Crime

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Western

Sunset

ML Delphi Premier Productions

Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica

Hudson Hawk Films Ltd.

TriStar Pictures

Italy

United States of America

English

Español

James Garner

Bruce Willis

Malcolm McDowell

Mariel Hemingway

Kathleen Quinlan

Jennifer Edwards

Patricia Hodge

Richard Bradford

M. Emmet Walsh

Joe Dallesandro

Andreas Katsulas

Dann Florek

Bill Marcus

Michael C. Gwynne

Dermot Mulroney

Miranda Garrison

Liz Torres

Castulo Guerra

Dakin Matthews

Vernon Wells

Dennis Rucker

John Dennis Johnston

Kenny Call

Jack Garner

Jerry Tullos

Herb Tanney

Peter Jason

Richard Fancy

Glenn Shadix

Lisa Alpert

Sonia Zimmer

Marina Palmier

Tessa Taylor

Jon Van Ness

P. Randall Bowers

Maureen Teefy

Arnold Johnson

Eric Harrison

Amy Michelson

James O'Connell

Bing Russell

James C. Lewis

William Applegate Jr.

Luis Contreras

Charles Noland

Robert Covarrubias

Donalin Patton

Kay Perry

Rod McCary

John Fountain

Irene Olga López

Jeris Poindexter

F. William Parker

Grant Heslov

Don Sparks

Melanie Jones

Darrah Meeley

Tom Tarpey

Krista Gray

Katie Morgan

Bevis Faversham

Paul Higby

Vincent Jerman-Jerosa

Beverly Leech

Marilyn Michaels

Denney Pierce

Barry Vigon

Blake Edwards

Rod Amateau

Henry Mancini

Tony Adams

MichaelJohn

Rick Sharp

Virginia G. Hadfield

Richard Y. Haman

Danny Cangemi

Dave Grayson

Marvin March

Jean Austin

Brad Wilder

Josée Normand

Charlene Roberson

Nancy Klopper

Trish Caroselli

Alan Levine

Rodger Maus

Joy Zapata

Robert Pergament

Patricia Norris

Anthony B. Richmond

Miriam Nelson

Drew Struzan

This is one of those cases of a movie that should have worked way better than it did.

Just the very idea of watching Earp and Mix solving some murder mystery in Holywood sounds incredible and fun to watch. However, Edwards' screenplay never truly finds its identity, floating between Neo-Noir, Western and Comedy. Maybe paired in Noir-Western or Comedy-Western it would've worked better: it just didn't know wheter to take itself seriously or not. That is, however, the only real problem with it.

The production and time setting is awesome, with a shoutout to the costume design. Mix's especially.

The colors are a sight to see, creating a warm-hot feel to the movie, reminiscent of the Western, but in a Noir setting.

Mancini's soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard. Perhaps as a consequence of the film's lack of true identity, Mancini went every which way with it. His "Sunday west" bits combined with more somber and serious tracks - reminiscent of his work on Touch of Evil (1958) - just complete each other so well.

Willis is in a point in his career that is intersting to watch. Even before his greatest hit (and masterwork) Die Hard (1988), in which he hadn't found his persona yet. Still, he looks and sounds much like the star he would become months later, with a touch of Mix-cowboy in. He is a very "light" presence on-screen, and in the good way.

McDowell is always a convincing actor, and his "Happy Hobo" Alfie Alperin is quite fun to watch - especially given the parallels to another Happy Hobo, Chaplin's The Tramp - but he isn't given a lot of screen time, and from the very beginning, it's quite clear that he is the villain.

But the highlight of the film is the veteran James Garner. His incarnation of the legendary frontier lawman Wyatt Earp is (albeit anachronistic) one of the best. In my opinion, only second to Kurt Russell's in Tombstone (1993). That "hawk-eyed" archetype that Earp basically defines in pop-culture was very well-captured by Garner - even out of his "natural habitat" of the west.

Sunset is a very fun, lighthearted buddy movie. It is a great movie that should have been an all time classic, yet it somehow feels right. It's a one-of-a-kind curio piece. And my heart says it deseves more recognition. Give or take a star or two.

"Sunset" Movie Trailer

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Sunset

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Cast

James Garner

Bruce Willis

Malcolm McDowell

Mariel Hemingway

Kathleen Quinlan

Jennifer Edwards

Patricia Hodge

Richard Bradford

M. Emmet Walsh

Joe Dallesandro

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