I consider this film Mandatory Viewing.
Norman Mailer write the novel and directed the movie. Ryan O' Neal stars as a man named Tim Madden, a man prone to blackouts who wakes up one morning to find himself implicated in a web of murder.
Tim is a loser from the word go and is very bland. His father, Dougy, is played by Lawrence Tierney one of my favorite actors of all time. Dougy is the only person Tim trusts an the two of them have a very special relationship...but I will get to that later.
Tim finds the head of a blonde in a sack where he usually keeps his stash of weed and thus starts the trail of trying to find where it came from and how it got there. Police Captain Alvin Luther Regency is as crazy as everyone else so it is a good this the character is portrayed by Wings Hauser. It is a performance you'll not soon forget.
There are scenes in this film you'll never forget and that includes the head in the bag, Tim finding out that the police Capt. is having an affair with his wife and so much more. The special father and son "relationship" I mentioned is the best night time father and son fishing scene ever filmed. Tim and his dad get rid of all the bodies by dumping them in the lake. The fog surrounding the lake adds a very good sense of noir to the proceedings.
Parts of the film are hard to follow, but stay with it as all becomes clear in the end. There is so much to like about this film. It was released in 1987 and it tanked badly. Budgeted at 5 million it barely made one million back. That is simply because it was way ahead of it's time. I don't think the modern movie goer would like it either as it doesn't involved superheros, but if you like great classic cinema, this is for you.
The rest of the cast includes Isabella Rossellini as Capt. Regency's wife, Debra Stipe as "Patty Lareine" a sex siren if there ever was one, Penn Jillette and Clarence Williams III. A true modern film noir classic!! Recommended!!
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