Miami Blues

Director: George Armitage
Year Released: 1990
Rating: 2.0

Familiar cops-chasing-bad guys pulp thriller that feels like a bad Elmore Leonard novel: dull plot supports eccentric characters and their oddball dialogue. It's a little amusing in a TV-movie kind-of way, like when Armitage pays homage to Kurosawa's Stray Dog when his hero (Fred Ward) loses his gun, his badge and his false teeth to himbo convict (Alec Baldwin) who steals from the criminals of Miami (they're around every corner!) and gives to himself. But the silly details (vinegar pie, the Hare Krishnas, the awful clothing) don't go well with the disfiguring violence (Baldwin loses his fingers and his eyebrow) - all in all, it's rather negligible.