"Mike's Murder"

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The Bank Job's somewhat disappointing showing this weekend reminded me again how people don't seem to support solid, commendable mid-range movies much anymore. 90% of the creme de la creme Rotten Tomatoes gang gave it a thumb's up, and the impact was negligible. For reasons that may seem to defy precise linkage, this reminded me this morning of Mike's Murder, a haunting James Bridges drama that didn't sell enough tickets either when it opened in March 1984.

And yet it gets better in my head the more I think back on it. Which I do from time to time.

I'm mentioning Mike's Murder because, like David Jones' Betrayal ('83), it was issued eons ago on VHS but is still not on DVD. This situation should be corrected by Warner Home Video. It's way too good to be buried or shunted aside.

It didn't register very strongly in the mid-Reagan era because it didn't shoot for the stratosphere or deliver fierce visceral thrills, which is what audiences seemed to be responding to more and more back then. (The '70s heyday had drawn to a close, and blunt-impact movies -- sci-fi epics, actioners, tits-and-zits comedies -- were gaining big- time.) But it handled itself and its subject -- the L.A. drug-dealing scene -- in a way that was almost deceptively powerful. It's a somber little creep- out thing.

And it had some unusually penetrating performances from Debra Winger, Paul Winfield, Mark Keyloun (a newcomer at the time who seemed to work mostly on television after Mike's Murder and who retired from acting in the early '90s) and Darrell Larson. There was real ache and loneliness in their emoting. Which lent unusual gravity to a story that structurally was only a murder-mystery.

The good things about Mike's Murder eluded several respected critics when it opened 24 years ago. N.Y. Times critic Vincent Canby didn't even give it the courtesy of a full- length review when he dealt with it on 3.9.84. Pauline Kael, however, defended it, and I wish I could find at least a fragment of her New Yorker review online. I remember how her review noted that a N.Y. Times TV page editor had written "skip it" in response to an airing of Mike's Murder on a New York-area station, and Kael saying in response, "Please, don't skip it."

Winger plays Betty, a practical minded but lonely bank teller living in Brentwood. She falls for Mike, a light-hearted tennis instructor (Keyloun) who spends a single night with her after a brief flirtation. He's obviously immature and irresponsible, not returning calls and whatnot, but she can't let him go. Then after he doesn't show up for a date, Betty learns to her shock that he's been slain by drug dealers. And so she decides to assuage her pain by looking into his sordid past to learn what happened, and the journey she takes into the toney, drug-dealing underworld that gives Mike's Murder its strange, unsettling edge.

An IMDB posting by James Sanford says that Mike's Murder has "a beautifully evoked, vaguely creepy atmosphere that hangs over every scene....the crime that sets the story in motion remains unsolved at the end, and perhaps that's how it should be. It's not important who really killed Mike Chuhutsky, Bridges seems to be saying. Not when it's so obvious what killed him."

David Ehrenstein explained the genesis of Mike's Murder in this '04 Advocate article.

It's been over ten years since I've seen Mike's Murder, but I remember three things in particular: (a) the look of immense sadness on Winfield's face as his character, a wealthy gay man who had a thing for Mike, considers the character flaws that led to the young man's death, (b) the horrific howl that comes out of Larson, who plays Mike's not-very-smart best friend, as he's about to be murdered by thugs for having stolen cocaine from a major dealer who lives in the hills, and (c) a nifty little sequence in the very beginning that shows a hamburger being prepared at Tomy's on Pico Blvd.

For whatever reason I don't recall anything about Joe Jackson's score. Was it mainly a series of songs with a few stabs at mood and atmosphere? That's what an online description says but my mind's a blank.

HE to WHV's Ned Price and George Feltenstein: please do the right thing and issue this film on DVD before too much time elapses.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 9, 2008 at 11:20 AM

comment #1

Joe Leydon says ...

Actually, I thought enough about the Mike's Murder score at the time to buy the soundtrack (which I think I still have -- on vinyl -- in a closet somewhere). If memory serves me correctly, though, I was disappointed because one of the Joe Jackson songs in the film wasn't on the record.

I know you don't like Shopgirl, Jeff, but it reminded me slightly of Mike's Murder, if only in the way it dealt with loneliness in L.A. Seriously.

BTW: Mike's Murder is one of those offbeat titles that pop up occasionally on Retroplex, I think.

Posted by Joe Leydon at March 9, 2008 1:54 PM

comment #2

Jeremy Smith says ...

Excellent call-back, Wells. I seem to remember Siskel and Ebert advocating for the film as well (though a search on Ebert's site turns up nothing). Perhaps it got buried due to its unfortunate proximity to Bridges's 1985 flop, PERFECT. Whatever... I think it's been since 1984 since I even thought of MIKE'S MURDER (and, judging from your appraisal, I was way to young to appreciate it back then).

Thanks for mentioning BETRAYAL, too. That's still the best production of Pinter's play I've ever seen (including the 2000 Broadway revival with Liev Schreiber, Juliette Binoche and John Slattery).

Posted by Jeremy Smith at March 9, 2008 2:11 PM

comment #3

Luke Y. Thompson says ...

I think the marketing failed The Bank Job. Based on reviews, it sounds decent, but the clips and trailers suggest something rather dull.

Posted by Luke Y. Thompson at March 9, 2008 2:12 PM

comment #4

samizdat says ...

"It's not a movie that has much likelihood of being a hit, but its view of the cocaine subculture (or culture) of L.A. is probably the most original and daring effort by the writer-director James Bridges, and it has two superb performances - a full-scale starring one by Winger, and a brief intense one by Paul Winfield."

- from Kael's New Yorker review, 30 June 1986.

Posted by samizdat at March 9, 2008 2:24 PM

comment #5

arturobandini says ...

MIKE'S MURDER. I've never seen the theatrical release, but I was at an early director's cut test screening that Bridges attended -- over a year before it got released.

IIRC the Joe Jackson score commissioned by Bridges was 86'd by the studio after it tested poorly. I don't remember hearing any Joe Jackson on the work print I saw; it was probably a temp track. I understand the actual murder scene (or at least Winger's bloody imagining of it) was missing from the release version. And the downer ending I saw (Winger playing the piano alone) was apparently re-shot for more uplift.

Oddly enough, a day or two after the screening I literally sat in front of Mark Keyloun and his wife at the Nuart. BAD TIMING was showing, maybe? He couldn't have been friendlier, and I expected him to have a good career. Apparently that movie sunk him before he got a chance.

Posted by arturobandini at March 9, 2008 2:46 PM

comment #6

Dan Revill says ...

The Bank Job was excellent entertainment. Perfect for the pre-summer marketplace. There's nothing wrong with this sort of film and I'm glad I saw it. It is discouraging that more people didn't, but I can see it having decent word of mouth.

Posted by Dan Revill at March 9, 2008 3:14 PM

comment #7

rgmax99 says ...

I second a request for a DVD for Mike's Murder. I rented a VHS copy of it my freshman year in college and was hooked from the start. I particularly remember Paul Winfield's performance.

Good stuff.

Posted by rgmax99 at March 9, 2008 3:20 PM

comment #8

BurmaShave says ...

THE BANK JOB is a strong film, surprisingly rich. Up there with SEXY BEAST (obvious comparison) but a lot straighter. Statham really can carry a film without his fists, and I thought Saffron Burrows was (agh! already!) Oscar-worthy.

Posted by BurmaShave at March 9, 2008 3:28 PM

comment #9

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Have to step in and be the voice of dissidence re: the Bank Job. I found it to be dull, predictable, and unentertaining. And this is coming from a guy who loves 70s hard-boiled cinema (French Connection, The Getaway, Rolling Thunder, etc.).

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at March 9, 2008 3:39 PM

comment #10

T. Holly says ...

BJ's definitely the kind of movie I'd see on the 3rd weekend, even if the print's dirtier. And my VHS player is patched to my DVD player, because I'd rather support a collector on ebay than wait for something that's not going to happen.

Posted by T. Holly at March 9, 2008 4:14 PM

comment #11

R. Hunt says ...

Funny that you should mention "Betrayal" in connection with "Mike's Murder", as the latter was also written and filmed as a narrative told in reverse chronology. The studio didn't like it and "straightened out" the film. I was just wondering a few days ago if we'd ever see a director's cut on this one.
The Jackson score (which I also have on vinyl)is not bad at all...

Posted by R. Hunt at March 9, 2008 4:29 PM

comment #12

Krazy Eyes says ...

I didn't read this post but somewhere I'm guessing Wells completely ruins the ending of Mike's Murder for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Posted by Krazy Eyes at March 9, 2008 5:39 PM

comment #13

larry k says ...

I'm a huge fan of "Mike's Murder." Creepy and sad. Bridges had a hard time getting it released... even with Winger right after "Officer and a Gentleman." I have the VHS, but would love a DVD that had the released version and Bridge's more violent director's cut. I saw this at the old Oriental theater on Sunset... Billy Zoom from X sat in front of me.

Posted by larry k at March 9, 2008 5:42 PM

comment #14

bmcintire says ...

Jeff, I believe R. Hunt is referring to MIKE'S MURDER, not BETRAYAL. A quick look at the IMDB front page gives you this tidbit:
"Writer/director James Bridges originally wrote and edited the film so that the story played chronologically backward, similar to what Memento and Irreversible did 16 years later. However, the studio got nervous, thinking it was too complicated and hard to follow, and had the film re-edited in chronological order for release."

Posted by bmcintire at March 9, 2008 5:47 PM

comment #15

Dave says ...

"latter" = Mike's Murder.

Posted by Dave at March 9, 2008 5:53 PM

comment #16

lipranzer says ...

Maybe if there was a director's cut of MIKE'S MURDER, I would like it more, cause I hated what the studio released. Course, that was nearly 20 years ago when I saw it, so I might change my mind now.

I did like THE BANK JOB a lot. As you say, solid entertainment.

Posted by lipranzer at March 9, 2008 7:47 PM

comment #17

JosephB says ...

Jeff, yet another reason while I visit your site daily: the way you lobby for little-known genre pieces to find a larger home. Nice work.

Are there any credible, momentum-gaining websites out there collecting MIA movies for DVD release that are taken seriously by production companies? I'd say "Mike's Murder" plus dozens of other titles are way overdue for a release... some of Olivier Assayas' early films, late 60's Lumet, 70's Francesco Rossi etc.

Posted by JosephB at March 9, 2008 8:28 PM

comment #18

lawnorder says ...

Jeff, Joe Jackson only contributed a couple of songs to Mike's Murder. The actual score is by legendary composer John Barry, and it's a very cool noirish score that still remains unreleased, shameful as that may be.

Posted by lawnorder at March 9, 2008 8:37 PM

comment #19

Hallick says ...

I can see my VHS of Mike's Murder from where I'm sitting right now. Movies like that and Cutter's Way (which has got to have one of the most haunted scores ever written and a downright SCATHING John Heard performance, which is sooooooo hard to picture when you see the schlub shape he's been in for the last couple of decades) are much too forgotten.

Posted by Hallick at March 9, 2008 10:25 PM

comment #20

The Big Snake says ...

I would love to see a director's cut of MIKE'S MURDER. My negative recollection of the theatrical release was that you followed Debra for a very, very long time after the murder and, in one horribly laughable edit, she shows up back at the murder scene after what had to be a few weeks, but what someone then tries to say has only been a few hours. And the movie never recovered from that confused sense of time.

Posted by The Big Snake at March 9, 2008 10:59 PM

comment #21

Marty Melville says ...

A bit more Kael on Mike's Murder (I don't think she did a completely fleshed out review, her comments were part of a larger piece about good films that had fallen through the cracks):

"Debra Winger, in a superb full-scale starring performance, as a radiantly sane young bank teller in LA who has an affair with a curly-haired clear-faced young tennis instructor called Mike (Mark Keyloun). It's a wobbly affair: she hears from him randomly over the course of two years--whenever the mood hits him, he phones her. One night, he's supposed to come over late, but he doesn't show. When she gets a call telling her he's dead, it's abrupt, bewildering. She can't let go of him so quickly, and she tries to find out everything she can.

Winger has thick, long, loose hair and a deep, sensual beauty in this movie. James Bridges, who directed, wrote the role for her after directing her in URBAN COWBOY, and her performance suggests what Antonioni seemed to be trying to get from Jeanne Moreau in LA NOTTE, only it really works with Winger--maybe because there's nothing sullen or closed about her. The picture is atmospheric yet underpopulated; at times, it feels thin, and it turns into overheated melodrama in a sequence featuring Darrell Larson. But its view of the cocaine subculture (or culture) of LA is probably Bridges' most original and daring effort, and it has a brief, intense appearance by Paul Winfield (as the record producer who brought Mike to LA) that's right up there with Winger's acting.

With Brooke Alderson, Robert Crosson as Sam, and Daniel Shor as Richard, the performance artist. The Warner executives refused to release the picture until Bridges made some cuts and changes, and they probably breathed a few sighs of relief as they buried it."

Posted by Marty Melville at March 9, 2008 11:44 PM

comment #22

ellenmiss says ...

she was said to be found by her fans on a celebrity and millionaire dating site named " wealthydater. com".. but it's not confirmed by her yet

Posted by ellenmiss at March 10, 2008 12:11 AM

comment #23

Terry McCarty says ...

Jeffrey wrote:
For whatever reason I don't recall anything about Joe Jackson's score. Was it mainly a series of songs with a few stabs at mood and atmosphere? That's what an online description says but my mind's a blank.

Songs from MIKE'S MURDER can be found on the second disc of Universal/A&M's Special Edition reissue of Jackson's NIGHT AND DAY.

Posted by Terry McCarty at March 10, 2008 1:18 AM

comment #24

kellyshang says ...

it just a kidding? i see a similar pic on a dating site--interracialmatch.com/photo/blackchats seems truly.

Posted by kellyshang at March 10, 2008 1:41 AM

comment #25

JapAdapters says ...

Wow, I've never even heard of this movie. Don't remember it coming out in theatres, never read a word about it, and never saw it on video. That's rare.

Posted by JapAdapters at March 10, 2008 8:04 AM

comment #26

sardine says ...

THE BANK JOB: a crackerjack movie.

Winger in Mike's murder is sensational.

Posted by sardine at March 10, 2008 12:35 PM

comment #27

jimb12345 says ...

I just love debra winger. It is so good to see her again. keep up the good work.
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comment #31

eagle6956 says ...

Old fashioned, I mean, in the following of a well-trod path. It's a thriller about a dogged print reporter (Russell Crowe) getting to the bottom of a complex Washington scandal involving the usual killings, corruptions, strained alliances, w e b s i t e -l i n k infidelities, chase sequences, etc. Lord knows we've been down that road time and again.

Posted by eagle6956 at January 26, 2012 12:19 AM

comment #32

Ash says ...

The industry is plagued by poor products that are recommended by people just because they feel obligated to say something is good when it really isn't. This is the reality unfortunately.
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