Tequila Sunrise Information

Tequila Sunrise is a 1988 American crime thriller film written and directed by Robert Towne. It stars Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, with Raúl Juliá, J. T. Walsh, Arliss Howard and Gabriel Damon in supporting roles.

The film, only the second (after Personal Best) to be both written and directed by Academy Award"winning screenwriter Towne, was commercially successful, making over $100 million at the box office worldwide, but critical reception was mixed. One reviewer was of the opinion that, "perhaps because the elements were so irresistible"?Robert Towne directing Gibson, Russell and Pfeiffer in a California crime film"?an aura of disappointment settled over Tequila Sunrise, no matter how engaging, and profitable, it turned out to be."

Tequila Sunrise was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The film's soundtrack spawned the hit single "Surrender to Me", performed by Ann Wilson (lead singer of Heart) and Robin Zander (lead singer of Cheap Trick), where it went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1989.

Plot

Dale "Mac" McKussic (Mel Gibson) is a former drug dealer trying to go straight. His close friend Nick Frescia (Kurt Russell) is a Los Angeles County detective lieutenant who, in spite of their friendship, is duty-bound to bring Mac to justice if he is selling drugs again, as DEA Agent Hal Maguire (J. T. Walsh) believes to be the case.

Mac is attracted to stylish restaurant owner Jo Ann Vallenari (Michelle Pfeiffer). Nick becomes acquainted with Jo Ann while attempting to learn more about Mac's activities, in particular his relationship with the Mexican drug kingpin Carlos, whom the DEA agents and Mexican police official Escalante (Raul Julia) believe is coming to town.

Jo Ann succumbs to Nick's charms and a love affair begins. Nick's friendship with Mac is endangered as Maguire and his associates set a trap for Mac and the mysterious Carlos, whose face none of them except Mac has seen.

In time, Jo Ann realizes that Nick has been using her and that Mac is the one who wants her. She soon falls in love with Mac, only to have Carlos place both their lives in grave danger.

Cast

• Mel Gibson as Dale "Mac" McKussic
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Jo Ann Vallenari
• Kurt Russell as Lt. Nick Frescia
• Raúl Juliá as Commandante Xavier Escalante
• J. T. Walsh as DEA Agent Hal Maguire
• Gabriel Damon as Cody McKussic
• Ely Pouget as Barbara
• Arliss Howard as Gregg Lindroff
• Arye Gross as Andy Leonard
• Daniel Zacapa as Arturo, Bartender at Vallenari's (credited as Garret Pearson)
• Budd Boetticher as Judge Nizetitch
• Ann Magnuson as Shaleen McKussic

Production

Tequila Sunrise was filmed on location at Manhattan Beach, California, USA.

Before filming commenced, actors attached to the lead male roles included Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges.

The expensive menswear and slicked-back hair sported by Kurt Russell's character, Detective Lieutenant Nick Frescia, was modelled upon Pat Riley, the basketball coach that director Robert Towne initially intended for the role. Russell was quoted as saying that "Riley's look was right for this film because he was arrogantly confident but not offensive."

The famous love scene between Mel Gibson and Michelle Pfeiffer takes place in a hot tub, that was reportedly not properly constructed or chlorinated, resulting in skin rashes and splinters for the actors and their body doubles, and causing production to halt for a few days.

Director Robert Towne wanted Dale McKussic (Mel Gibson) to go up in smoke at the end of the film, but one of the conditions Warner Bros. set was that he must live. "Gibson's character was supposed to be a moth in the flame," said Towne. "The real high for him was never doing the drugs, but the danger of dealing the drugs."

Reception

Critical response

Tequila Sunrise currently holds a score of 44% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews, and a score of 62 on Metacritic, indicating mixed reviews. However, it was a commercial success, made for less than $20 million and grossing over $105 million worldwide.

Critics commented both positively and negatively upon the labyrinthine nature of the complex plot, characteristic of earlier Robert Towne screenplays such as Chinatown. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that "Tequila Sunrise weaves a tangled web, and there are times when we are not sure what is happening, or why. There are even moments when the chronology itself seems confused, when characters seem to know things they could not be aware of, when other characters arrive at places they should not have known about." Vincent Canby in the New York Times called it "the fuzzy focus of someone who has stared too long at a light bulb. Narrative points aren't made and the wrong points are emphasized." However, Time Out wrote that the "set-up has the precision of fine needlepoint, picking out the plot outline before embroidering it with a complex pattern of interwoven relationships."

Michelle Pfeiffer was described as a "stunning presence" in the New York Times, while Time Out thought her "perfect as the immaculately dressed and icily controlled restaurateur caught between Gibson's honest (ex-)criminal and Russell's ambiguously motivated cop." Variety praised each of the lead performances"?"Gibson projects control skating atop paranoia, and is appealing as a man you'd want to trust. Russell is fine as the slick cop who's confused by his own shifting values, and Pfeiffer achieves a rather touching quality with her gun-shy girl beneath the polished professional""?but concluded there was "not much kick in this cocktail, despite its mix of quality ingredients."

Accolades

Conrad L. Hall was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and won an American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases.

Gabriel Damon was nominated for a Young Artist Award in the category of Best Young Actor Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.

See also