1993 Directed by Keoni Waxman
The young jazz saxophonist Morris Poole is at the height of his career. When his wife dies he is almost overcome by grief and blames himself. When after a while he finds a new love, he ends up in a situation that reminds him of his wife's mysterious death.
USA
Italy
Italy
USA
#39 in my 99 90's: Part 2 marathon.
Gets a little better as it goes along. But lots of blathering. Every situation in the film is a dialogue dump. Which is both unfortunate and unnecessary because it has some drop-dead stylish moments (especially in the latter half). Mostly thanks to overwriting and bad thematic repetition, this 84 minute movie feels about 44 minutes too long.
Pity.
If you like 90s b movies this is enjoyable. Madsen has a cool loft and works through some issues.
Almost Blue opens on Morris (Michael Madsen) belting out a song on his saxophone in a scene that looks great. It comes alive as the camera makes its way around the jazz quartet he's playing with and then back to Morris. It's a very kinetic, authentic introduction.
There are other interesting things in Almost Blue but they're far outnumbered by the movie's flaws. A light, pointless script is the main issue. Poor editing is the nail in the coffin.
For some unclear reason, Morris's agent is used as a framing device for the story. Every now and then the movie cuts to him. Each time it does, we find him keeping himself warm in front of a burning barrel as he rambles directly to the camera in vague platitudes, barely making any sense. He's kind of a fun character but good luck making heads or tails of what he's saying.
