Investigating the suspicious death of an attractive young woman, four LAPD detectives uncover a conspiracy involving atomic energy in this mystery thriller set in the 1950s during the peak of the Cold War. Luciously shot by the legendary Haskell Wexler and accompanied by an appropriately moody music score, the movie succeeds in creating an experience that is part film noir homage and part 70s paranoia thriller homage. The performances are also uniformly excellent. The film bites off a little more than it can chew though. The origin of the title, for instance, is revealed very early on as we see how shady the detectives are, resorting to letting some criminals (who they cannot legally touch) dive off the edge of Mulholland Drive. For the vast majority of the film though, they are shown as far less corrupt, which is a shame because morally ambiguous policemen are always far more interesting. A subplot involving the lead detective's neglected wife does not quite gel with the story-line either and mostly feels like a distraction from the Cold War conspiracy that the detectives eventually unfold. Generally speaking though, this is a fairly enticing affair. Released after the end of the Cold War, the film benefits in particular from speculating over what may have been in terms of government whitewashes and corruption during this heightened period of international tension.
Review of Mulholland Falls
