Details
Movie Description
Writer-director Mike Figgis's remarkably understated first feature concerns a young man named Brendan (Sean Bean) who becomes involved in the seedy underworld politics of small Newcastle, England. Brendan takes a job at a local nightclub run by a man named Finney (Sting); he also meets Kate (Melanie Griffith), a cocktail waitress. Both Finney and Kate are struggling with an American business tycoon called Frank Cosmo (Tommy Lee Jones), who is trying to develop Newcastle at the expense of local businesses. Brendan's only half-knowledgeable involvement, the role of coincidence in shaping the ensuing action, the woman with a past--all the elements of film noir are at play here, accompanied by darkly lit streets and the reds and blues of nightclub neon. Figgis indulges his taste for jazz as well; he scored the film, and a jazz band even figures in the story. Bean and Griffith are believably entwined, but the standout in the cast is Sting, whose soulful Englishness is perfectly counterpoised with Jones's brash American bravado. In fact, STORMY MONDAY's interest in English culture versus American culture is an appropriate beginning for a director whose career would continue on both sides of the Atlantic.
Synopsis
In this stylish film, a ruthless American businessman uses violence to eliminate a jazz club that's blocking his attempt to take over the club district of Newcastle, England. But violence becomes a two-way street when the club's owner fights back.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Stereo Surround - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Theatrical release: May 1988.
Filmed on location in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
Director-screenwriter-composer Mike Figgis made his feature film debut with STORMY MONDAY.
The title comes from a song "(Call It) Stormy Monday," performed on the soundtrack by B.B. King.
Industry Reviews
"...[Figgis] brings the place, the plot and the film's haunting characters vibrantly to life....[Griffith makes] an irrevocably strong impression..."
Maslin
"...Arresting..."
Variety - Lor. (04/20/1988)
"...Great-looking....Griffith and Sting are the picture's electricity, he probably hasn't been this fascinating since QUADROPHENIA..."
Los Angeles Times - Sheila Benson (04/29/1988)
3 stars out of 5 -- "It shows one of our most distinctive directors moving bravely, almost perversely, towards his own noir-tinged niche."
Uncut - Chris Roberts (05/01/2006)
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