could direct? Ha! That's rich.

If I were redo Tequila Sunrise, I would get rid of Mel Gibson. The problem with his character is he's a major drug dealer. Therefore, why should I be rooting for him? It doesn't make sense. On the other hand, Kurt Russell is a '10'. A fine-looking man, he was giving one of the best performances of his career and then got downgraded a lot toward the end. Michelle Pfeiffer is Michelle Pfeiffer; there's nothing special about her. Forget Raul Julia; he's so tedious.

Conrad L. Hall was Oscar-nominated for Best Cinematography? What a joke. The only reason why he got it is the sunset scene with Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell on the swing set. Everything else is ordinary. That being said, somebody else got robbed big time such as John Seale and Philippe Rousselot for Gorillas in the Mist and Dangerous Liaisons, respectively.

All in all, Tequila Sunrise only made bank because it starred Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kurt Russell, regardless of the lousy script.

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