Tequila Sunrise (1988)
Director: Robert Towne
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A romantic thriller which confirms Towne's outstanding talent as a screenwriter, but like Personal Best, leaves doubts about his skill as a director. Gibson is an ex-drugs dealer looking for a way out, Russell is the relentless cop who's out to nail his old high school pal, and Pfeiffer is a beautiful restaurant owner suspected of fronting for Gibson's drugs business. Gibson is in the clear until another old friend, dealer Julia, calls in one last favour involving several million dollars worth of drug money. The set-up has the precision of fine needlepoint, picking out the plot outline before embroidering it with a complex pattern of interwoven relationships. Pfeiffer is perfect as the immaculately dressed and icily controlled restaurateur caught between Gibson's honest (ex-)criminal and Russell's ambiguously motivated cop. For while Gibson is totally up-front about both his shady past and his emotions, Russell's romantic advances are overlaid by professional interest in his rival's criminal activities. Sadly, when Julia finally shows up, this fascinating exploration of the limits of friendship, loyalty and trust gives way to explosive action and empty pyrotechnics.Author: NF
Cast & crew
Director: Robert Towne
Producer: Thom Mount
Cast: Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, Raúl Julia, JT Walsh, Arliss Howard, Budd Boetticher full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 115 mins
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.

What do you think?
Post your review now