Mulholland Falls (1996)

My Review

“Mulholland Falls” is a noir crime drama about an elite group of Los Angeles Police Department detectives in the 1950’s who stop at nothing to maintain control of their jurisdiction. They are rattled when a young woman is found murdered who turns out to be the mistress of the chief of the group. Director Lee Tamahori (“Die Another Day” 2002) put together what is in reality a run-of-the-mill crime drama with a mediocre screenplay (by Pete Dexter) but rises about this with good performances by big-name actors and glitzy production values.

The cast includes Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Treat Williams, Jennifer Connelly, Daniel Baldwin, Andrew McCarthy, John Malkovich, Kyle Chandler, Bruce Dern, Louise Fletcher, William Petersen, Ed Lauter, and Rob Lowe as a hoodlum. The watchable “Mulholland Falls” was a flop at the box office for producers Richard D. Zanuck and Lilli Finn Zanuck, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Polygram Filmed Entertainment, The Zanuck Company, Largo Entertainment, and MGM/UA Distribution. It was filmed primarily in the Los Angeles area.