Tequila Sunrise

Plot synopsis:
Dale "Mac" McKussic (Mel Gibson) is a former drug dealer trying to go straight. His close friend Nick Frescia (Kurt Russell) is a Detective Lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department who, in spite of their long-term relationship going back to high school, is duty-bound to bring Mac to justice if he is selling drugs again, as DEA Agent Hal Maguire (J. T. Walsh) believes to be the case.
Mac is attracted to stylish restaurant owner Jo Ann Vallenari (Michelle Pfeiffer). Nick becomes acquainted with Jo Ann while attempting to learn more about Mac's activities, in particular his relationship with the Mexican drug kingpin Carlos, whom the DEA agents and Mexican federal police commandante Escalante (Raul Julia) believe is coming to town. Mac has a legitimate business and is raising a son, trying to distance himself from his former drug smuggling ways. But he tries to help his lawyer (Arye Gross) sell some cocaine, and feels indebted to his old friend Carlos, who is pressuring Mac to do one last job.
Jo Ann succumbs to Nick's charms and a love affair begins. Nick genuinely cares for Jo Ann but she becomes angry when Mac accuses Jo Ann of spying on him on Nick's behalf. She accuses Nick of using her to gather information because Mac often eats at her restaurant and hires her to cater his son's birthday party. Nick admits he is investigating Mac and that he originally approached her because of that. But he truthfully admits that he really has fallen in love with her. Jo Ann ends her relationship with Nick for his initial deception. Maguire and his associates, meanwhile, set a trap for Mac and the mysterious Carlos, whose face none of them except Mac has seen.
In time, Jo Ann realizes that Mac is in love with her and that she has fallen for him. Nick figures out that Mac's cousin Gregg (Arliss Howard) is an informer for the DEA. Nick also realizes that McGuire has become dangerously obsessed with catching Mac, willing to use any means necessary. Mac and Jo Ann make love at his house. Jo Ann is called to her restaurant on business. Nick meets her there, gives her a pistol for protection, and tells her to stay away from Mac tonight because Carlos is expected there. She does not heed Nick's warning and returns to Mac's house, where she discovers that Escalante is, in fact, Carlos.
Carlos relieves her of Nick's pistol and takes her to his yacht at the marina. He knows that Gregg is the informer and has him killed, leaving his body next to a shipment of gasoline contaminated cocaine. McGuire and Nick find Gregg's body and the cocaine at the beach. Nick meets with Mac to warn him that Jo Ann is in danger. Mac pulls a gun on Nick and rushes to the marina. Carlos pressures him to kill Jo Ann because she now knows too much. Mac refuses, threatens Carlos at gunpoint and gets Jo Ann to safety on a speedboat. Mac nevertheless promises Carlos that he will be at the rendezvous site as arranged to conclude their business. Nick explains to McGuire that Escalante is actually Carlos and heads for the marina. Mac arrives first and is double-crossed by Carlos, whereupon a fight ensues between them. As they struggle over the pistol, it discharges into Carlos's abdomen, fatally.
McGuire shows up and begins shooting, first to kill Carlos with a shot to the face, and at Mac as he is raising his hands to surrender. The gunfire causes the boat's fuel tank to catch fire, just as Mac jumps in the water. Nick arrives at the marina. He hears the gunfire, draws his weapon and orders McGuire to cease fire, but McGuire continues shooting, forcing Nick to shoot him in the back, wounding him. The fire causes the boat to explode, and with it the millions of dollars of cocaine on board.
The story ends with Nick asking Jo Ann to meet him at the beach. She arrives to instead find Mac, running to embrace him in the waves. A pleased Nick watches from a distance.

Tags: romantic, neo noir

Review:
A dark brooding piece, that is as meditative and murky as it is tightly written for suspense and twists, Tequila Sunrise focuses on the expectations that conventional mores place upon our freedom to interct and even love whomever our heart bids us.Gibson plays a drug dealer with, if not a conscience, at least a code of some sort of ethics.
The chemistry is definitely there, and the cinematography is excellent (I love the scene where Mac and Nick are talking while sitting on the swings, in pure silhouette).Occasionally the dialog does seem stilted, like when Nick's character is telling Joanne how much he wants to see her that night.
And you really wonder how Nick has his job, with all of the compromises he makes for relationships (as with Mac and Joanne).But, Mel Gibson's eyes when he tells Michelle Pfeiffer about his interest in her...
Mel Gibson plays a big time Drug Dealer now trying to go straight but seemingly lined up for one final big deal, or so the Police think, and his old school friend who is now the Chief of Police in the same city, Kurt Russell.
That plot device alone makes the movie work for me and I love watching the dynamics between all three characters.Although a couple of plot turns need a little twist of the imagination, it's still very well written and carried through to the screen with these actors giving good performances to take it there.
This is a film-noir, but not in the traditional almost melodramatic sense, so if you're looking for gunshots, action and chase sequences it's better pick another movie to watch.In Robert Towne's film everyone is divided between love (on someone or something) and friendship, and things isn't always what they appear.
McKussic (Mel Gibson) and Nick Frescia (Kurt Russell) are long time pals who have opposite lines of work: Mac is a nice drug dealer who has a perfect ability of escape from problems, trying to retire himself from the "job"; while Nick is a cop investigating a huge drug shipment coming to the country and McKussic might be involved in it.
In the middle of these two there's three things: Nick's FBI partner Maguire (J.T.Walsh) coordinating McKussic's investigation; Mac's friend the drug dealer Carlos (Raul Julia) coming from Mexico for a big drug operation; and the gorgeous Jo Ann Vallenari (Michelle Pfeiffer) owner of a successful restaurant where Mac is a regular costumer and both friends are interested in this woman who is divided between the love of both men.
The audience must try to hold the pieces together and figure what happens next, who's telling the truth and who's lying in this intricate plot.If the plot itself sometimes wanders a little bit, at least the characters are so well constructed and the performances go in the right direction that the film doesn't suffer one bit, but I must say that attention is required to follow everyone and everything, otherwise you lost yourself with no chance of getting back to the story, and you'll probably hate it.
Now, this is a helluva film from the 1980's filled with elements all nostalgic fans from that decade love: Gibson in the peak of his career, Russell as well, Michelle beautiful as ever, Raul Julia stealing the show from everybody, Dave Grusin's jazzy music featuring David Sanborn sax solos with the love's theme, the spectacular cinematography from Conrad L.Hall (Oscar nominated for his work here) capturing fantastic sunny shots and the most beautiful sunsets ever captured on celluloid.
Mel Gibson is seen drinking this cocktail on a couple of occasions, but the significance of the title may be that the film explores the triangular relationship between a "cocktail" of three main characters, Dale "Mac" McKussic, Nick Frescia and Jo Ann Vallinari.
If these suspicions prove correct, Nick will be duty-bound to arrest him.Like many examples of both film noir and neo-noir, "Tequila Sunrise" has a complex plot, one where the motives of all the characters are suspect and where nobody knows whom they can trust.
"Body Heat", for example, has an atmosphere of extreme heat, of sweat, of physical lassitude, of moral decay and of sexual tension, something emphasised not only by John Barry's jazz score but also Kasdan's colour scheme dominated by blacks, reds and oranges.The film stars three of the up-and-coming stars of the eighties in Gibson, Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer.
True it all ends in true hollywierd fashion but seeing Michelle Pfeiffer looking great in some power woman suits and Kurt Russell looking like a 50's cigarette poster and trying to be slick is fun.
So they end up winging every scene.Each of the actors adopts a different strategy  Raul Julia overplays, Mel Gibson charms his way, Kurt Russell out dresses everyone, while Michelle Pfeiffer just demurs.
This movie has a cast to die for; Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, Raul Julia, J.T. Walsh, Arliss Howard.
Although it of course is certainly true that the presence of actors such as Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, Raul Julia and J.T. Walsh still uplifts the movie.
And though you can not compare the two movies, in terms of quality, but if you liked watching Casablanca for the drama that is played out in a charged atmosphere , with excellent scenes of interactions between the main characters, you will love this one too..
Continuing my plan to watch every Mel Gibson movie in order, I come to Tequila SunrisePlot In A Paragraph: Mac (Gibson) is a drug dealer who wants to go straight.
His old and best friend Nick Frescia (Kurt Russell) is now a cop who is assigned to investigate him and his friendship with a Mexican dealer named Carlos, who the police believe is coming to town to meet with him.him.
But the same can be said of "The Maltese Falcon", which has a plot maybe more convoluted than this film.The overall feeling of the film is anticipation, the waiting for something to happen that clarifies the ambiguous intentions and the shady alliances of the characters, because the viewer--unlike in some other films--knows less than the characters.The acting of Mel Gibson, Raul Julia and, especially, Michelle Pfeiffer should be singled out.
Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, I mean, you can almost see sparks fly from just the movie poster.
It features a wonderful cast, strong performances (including two excellent smaller roles for the late Raul Julia and J.T. Walsh, both of whom died way too young) and fantastic writing.The scenery seems dated today, but the cinematography work was a masterpiece for 1988.
In essence it's an old-fashioned genre piece, with the kinds of ambiguities that characterized the best film noir of the 40's and 50's: the main characters are conceived in classically muscular thematic colours, and Towne creates a sometimes absorbing network of shifting perceptions, generally leaving it pretty open as to how we should grade the relative professional and personal failings and compromises of the protagonists.
The actors seem too superficial to do justice to the movie's thematic ambitions: Gibson and Pfeiffer are so one-dimensional as to be outacted by Russell; Julia's character goes far into overdone stereotype and seriously damages the film's later stretches.
And I am pretty sure that this wonderful tale of love and redemption, justice and loyalty has more to do with with a cigarette lighter than it has to do with tequila.It is sensitively acted by four of Hollywood's very talented actors at the top of their game at the time: Gibson, Pfeifer, Russell and Julia bring fully realized characters to the screen that play their sub-text wonderfully.
This movie, with vacuous performances by Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Raul Julia, has no nutrition at all, nothing!
The best performance of Kurt Russel ever, maybe the best of Michelle, fantastic Raul Julia and always correct J.T. Walsh.It is definetly not the best performance of Mel but alltogether under the guidance of Thom Mount and Bob Towne these people made a magical job  - they made a movie where every bit, every second and every frame is a masterpiece (well - certainly there were more people involved).One need to see it several times to discard its "detective" tag - it is definetely not a detective.
Nice cinematography and great cast though, Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell bounce well off each other as two old friends on opposite sides of the law.
Michelle Pfeiffer is a perfect addition as the woman they both fall for.I remember liking this movie when I originally saw it, way back when but this time around not so much.
Hideously dated sax music throughout -as all the movies from this time 80s tended to have- was partially to blame but the whole story just felt a bit dry.On the plus side the cast is superb Raul Julia steals every scene he's in as Carlos the charismatic dealer, Kurt is sleazy with his cocky cop attitude, cigarettes and slicked back hair, determined to get the girl and bring down his old friend.
What makes it interesting are the performances of Gibson, Pfeiffer, Russell -- and their beautiful looks -- and Raul Julia and J.T. Walsh, both marvelous.Someone described this as a chick flick.
This tall tale finds Kurt Russell and Mel Gibson as a couple of long time friends who now find themselves on opposite sides of the law - Mel as a "retired" drug dealer and Kurt as the cop tasked with bringing him down.
While you might not think Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell, Michelle Pfeiffer and Raul Julia are the best actors of their generation, this movie is surely one of the best works in their repertoire.Compared to the average cop movie, the film is slow.
The conflict between Kurt Russel and Mel Gibson was good, and kept it interesting throughout the film.
I think Kurt Russell and Mel Gibson are top-notch Actors, and they both did a great job in showing their talent in Acting within this film.
The plot intracicies extend even further when we find out that a big figure in the drug business, Carlos (Raul Julia), is coming to town with a stash of cocaine.So in the midst of both falling desperately and hopelessly in love with the same woman, Dale and Nick must also confront each other in regards to their differences.
Sorry, Raul.Mel Gibson is one of the most likable and easy-going film stars of all time, Kurt Russell is always a good bet in any type of film, and Michelle Pfeiffer is a very beautiful and talented actress.
Even though the characters are given good introductions and stories, the movie isn't nearly as interesting as it should be.I'm not quite sure what the primary problem of "Tequila Sunrise" is, I'm not even sure I want to think about it.
Kurt Russell and Mel Gibson play really nice and vibrant characters and they are young actors in this film, which really gives it some strength.
As far as I can see, every box is ticked: best friends on different sides of the fence, Michelle in the middle, steamy sex scene, awesome script and possibly the coolest character played by possibly the coolest actor, Raul Julia.
Complicating things are his friends, a cop Nick Friescha (Kurt Russell) and the druglord Carlos (Raul Julia) and Dales' no good cousin (Arliss Howard).
On top of all that he falls in love with a beautiful restauranteur (Michelle Pfeiffer) who wants nothing to do with organized crime and is involved with Friescha.Mel Gibson has never been better as the hero with a checkered past trying to rebuild his life.
It has a slapdash feel that to my mind serves as reflection of this larger dissipation of vision.(You can practically watch this disconnect take place in Lethal Weapon the previous year; a noir plot where cops come to investigate a mysterious suicide, by the end we don't get to know anything about the girl who leaped to her death, but we have all this time devoted to explaining the whole drug trafficking plan with its cartoon villains.)There's one scene that stands out; the one that begins with Pfeiffer and Gibson kissing in front of the azaleas, cuts to prowling shots outside the house, gives us their lovemaking inverse reflected on steamy waters, intercut with shots of voyeur cops "viewing" intently, and intercut again with Russell making an important discovery by looking at photos (that he magically procured from thin air to serve the story).
Robert Towne directed this steamy crime/love story that stars Mel Gibson as Mac McKussic, a "high class", reluctant drug dealer who wants to go straight.
Tequila Sunrise may lack the inventiveness, vision, and dynamism of Chinatown (Robert Towne wrote both scripts), but it should, by no means be discarded as a mediocre cop thriller.It is a very slick piece of cinema with fine acting, glamorous sets, and great dialogue.
Tequila Sunrise may lack the inventiveness, vision, and dynamism of Chinatown (Robert Towne wrote both scripts), but it should, by no means be discarded as a mediocre cop thriller.It is a very slick piece of cinema with fine acting, glamorous sets, and great dialogue.
Complicated plot isn't always the easiest to follow, and the story is rather convoluted, but Towne photographs everything in warm passionate tones, and Gibson, Russell, and Pfeiffer shine like planets, not stars.
The cast is pretty good, with Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, and Raul Julia.
A cop (Kurt Russell), a beautiful restaurant owner (Michelle Pfeiffer), and a drug dealer who may or may not have reformed himself (Mel Gibson) cross paths, cross swords, argue, confront, compete, and in general size up each other in this meandering melodrama set in southern California.
The Money Shot is there but Fallow.Mel Gibson comes off as Second Best, after Kurt Russell in the Character/Acting Department.
interaction between Mel Gibson and Kurt Russel and their constant arguing,, and their solid friendship worth 2 points,, and the storyline,, a drug dealer a cop,, a sexy young woman who both are in love with ,,3 points..
Mac is looking for one final score so he can retire,, but his best friend is a cop and is highly suspicious of Mac,, they are both in love with a local restaurant owner Jo Anne,, J.T. Walsh also plays a great supporting role in the movie,, but for me Raul Julia just steals the show he plays two parts,, a Mexicali federale and a drug lord..
These people are not to be taken at face value as their motivations are often complicated by internal and external conflicts that emerge because of issues concerned with their most valued personal relationships and situations that test their levels of commitment, loyalty and trust to the absolute maximum.Dale "Mac" McKussic (Mel Gibson) and Detective Lieutenant Nick Frescia (Kurt Russell) have been close friends since their high school days but pressure has been brought to bear on their friendship in recent years because they've been working on different sides of the law.
Meanwhile, a joint operation involving the D.E.A. and the Mexican police led by Commandante Xavier Escalante (Raul Julia) is under way to capture Carlos and of course, anyone doing business with him."Tequila Sunrise" is a visual treat with great camera-work, lighting and beautiful scenes such as the one in which Mac and Nick are shown in silhouette against a stunning background.
Michelle Pfeiffer displays great poise but is also convincing in showing her emotional reactions to certain situations and Raul Julia and J T Walsh are terrific in their supporting roles.Not enough attention seems to have been given to the pacing of the action in this movie but overall, it is extremely entertaining to watch and contains some witty dialogue..
All the actors are good, but Raul Julia gives the performance of a lifetime as the drug supplier for Gibson's character.
Michelle Pfeiffer, Mel Gibson, and Kurt Russell are the three corners of the love triangle that makes up a significant part of the plot in this tense thriller.
It allows a beautiful scene with figures against the sun and above all, it has an amazing quartet of cast: Mel, Michelle, Raul Julia and Russell, tangled with an interesting love triangle.However, if i don't give "7" but "4", it's because the story was a bit boring and very usual: cop vs dealer!
McKussic (Mel Gibson) is a drug smuggler who's trying his best to get out of the business; Frescia (Kurt Russell) is a fast rising narcotics detective.
One of only five films directed by reputed writer Robert Towne (Chinatown), has some handsome stars (Kurt Russell, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Mel Gibson) to photograph in the striking location of Manhattan Beach, California.
It's nice to see Kurt Russell and Mel Gibson along with Michelle Pfeiffer, but not only that, it's also got Raul Julia and JT Walsh, two late, great character actors, from way back.
Michelle spends the balance of this film going back and forth between the Gibson and Russell characters.
Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer are good, but the three way romance is a bit here and there, as is Pfeiffer's tough but morally ambiguous character.A shame about the wasted potential and Raul Julia's regrettably small role as Esperante, however, still not a bad film.Friday, February 26, 1993 - T.V..
All the characters are cool, and the finale is quite suspenseful, plus Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell, and Michelle Pfeiffer are all simply amazing in this!.
Mel Gibson is amazing as always and is amazing here, he is usual charismatic self, is very likable, and you are bale to care about his character, he had good chemistry with both Pfeiffer and Russell, and was fun to watch, I loved him as always.
Michelle Pfeiffer is also amazing as always and is amazing here as the love interest, she is incredibly gorgeous, had good chemistry with both Gibson and Russell, and I also felt for her character as well, she was amazing!