OK, I watched the movie twice and read a whole bunch of the reviews posted here. So here's what we know:
Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) is a private detective.
Harry's marriage to Ellen (Susan Clark) is on the rocks.
Ellen is cheating on Harry with Marty Heller (Harris Yulin).
Marty Heller was also the name of my pharmacist when I was a kid.
Harry doesn't know any of the other players he comes across until he meets them for the first time.
Harry is hired by Arlene Iverson (Janet Ward) to return her runaway daughter Delly Grastner (Melanie Griffith) home.
Marv Ellman (Anthony Costello) has done the horizontal tango with both mother Arlene and daughter Delly, though not at the same time.
Joey Ziegler (Edward Binns) and Quentin (James Woods) often work together.
Tom Iverson (John Crawford) and Paula (Jennifer Warren) live together and work a charter fishing (and smuggling) operation in Florida.
Marv Ellman is found dead in the water (not hyperbole) by Delly, who high tails it back home with Harry to her mother, without telling Harry who it was she saw dead.
Delly does tell Quentin she saw Ellman dead. (She used to do the horizontal tango with Quentin).
Shortly after, Delly dies in a failed car stunt with Joey Ziegler driving.
Harry believes Quentin rigged Ellman's plane to crash, and rigged the car Joey was driving that killed Delly, because he thought Quentin knew that Delly knew that he rigged Ellman's plane.
Harry finds Quentin dead in the water (not hyperbole).
Tom Iverson admits killing Quentin to Harry before knocking himself out by ramming his head into a pole.
Paula admits that she, Tom Iverson, and Marv Ellman were in the process of smuggling a Yucatan artifact piece by piece, estimated worth a half million dollars.
Harry and Paula set out to retrieve the latest artifact, with Paula scuba diving to bring it to the surface of the ocean.
Joey Ziegler, in an airplane, attacks Harry in the Iverson boat, and manages to shoot him in the leg.
Paula surfaces with the artifact as Joey lands his plane on the water.
Joey races his plane toward Paula and the boat, striking and leaving her dead in the water (not hyperbole), hitting the floating artifact causing the plane to wreck, and finally sinking with the plane and drowning.
Why did Joey attack Harry? I don't know. Does anybody?
Like Harry, I was left going in circles at the end of the movie.
Oh yeah, almost forgot - before it's all over, Harry does the horizontal tango with Paula.
Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) is a private detective.
Harry's marriage to Ellen (Susan Clark) is on the rocks.
Ellen is cheating on Harry with Marty Heller (Harris Yulin).
Marty Heller was also the name of my pharmacist when I was a kid.
Harry doesn't know any of the other players he comes across until he meets them for the first time.
Harry is hired by Arlene Iverson (Janet Ward) to return her runaway daughter Delly Grastner (Melanie Griffith) home.
Marv Ellman (Anthony Costello) has done the horizontal tango with both mother Arlene and daughter Delly, though not at the same time.
Joey Ziegler (Edward Binns) and Quentin (James Woods) often work together.
Tom Iverson (John Crawford) and Paula (Jennifer Warren) live together and work a charter fishing (and smuggling) operation in Florida.
Marv Ellman is found dead in the water (not hyperbole) by Delly, who high tails it back home with Harry to her mother, without telling Harry who it was she saw dead.
Delly does tell Quentin she saw Ellman dead. (She used to do the horizontal tango with Quentin).
Shortly after, Delly dies in a failed car stunt with Joey Ziegler driving.
Harry believes Quentin rigged Ellman's plane to crash, and rigged the car Joey was driving that killed Delly, because he thought Quentin knew that Delly knew that he rigged Ellman's plane.
Harry finds Quentin dead in the water (not hyperbole).
Tom Iverson admits killing Quentin to Harry before knocking himself out by ramming his head into a pole.
Paula admits that she, Tom Iverson, and Marv Ellman were in the process of smuggling a Yucatan artifact piece by piece, estimated worth a half million dollars.
Harry and Paula set out to retrieve the latest artifact, with Paula scuba diving to bring it to the surface of the ocean.
Joey Ziegler, in an airplane, attacks Harry in the Iverson boat, and manages to shoot him in the leg.
Paula surfaces with the artifact as Joey lands his plane on the water.
Joey races his plane toward Paula and the boat, striking and leaving her dead in the water (not hyperbole), hitting the floating artifact causing the plane to wreck, and finally sinking with the plane and drowning.
Why did Joey attack Harry? I don't know. Does anybody?
Like Harry, I was left going in circles at the end of the movie.
Oh yeah, almost forgot - before it's all over, Harry does the horizontal tango with Paula.