This movie had me from the opening: Flying over the city, nonchalant monologue, and then the camera starts turning over on itself; it gets to an angle no chopper could fly at, and, bang! Cut to a graveyard, and see Detective Matt Scudder (Jeff Bridges) take a swig from his flask minutes before he makes a bust.
I guess I had it good, because I like Jeff Bridges. A lot of people I know intentionally skirt this guy's films, but I think he's great. He is The Dude, in my mind. All that's to say I was ready for this character from the first minute on. And they started quickly. I haven't dealt with an alcoholic, but this character felt real. The first scenes were from his family's point of view, very disorienting: You feel for them, not him... Hell, you don't even know him at this point.
Then Sunny's (Alexandra Paul) killed, and you are Matt. You wake up in the drunk tank, and you have no idea why you look like someone's punching bag, what day it is, anything. You see him losing his relationship with his daughter, and you feel for him. At least I did.
I noticed a comment on the Internet Movie Database entry called the movie unsatisfying. I disagree. It never went for the neat and tidy story line. Chance wasn't that bright; he got the wool pulled over his eyes. Matt didn't pull off the perfect bust, not in the first scene (O.K., predictably), and not in the warehouse scene. All that shouting, confusion... I loved it! Nobody knew what the hell they were doing. That makes sense to me. The team leader saying, "This is a tactical nightmare." Again, I'm loving it.
I don't know why Bridges hasn't had more success with his career. This was a personal, moving performance. And the movie had all the little things down too. The bartender filling Sarah's (Rosanna Arquette) glass three times before leaving her the bottle, Angel's (Andy Garcia) men dancing in the right of the shot as he realizes that the love of his life doesn't want to go away with him, or have anything to do with him. Actually, that scene broke with the neat and tidy story line too. No, he doesn't hit her. No, they don't cut away after he freaks out. That was an awesome performance by Garcia.
