Review of Miami Blues (1990) by Ron H — 27 Jan 2008

I loved this movie. It's not a comedy like some describe it, but rather a slow character study of hopes, dreams, and expectations. Alec Baldwin is tremendous as a quick thinking and violent con man who begins to impersonate a detective.

He never seems to understand the difference between impersonating a cop and actually being a cop. While Baldwin makes a fascinating violent force in this flick, the real show is the performance of Jennifer Jason Leigh.

She is amazing. She plays a prostitute like she seems to do so often, but this character is fully formed and well thought out, it was like she was a real person. Her brief speech towards the end of this movie almost had me sobbing.

Oh, and Fred Ward's in it, too. Usually he'd be the highlight, but the acting here is top notch from all involved. This is an absolute must see, as far as I'm concerned.