On M List of Movie Reviews

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Midnight Crossing (1988)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 5/20

MidnightCross
5/20: Just when everything was going well, Midnight Crossing found a way to fall apart completely.

At the beginning, there was a feeling that it was going to be another "Let's Have Stupid Fun" 80's picture based on how John Laughlin was acting. Recovering from the bad start, things started to get better, thanks to Faye Dunaway who's my initial reason for picking up the film because she's a pro and a very good actress.

After the momentum finally gained traction, Midnight Crossing was entering into the neo-noir territory. There's a nice appearance by Ned Beatty, Faye Dunaway's co-star from Network, reminding me how good of an actor he was, but his overall on-screen time was brief. By the time the four characters arrived at Rayo Verde, a remote island that's supposedly forty miles from Cuba, it's when the film was about to hit the climax. Once at the shed, how the incident went down marked the beginning of the end for Midnight Crossing.

From there on, it got stupider and stupider, making me feel like I was back on the boat in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan with the worst attempt ever at fog effect despite the weather being relatively calm with fake thunderstorms in the background. Characters were getting shot left and right with bullets and harpoons, and they managed to come back and be full of vitality. And of course, just as I suspected, Faye Dunaway's character turned out to be not blind the whole time.

If there's anything to like, the acting is satisfying. A near Christian Bale look-alike, John Laughlin is the star of the show, displays commendable acting chops, and has a wonderful rapport with Faye Dunaway. Providing some edge, Daniel J. Travanti and Kim Cattrall aren't bad.

Unfortunately, it's the plot that's dumb. Twenty years later, the dead body is still in the locker with money under the floorboards? I don't think so. People would've stopped there from time to time and had their fun with the shed, vandalizing it in the process. By the time the four characters make their landfall, the poor building should give an appearance of having been beaten like a dead horse.

All in all, Midnight Crossing is a waste of thespians who put forth their honest effort in an attempt to make it a nice addition to the neo-noir genre.