Despite being released a year before LA CONFIDENTIAL this movie instantly reminded me off the acclaimed film noir classic . A bunch of LA cops working just outside the law strut their stuff and break the rules for a higher morality . They don't take any crap especially from crims
So far so good . MULHOLLAND FALLS while not being a bad movie in the first half does suffer slightly from a seen it all before feel but pales slightly in comparison to LA CONFIDENTIAL . Sorry to mention that movie again but if you've seen both movies you can't help being reminded of comparisons . Then about half through MULHOLLAND FALLS becomes more and more intriguing and takes on an identity of of its own . Unfortunately it's not all together successful since the setting seems rather anachronistic for conspiracy theories . Imagine if the story had been updated to the 1990s . Wouldn't this have had a better sense of time and place ?
There's one or two other problems that people have picked up upon with the most obvious being a wasted cast . Nolte is always good at playing tough streetwise cops and he doesn't disappoint here , but touted rising stars ( as they were at the time ) Chris Penn and Michael Madsen aren't given anything to do while John Malkovich is rather ridiculous as a retired General . If you want a retired US General try Brian Dennehey . There was also something else that has been mentioned and that's the final scene of the Michael Mann series CRIME STORY - I kept expecting a similarly ironic scene to befall some of the main characters , in fact I would have bet my rent money on it happening but it doesn't which left me feeling slightly cheated
All in all MULHOLLAND FALLS isn't a classic movie though it certainly had the potential to be one . If only the script had been slightly better it could have been
So far so good . MULHOLLAND FALLS while not being a bad movie in the first half does suffer slightly from a seen it all before feel but pales slightly in comparison to LA CONFIDENTIAL . Sorry to mention that movie again but if you've seen both movies you can't help being reminded of comparisons . Then about half through MULHOLLAND FALLS becomes more and more intriguing and takes on an identity of of its own . Unfortunately it's not all together successful since the setting seems rather anachronistic for conspiracy theories . Imagine if the story had been updated to the 1990s . Wouldn't this have had a better sense of time and place ?
There's one or two other problems that people have picked up upon with the most obvious being a wasted cast . Nolte is always good at playing tough streetwise cops and he doesn't disappoint here , but touted rising stars ( as they were at the time ) Chris Penn and Michael Madsen aren't given anything to do while John Malkovich is rather ridiculous as a retired General . If you want a retired US General try Brian Dennehey . There was also something else that has been mentioned and that's the final scene of the Michael Mann series CRIME STORY - I kept expecting a similarly ironic scene to befall some of the main characters , in fact I would have bet my rent money on it happening but it doesn't which left me feeling slightly cheated
All in all MULHOLLAND FALLS isn't a classic movie though it certainly had the potential to be one . If only the script had been slightly better it could have been