Tequila Sunrise (1988)

My Review

The star-studded crime drama “Tequila Sunrise” has both plusses and minuses. On the positive side, the film has three big-name stars in their prime and fantastic cinematography, which earned the picture’s sole Oscar nomination for Conrad L. Hall.

On the negative side of the ledger, director-screenwriter Robert Towne (“Personal Best” 1982) turned out a story with weak character development and a muddled plot that is difficult to follow. The primary plot point that comes through is that Mel Gibson’s character is a drug dealer trying to go straight.

Gibson delivers a decent performance, as do Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell. You will probably enjoy this movie if you are fan of any or all of the three principals. The do the best they can with mediocre material, as do co-stars Raul Julia, J. T. Walsh, Gabriel Damon, Arliss Howard, Elly Pouget, Arye Gross, Daniel Zacapa, Budd Boettcher, and Ann Magnuson.

The film was successful at the box office for The Mount Company and Warner Bros. Pictures. However, the only thing “Tequila Sunrise” does for us is to leave us with a big hangover. It was filmed in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County – Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and San Pedro.