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I have been a huge Denzel Washington fan for a long time, and I can honestly say that he is my all-time favorite actor. He plays himself in most of his roles, but he has so much charisma and energy, and he's so likable, that he can carry a film on his own, as well as elevate a routine, or even bad, film above its flaws. He's had very few, if any, bad films, and he seems to choose his roles very carefully. These are all things we know about him, but people did not think this in the 80s. Denzel was still an up-and-comer in the 80s and 90s, working hard to prove himself.
"The Mighty Quinn" is a little-known 1989 mystery thriller, known mostly by die-hard Denzel fans. Denzel had many underrated vehicles in the 80s and 90s, such as "For Queen and Country", "Ricochet", "Virtuosity", "The Siege", and "Fallen", and "The Mighty Quinn" is no exception. Given more than enough room to flex his acting muscles, Denzel holds the hand of the script the whole way through, and it's great. The script does immensely benefit from Denzel's involvement, though it might've been a bigger success had a more well-known star been the lead at the time.
I found this movie to be a lot of fun. It's serious, but it's so charming and likable that it's easy to forget that the plot is about a murderer, and a person framed for it. From the reggae soundtrack, to some of the wacky characters, to the exotic location, there's just so much here. Add to that one or two strange sequences where characters fight with what looks like a strange martial art, and you have a very unique movie. Add to that great performances from the two leads, and you have a winner. I don't care what anyone says, I loved this movie. So did Roger Ebert. Go read his review if I'm not credible enough.
Hampton Fancher wrote the story, a competent screenwriter known for "Blade Runner", "The Minus Man", and "Blade Runner 2049". He adapted the screenplay from a 1971 novel by A. H. Z. Carr called "Finding Maubee". The story is paced well, and really develops its characters. It also helped that he had Denzel and Robert Townsend to work with, as both really help sell the story.
Carl Schenkel directed the film, and it's unfortunate that he hasn't really done anything else, aside from "Knight Moves". He's a very competent director, and he stages set pieces quite nicely.
The performances were all good, although the high point, obviously, was the great Denzel. He's stellar as usual, and almost too likable. Robert Townsend compliments Denzel well, delivering an excellent supporting performance, and the other actors were all fine. Michael Emmet Walsh was a fine villain, although he could've done better had he been given more to work with.
The character of Xavier Quinn, along with a lot of other things about this film, is very interesting. He's a super cop, and yet, he's an everyman. The story describes him as a legend in his community, and many people obviously respect him. This seems to be a set up for him to show us his ability to kill or take down criminals, but he doesn't really. You wait for him to become a superhero and do superhuman things, but he never really does. We're just asked to believe that he's revered, and leave it. his character works with his legend, and never feels he has to prove it, like many other films do. He slowly and methodically unravels the mystery, and it's very interesting.
I've seen this film described as an action film in a few different places (here on IMDb and on Roger Ebert's website), but to call it that would almost be a disservice, as it's more than that. There's very little violence, aside from one moderately violent offscreen murder, and the only real action sequences are a brief fight and the final sequence. The fight scene, and a scene at the beginning in which Quinn disarms a man with a knife, were a little strange though. They were edited quickly, and the characters were using some kind of weird martial art. Anyway, it's not an action movie. Don't go in expecting a ton of action, or you'll b sorely disappointed.
I highly recommend this film, if you're a Denzel fan or not. Aside from some infrequent harsh language, there's nothing to not enjoy.
score 10/10
monkeysgalore 9 January 2020
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5394284/ |
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22-2-2021 06:05:10