TROUBLE IN MIND is a heavily atmospheric neo-noir from Alan Rudolph that is quite intriguing and interesting to watch. The story, if one can call it that, is about an ex-cop, a coffee shop owner and a young couple who are each trying to make their own way in RainCity, a fictionalized/alternate universe version of Seattle. Like the name implies, there is a lot of rain and there is a pervasive sense of melancholy that hangs over it like a cloud. The people who live there all have their pasts, but what really drives them is the hope that they will make it and overcome their circumstances. That, I believe, is at the heart of what this movie represents. In many film noirs past, the general thematic tone was one of fate and destiny, and it being out of human control. Here, in a similarly constructed world, we have people trying to wrest control back into their own hands. Overall, I thought the movie was rather good. Kris Kristofferson gives a great performance as the ex-cop with a checkered past, and Genevieve Bujold, Lori Singer and Keith Carradine give equally decent performances as the coffee shop owner and the young couple, respectively. Ample time is also spent with each character, so that you get to know and sympathize with them (although, to a lesser, degree with Genevieve Bujold). The effect that the city has on a person is seen most explicitly with Coop, played by Keith Carradine, as his appearance changes considerably over the course of the film, and he gets deeper and deeper into the underworld. Also worth mentioning is Divine, who takes a supporting role as the top gangster in RainCity. This is probably his best performance, and he brings shades of flamboyance and menace to it. He is only in a few scenes, but his presence is felt over the entire film and he makes the most of his limited screen time. The movie also has a fantastic jazz score and some great songs sung by Marianne Faithful. But despite how great the film is, there are a few drawbacks. The biggest one is a climactic shoot-out which comes out of nowhere and seemed poorly choreographed. There's also some spotty acting from people in minor roles. Overall, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I first heard about this, but I was pleasantly surprised. Alan Rudolph managed to create a neo-noir which doesn't wallow in misery, and which maintained its own unique style. I'd recommend checking this one out, especially if you're into the noir genre. You probably won't be disappointed.
34 Reviews
Exceedingly uneven!
flgrovez10 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
While it was very stylish and quirky, with some wonderful characters and a fine cast to portray them. Unfortunately the "hero" of the story is a total douche bag that rapes 1 woman and then sets out to break up a family and run off with the woman who's half his age, at least. Found it very hard to pull for this disgusting human being. In the end, while I did enjoy much of it, it left me feeling very disappointed.
uneven pulp fiction from an idiosyncratic filmmaker
mjneu5911 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers
It's hard to decipher the motivation behind this attractive but often labored retro-noir potboiler, which in appearance (and appearances are all the film has to offer) falls uncomfortably somewhere in between an homage to and a satire of classic 1940s crime dramas. The characters are all familiar from other Alan Rudolph daydreams: the laconic lone-wolf hero (Kris Kristofferson, as a low-life ex cop); the tough-but-sensible cookie with a kind streak (coffee waitress Geneviève Bujold); and Rudolph regular Keith Carradine as the innocent bystander, chasing success into the gutters of Rain City (a.k.a. Seattle). But the dialogue, mood, and the story itself are self-consciously artificial, owing more to mid 1980s music-video hyperbole than to any Golden Age Hollywood film style, and the plot doesn't so much develop as congeal. Highlights include Carradine's scene-by-scene metamorphosis into something resembling Ziggy Stardust, and a brief but startling moment when a villain is drowned in a parked car filled with water.
Needs a U.S. version of the DVD!
wadwilchap1 May 2002
A terrific, quirky film by Alan Rudolph. As an earlier reviewer wrote, he has weird things going on that are never explained. They are just features of his "alternative future". Remember that so much of the world we live in goes by, unexplained. It helps break this film away from the Hollywood-spoonfed blandness.
A real treat not commented on is Keith Carradine. A veteran of Alan Rudolph films, he has a wonderful transformation. Without any commentary, he goes from a rural-type (flannel shirt & jeans) to a denizen of the city (wild clothing, make-up, boufant hairdo). And his behavior gets more bizarre with his change in locale.
Also, watch for one of cinemas most unique murders. Let's just say it involves water, a major feature of the movie, but it takes place in a location you would never fathom.
This is one film I would love to see get the deluxe DVD treatment. Widescreen, director commentary, deleted scenes. It is an overlooked wonder.
A real treat not commented on is Keith Carradine. A veteran of Alan Rudolph films, he has a wonderful transformation. Without any commentary, he goes from a rural-type (flannel shirt & jeans) to a denizen of the city (wild clothing, make-up, boufant hairdo). And his behavior gets more bizarre with his change in locale.
Also, watch for one of cinemas most unique murders. Let's just say it involves water, a major feature of the movie, but it takes place in a location you would never fathom.
This is one film I would love to see get the deluxe DVD treatment. Widescreen, director commentary, deleted scenes. It is an overlooked wonder.
"There's always a war somewhere."
punishmentpark29 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
'Trouble in mind' is set in a mildly dystopian city named Rain City (Seattle) and has fairly colorful characters all over the place. Kristofferson sometimes looks like a skinny Orson Welles (big hat, big coat), Carradine slowly turns into a Brian Setzer on acid, and then there's more regular looking people as well as plenty of weirdos. For some time I was wondering where things were going; noticing some illogical acts of the characters, and Hawk was even a downright sickening character at moments (the rape of Wanda), even if there's a struggle inside him that lies at the core of his behaviour.
Somehow it was doable, but then the movie shifts into a higher gear, with some bloody violence, a thoroughly absurd shoot-out (wonderful stuff!) and just the right accents in the final outcome (Hawk saves the day, but still leaves and Coop learns his lesson, but joins the army). Those were just the kind of things I wasn't expecting, but felt very much in order.
The drama in 'Trouble in mind' does not feel very sincere, but it has its place within this tongue-in-cheek, kitschy atmosphere (saxophone - check). It's some sort of understated superhero sci-fi flick (with love story) that seems to reflect on the '80s taking over the '70s. Or something like that - watchemecallit.
A good 7 out of 10.
Somehow it was doable, but then the movie shifts into a higher gear, with some bloody violence, a thoroughly absurd shoot-out (wonderful stuff!) and just the right accents in the final outcome (Hawk saves the day, but still leaves and Coop learns his lesson, but joins the army). Those were just the kind of things I wasn't expecting, but felt very much in order.
The drama in 'Trouble in mind' does not feel very sincere, but it has its place within this tongue-in-cheek, kitschy atmosphere (saxophone - check). It's some sort of understated superhero sci-fi flick (with love story) that seems to reflect on the '80s taking over the '70s. Or something like that - watchemecallit.
A good 7 out of 10.
out of time
SnoopyStyle6 January 2024
In Rain City, the militia is constantly recruiting. Hawk (Kris Kristofferson) leaves prison and makes his way back to Wanda (Geneviève Bujold) with her diner. Coop (Keith Carradine) and Georgia (Lori Singer) are a newly arrived couple with a baby. Solo (Joe Morton) recruits Coop for various petty crimes. While Coop is gallivanting around town with his ill-gotten gains, Georgia is waitressing and struggling with city life. Hilly Blue (Divine) is a local crime boss.
This is written and directed by Alan Rudolph. He's using Seattle to make it into the neo noir Rain City. It's modern and yet older. It feels like a down and out 70's world or the hard-boiled 50's. It exists out of time. Divine is almost unrecognizable without his drag. The pacing is a little slow. It's a meandering relationship car wreck and crime drama.
This is written and directed by Alan Rudolph. He's using Seattle to make it into the neo noir Rain City. It's modern and yet older. It feels like a down and out 70's world or the hard-boiled 50's. It exists out of time. Divine is almost unrecognizable without his drag. The pacing is a little slow. It's a meandering relationship car wreck and crime drama.
Like a Comic Book
rheaton-9469730 November 2021
Fast paced, interesting characters and cast. Dirk Blocker has the best combover you will ever see. Keith Carridine's look evolves into something pretty amazing. Always good to see Devine. Definitely a hidden gem. Go see it you won't be disappointed.
Trouble in the script, acting, direction, photography...
reidy_christopher2 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I really wanted to like "Trouble In Mind" and maybe someday I will; but I have to say this film is a muck-in fess. As I was watching it I realized it's some sort of misguided attempt at remaking Bladerunner, albeit as a lame, no budget Robert Altman comedy. As you may recall, Rudolph was a protégé of Robert Altman and he seems to have picked up a few things from that master. Namely, muddy sound recording and a heavy finger on the Zoom button. You know there's a problem with a movie when the best actor is Divine and all you can think about when the ingénue comes on screen is pushing her off the Seattle Space Needle. If this film taught me anything, it's that Evil is determined by hair height and Keith Carradine looks terrible as Ziggy Stardust. A few random thoughts (much like the script): The future looks a lot like the '80's. Kris Kristofferson is downright peppy compared to the pace of this movie. Genevieve Bujold is on crack. A shootout for a climax should never be staged as comedy. A bizarre dwarf like woman with Big Hair steals the movie. Do not attempt depicting "the future" on a low budget. What was up with the black guy who lived in the clock tower? Events in your screenplay should contribute to the story. Maybe it was the lousy video transfer I watched that made me actively dislike this film...and maybe someday I will see it again and it will grow on me (I think that could be possible) but right now, this movie is lodged in my mind, and that's trouble.
once upon a time...in the future
raegan_butcher26 June 2006
This is a great piece of atmospheric mid-budget film-making. Alan Rudolph and his production team successfully utilize the architecture of Seattle and its rain-slicked streets to bring to life the funky Neo-noir metropolis known as Rain City, inhabited by a set of off-beat characters, my favorite of which is a gangster played by the one and only DIVINE, in his only male-gendered role. He even gets to say the films best line: "Everyone wants to go to Heaven but no one wants to die!"
This is a film that is just begging for a DVD release. As others have mentioned, the audience for this film is definitely out there.
This is a film that is just begging for a DVD release. As others have mentioned, the audience for this film is definitely out there.
Bunch of actors saying their lines
UrsusProblemus17 August 2021
The film feels like a sequel to a movie you've never seen. It's disjointed, and although it has a lot of good moments, I rarely cared about what was going on. You have no idea why the characters say what they say and do what they do. Ultimately, though, the biggest sin of this film is: you never forget that you're watching a film. You look at the screen, and you don't see the characters - you see actors saying their lines.
Could have been so much better!
Could have been so much better!
neo noirish look of the rain drenched, neon light streets
christopher-underwood30 October 2008
Very fine moody film, made after, 'Choose Me' and good as that is I have always preferred this. In many ways (until the end) a fairly quite film with people drifting in and out of each others lives. Laid back they may be but there are great performances from Keith Carradine, Genevieve Bujold, Kris Kristofferson and even the lovely Lori Singer, who has probably never bettered this performance. Despite the strange neo noirish look of the rain drenched, neon light streets and signs of decay there are also hints at some future setting and the ambiguity coupled with Kristoffersen's model making constantly create a dreamlike quality to proceedings. The soundtrack is immaculate and the use of the crackling elder Marianne Faithful inspired. Divine is brilliant as the chief baddie and should the uncultured out there drop off for lack of constant action be assured you will awake at the end.
The worst kind of American art-house.
MOscarbradley16 October 2021
If you can imagine a cross between "Bagdad Cafe" and "1984" done as a gangster flic you might be half way to getting Alan Rudolph's "Trouble in Mind", that is if you really want to get it. Most people didn't which is hardly surprising since this virtually plotless film smacks of the worst kind of art-house pretentiousness that mid-eighties American cinema could come up with. Rudolph directs it skillfully enough; the problem lies with his dreadful screenplay which doesn't allow talented performers like Kris Kristofferson, Genevieve Bujold, Keith Carradine, Lori Singer and Joe Morton the opportunity to develop their one-dimensional characters though Dirk Blocker and an almost unrecognizeable Divine make for a couple of entertaining gangsters.
It's all set around Bujold's coffee-house in Rain City, (Seattle, actually), where the lives of the various characters come together but these aren't lives you can get involved with. This is a movie that doesn't work as a comedy, a drama or a thriller; it's nothing really except a waste of two hours of your life. The only plus is another splendid Mark Isham score and Marianne Faithful's voice on the soundtrack.
It's all set around Bujold's coffee-house in Rain City, (Seattle, actually), where the lives of the various characters come together but these aren't lives you can get involved with. This is a movie that doesn't work as a comedy, a drama or a thriller; it's nothing really except a waste of two hours of your life. The only plus is another splendid Mark Isham score and Marianne Faithful's voice on the soundtrack.
Unusual surreal movie
Scott-817 January 1999
"Trouble in Mind" is a moody and decidedly different film. Take your pick as to whether it's set in an alternate reality or a retro-future. Either way, the inhabitants of Rain City are drifters and lost people whose lives collide as they go on to whatever fate awaits them. Divine makes a surprisingly good bad guy, while Kristofferson is a little wooden but still fits the part. Worth seeing.
Unbelievably stupid
jacknmm13 April 2017
I watched the first hour of it.
All the actors and actresses are unusually good, and beautiful.
The dialogue, plot, everything else, are hugely awful, unbelievably dumb.
Tough ex-cop Kristofferson and the actresses are super sweet.
Carradine is the at first manly sweet, then foppish, bad guy,
Watch all these people in different movies.
All the actors and actresses are unusually good, and beautiful.
The dialogue, plot, everything else, are hugely awful, unbelievably dumb.
Tough ex-cop Kristofferson and the actresses are super sweet.
Carradine is the at first manly sweet, then foppish, bad guy,
Watch all these people in different movies.
Alan Rudolph's best film holds up admirably.
roganmarshall19 October 2001
"Trouble in Mind" is one of those movies that only reveals its greatness about the third time you see it; a wealth of details which, on first viewing, strike the perceptive viewer as scatterbrained or irrelevant, unfold on closer inspection into a rich, lushly imagined fantasy world, and dialogue which at first sounds precious or forced becomes endlessly quotable. It's hard to be an Alan Rudolph "fan," as his work is decidedly uneven; but on this picture, which followed the critical and commercial success of "Choose Me," he is at the peak of his powers. And, if none of this convinces you, you should check this one out for the performances, not least among which is Divine's startling turn as coldblooded (male) gangster Hilly Blue (worthy of awards, in a better world than this).
Rain City
BandSAboutMovies3 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Hawk (Kris Kristofferson) is just out of prison - yeah, he's an ex-con ex-cop who killed a gangster instead of sending him behind bars - and back at his former hangout in Rain City, Wanda's Cafe, which is run by his ex-lover, who is named Wanda (Geneviève Bujold) as you can guess. Meanwhile, Coop (Keith Carradine) is new in town and working for a gangster named Solo (Joe Morton) and dragging along his wife Georgia (Lori Singer) and boy Spike. While her husband is out doing crime, she works for Wanda and that's where Hawk decides to protect her, which she'll need when her husband screws up and runs into trouble in the form of mobster Hilly Blue (Divine), who is always followed by a violinist, as well as another brutal killer named Nate Nathanson (John Considine, who was Doctor Death).
Director and writer Alan Rudolph made a wild movie, one that feels like the future trapped in the past, a place where every character has their own strange fashion developed by the actor's themselves, sets designed by local Seattle artists and a soundtrack performed by Marianne Faithfull. It's not a movie discussed much but seems to take place within the world of movies instead of where we come from. I'd compare it to a non-musical Streets of Fire, which is interesting, seeing as how it stars a rock star.
Director and writer Alan Rudolph made a wild movie, one that feels like the future trapped in the past, a place where every character has their own strange fashion developed by the actor's themselves, sets designed by local Seattle artists and a soundtrack performed by Marianne Faithfull. It's not a movie discussed much but seems to take place within the world of movies instead of where we come from. I'd compare it to a non-musical Streets of Fire, which is interesting, seeing as how it stars a rock star.
Bladerunner?
praxis2227 August 2003
The person who compared this film to Bladerunner is not only doing this film a disservice, but is so far from the mark as to be untrue. The chief protagonist is a cop true, and though initially spurned, he does get the girl in the end, but that's about where it ends...
From the opening strains of the muted trumpet, and Marianne Faithfull's beautifuly broken voice, this film is a masterpiece, it's moody, quirky, low key and not without a little menace, especially when Hilly Blue "puts the anchor" on Solo, "they should all blow each other's balls off, make my life easier..." to quote Lt. Gunther.
It's everything that Bladerunner isn't, if anything it's set in some alternate vision of a disfunctional 50's & 80's combined, down at heel low life's, trashy outfits, too much drab neon & hairspray, allied with a little mob glamour and modern art.
I guess I just feel for the characters, Hawk's hunger for a life he never had, the Zen stillness of Wanda, the wild eyed innocence of Georgia and the weirdness that is Coop, Solo freaking out as a Bhudhist, and last but not least, Divine in a suit... "let everybody get what they deserve..."
It's not a fast movie, or an ensemble piece, but at some deep level it resonates.
"what are you looking at?" "you a cop?" "you know damn well I'm not a cop" "that's what I'm looking at then, a woman who isn't a cop..."
It's the film I watch when I get down, I've lost track of the number of times I've watched it, I caught it first at the ICA West Bank in London, on it's last showing before they started a series of Mexican masked wrestling bario movies :) I bought it recently on DVD in a shop in Schipol airport after being delayed in Amsterdam for two hours, I'd been looking for it for years at that point... Even Amazon had it on back order.
It's really a wonderful movie, from icy lake to mountain road, I always come away from it happy, I guess you can ask no more from a movie than that.
From the opening strains of the muted trumpet, and Marianne Faithfull's beautifuly broken voice, this film is a masterpiece, it's moody, quirky, low key and not without a little menace, especially when Hilly Blue "puts the anchor" on Solo, "they should all blow each other's balls off, make my life easier..." to quote Lt. Gunther.
It's everything that Bladerunner isn't, if anything it's set in some alternate vision of a disfunctional 50's & 80's combined, down at heel low life's, trashy outfits, too much drab neon & hairspray, allied with a little mob glamour and modern art.
I guess I just feel for the characters, Hawk's hunger for a life he never had, the Zen stillness of Wanda, the wild eyed innocence of Georgia and the weirdness that is Coop, Solo freaking out as a Bhudhist, and last but not least, Divine in a suit... "let everybody get what they deserve..."
It's not a fast movie, or an ensemble piece, but at some deep level it resonates.
"what are you looking at?" "you a cop?" "you know damn well I'm not a cop" "that's what I'm looking at then, a woman who isn't a cop..."
It's the film I watch when I get down, I've lost track of the number of times I've watched it, I caught it first at the ICA West Bank in London, on it's last showing before they started a series of Mexican masked wrestling bario movies :) I bought it recently on DVD in a shop in Schipol airport after being delayed in Amsterdam for two hours, I'd been looking for it for years at that point... Even Amazon had it on back order.
It's really a wonderful movie, from icy lake to mountain road, I always come away from it happy, I guess you can ask no more from a movie than that.
Moody masterpiece...
poe42615 August 2002
The forecast is overcast. Director Alan Rudolph sets the tone early on and TROUBLE IN MIND never once strikes a sour note. The cinematography is superb: the camera never stops moving, drifting slowly toward or pulling slowly away from the ex-con, Kristofferson, the country bumpkin-cum-Big City thug, Carradine, his mentor, Morton, the naive engenue, Singer, the survivor, Bujold, or the king of queens, Divine. The story unfolds gradually, logically. The music is appropriately moody. THIS is the way to tell a story. Anyone seriously interested in writing or directing needs to add this one to their list of must-see movies. To miss it would be to miss out.
One of the most Underrated
MadFish7 December 2005
Trouble in Mind is a masterpiece from Alan Rudolph - the most underrated movie director of USA.
It's a great analysis of the amoral society where everyone is ready to sell a soul for his, his friend's or at least for his child's future. In the game of life only the ones wise enough to play with small bets survive.
80's were an afterglow of the 70's criticism against the weak but high developed systems. Although films like "To live and to die in L.A" got the most attention in this area, Trouble in Mind won't have to be ashamed no bit.
It's a great analysis of the amoral society where everyone is ready to sell a soul for his, his friend's or at least for his child's future. In the game of life only the ones wise enough to play with small bets survive.
80's were an afterglow of the 70's criticism against the weak but high developed systems. Although films like "To live and to die in L.A" got the most attention in this area, Trouble in Mind won't have to be ashamed no bit.
A strange, STRANGE film....
cmndrnineveh24 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This film is perhaps the ONLY film to "document" what life was probably like for the vast majority of young people in working class America in the late seventies and early eighties, when a true sense of bizarreness reigned in big cities all across the country. This was the world that David Bowie, Kiss, disco and cocaine had made for everyone who had to "get out of the house at night". It was also a statement about how rough life was for anybody trying to make their way in the world during that period, where inflation was rampant and jobs were VERY difficult to come by.
This situation leads one of the characters, Koop, played by Keith Carradine, to join forces with a paranoid but educated and shady black guy by the name of Solo in a diner owned by Genevieve Bujold's character, Wanda. Also frequenting the diner, which he also lives over, is ex-cop Hawk, newly released from prison, played by Kris Kristofferson. The two clash, as Koop descends into a life of crime with Solo, trying to feed his wife and baby while Hawk develops an eye for his young wife, played by Lori Singer.
The mood of this movie has many parts: equal parts weird, compassionate, exposition, self-consciously fashionable, and stylish. It captures the zeitgeist of the period between 1975 and 1982 perfectly...the desperation of young people, especially POOR young people, to get a taste of the glitzy good life and to simply survive in a world that it is too easy to realize really IS cold and cruel!
Alan Rudolph's art director should have won an Oscar for his work on this film, as it captures the presumed time it was set in perfectly. Rudolph himself deserves kudos too, for giving the world a chronicle of the weird world of new wave-disco era, big city America. Bujold, Carradine, Morton, Singer and even Kristofferson are good in it as well.
This is the middle one of three great movies Rudolph produced in the mid-to-late eighties that he and his repertoire company, (usually just Bujold and Carradine,) can be justifiably proud. These are "Choose Me", "The Moderns" and this one. "The Moderns" must be seen to be believed. As good as the mood setting is in "TiM", "The Moderns" walks all over it.
Enjoy.
This situation leads one of the characters, Koop, played by Keith Carradine, to join forces with a paranoid but educated and shady black guy by the name of Solo in a diner owned by Genevieve Bujold's character, Wanda. Also frequenting the diner, which he also lives over, is ex-cop Hawk, newly released from prison, played by Kris Kristofferson. The two clash, as Koop descends into a life of crime with Solo, trying to feed his wife and baby while Hawk develops an eye for his young wife, played by Lori Singer.
The mood of this movie has many parts: equal parts weird, compassionate, exposition, self-consciously fashionable, and stylish. It captures the zeitgeist of the period between 1975 and 1982 perfectly...the desperation of young people, especially POOR young people, to get a taste of the glitzy good life and to simply survive in a world that it is too easy to realize really IS cold and cruel!
Alan Rudolph's art director should have won an Oscar for his work on this film, as it captures the presumed time it was set in perfectly. Rudolph himself deserves kudos too, for giving the world a chronicle of the weird world of new wave-disco era, big city America. Bujold, Carradine, Morton, Singer and even Kristofferson are good in it as well.
This is the middle one of three great movies Rudolph produced in the mid-to-late eighties that he and his repertoire company, (usually just Bujold and Carradine,) can be justifiably proud. These are "Choose Me", "The Moderns" and this one. "The Moderns" must be seen to be believed. As good as the mood setting is in "TiM", "The Moderns" walks all over it.
Enjoy.
No-one understood
ian_powell6 July 2010
Its a long time ago, but I remember doing the PR for this for its UK release and taking Alan Rudolph around to press interviews. one or two of in the agency loved this film, and couldn't understand it when the National Critics seemed not to get it. We organised a dinner for them with Rudolph, and I remember being astonished by the lack of enthusiasm. All these years later I have just made my first feature (Which, whilst I am sure is not a patch on Trouble in Mind, takes as its purpose being unusual and (Hopefully) beautiful. I look forward to the DVD of trouble in mind. You just have to be on the wavelength of this beautiful film, and to remember that one day, people come to appreciate a film....but it can take 20 years.
A forgotten cult classic
collierandy7 March 2023
I've always loved this film. It's often classed as an arthouse movie given the director, however it's more mainstream. It has a great atmosphere throughout, with the eponymous RainCity (well, Seattle actually), and it's set in a near future (or is it an alternate future?). Excellent acting throughput and cool soundtrack courtesy of Mark Isham and Marianne Faithfull. I especially like the performance of Divine, not so much over the top, just completely suited to the role. The touches of humour almost make it a comedy, but at its heart it's a story of redemption, love and heartbreak, in a city where it mainly rains or has been raining.
Unrecognized but Beloved.
galtereglenn10 December 2015
Admittedly this film was most perplexing, perhaps unsettling at my first few viewings of it and I did not begin to truly enjoy it until I just let it be itself. It has since won a permanent place of endearment in my top ten. Many of the strongly favorable reviews herein resonate with my own experience so no need to rehash these (praxis22 fairly nails it). Even those critical seem ambivalent, haunted? A few have rightly made note of the brilliant, deeply evocative score by Mark Isham. Marianne Faithful's contributions are emblematic; in particular her gentle presentation of the Isham/Kristofferson collaboration El Gavilan – which, in the estimation of some, beautifully embodies the ultimate theme of this film: an elegy of regret inhered of loss, infused with hope. This work was re-released in a special edition DVD by Shout! Factory in its original 1:85 and is of excellent quality; it also includes a remarkably candid and affectionate retrospective featuring the surviving principal cast, crew and production staff. Sadly, the soundtrack has become nearly unobtainable – it also deserves to be rediscovered and recognized.
A really entertaining and fascinating one-of-a-kind oddity
Woodyanders31 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Life in the dangerous urban cesspool of Rain City: Tough and crusty ex-cop Hawk (an excellent and engaging performance by Kris Kristofferson) gets out of jail after serving time for murder, eager young father Coop (a fine portrayal by Keith Carradine, who sports a wild punk hairdo) neglects his sweet innocent wife Georgia (luminously played with considerable doe-eyed charm by the gorgeous Lori Singer) and falls in with a bad crowd, and ruthless mobster Hilly Blue (deliciously essayed with slimy gusto by Divine, who comes across like an effeminate Sydney Greenstreet) runs the local crime syndicate. Writer/director Alan Rudolph expertly crafts a beautifully bizarre, garish, and stylized reto 40's film noir alternate universe that's punctuated with witty dialogue, populated by colorful oddball characters, and further enlivened by nice moments of inspired quirky humor. Moreover, Rudolph offers a truly singular cinematic meditation on morals, corruption, thwarted desires, and possible redemption. The tip-top cast helps a whole lot, with especially praiseworthy work from Genevieve Bujold as wise and weary diner owner Wanda, Joe Morton as philosophical hoodlum Solo, George Kirby as the hard-nosed Lieutenant Gunther, John Considine as sleazy creep pedophile Nate Nathanson, and Dirk Blocker as brutish thug Rambo. Mark Isham's jazzy score and a couple of songs sung by Marianne Faithful greatly enhance the eccentric brooding atmosphere. Toyomichi Kurita's striking cinematography gives the picture a great gaudy'n'smoky look. Hovering precariously between affectionate homage and campy send-up, this exquisitely idiosyncratic treat qualifies as recommended viewing for fans of outré celluloid fare that doesn't fit into a simple easy category.
ALAN RUDOLPH'S QUIRKY NEO-NOIR...SKEWED & OUT-OF-ORBIT
LeonLouisRicci5 August 2021
Completely Nutzoid and Bizarre Take on Film-Noir from Fringe Director and Robert Altman Protogei Alan Rudolph.
Brimming with Characters who have One-Foot in Reality and Another in Who-Knows-Where?
The Well-Rounded Cast All Fit Into Their Square Holes.
Kris Kristofferson, Keith Carradine, Lori Singer, Genevieve Bujold, Joe Morton, and Divine.
Their "Straight" Personas are Twisted Slightly to Accommodate the Strangeness that is "Trouble in Mind".
Even the Background Warbling of Marianne Faithful, while Moody and Raw, Seem to be Slightly Off-Speed.
It's a Crime-Drama-Romance-Fantasy that can Captivate and Leave the Viewer in Awe, Responding to What's On-Screen.
A Place that Exists, one could say, in "The Twilight Zone".
Different, Beautiful, Decadent, Displays of Young-Love, Low-IQ Folks Lost in the City.
With Guide-Posts in the Form of an Ex-Con-Ex-Cop and a Diner Owner that has "Been Everywhere".
A Crime Syndicate from La-La Land Coming Down on Everyone Like its the "End Times" and Satan is Making His Move.
One of the Oddest and Best Neo-Noirs Your Likely to Come Across.
This has Got it All.
To See if it's Too Strange for You...
Worth a Watch.
Brimming with Characters who have One-Foot in Reality and Another in Who-Knows-Where?
The Well-Rounded Cast All Fit Into Their Square Holes.
Kris Kristofferson, Keith Carradine, Lori Singer, Genevieve Bujold, Joe Morton, and Divine.
Their "Straight" Personas are Twisted Slightly to Accommodate the Strangeness that is "Trouble in Mind".
Even the Background Warbling of Marianne Faithful, while Moody and Raw, Seem to be Slightly Off-Speed.
It's a Crime-Drama-Romance-Fantasy that can Captivate and Leave the Viewer in Awe, Responding to What's On-Screen.
A Place that Exists, one could say, in "The Twilight Zone".
Different, Beautiful, Decadent, Displays of Young-Love, Low-IQ Folks Lost in the City.
With Guide-Posts in the Form of an Ex-Con-Ex-Cop and a Diner Owner that has "Been Everywhere".
A Crime Syndicate from La-La Land Coming Down on Everyone Like its the "End Times" and Satan is Making His Move.
One of the Oddest and Best Neo-Noirs Your Likely to Come Across.
This has Got it All.
To See if it's Too Strange for You...
Worth a Watch.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
