Product Description

An insomniac aerospace engineer and a flaky beauty flee with emeralds sought by foreign hit men. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 06/01/2004 Starring: Jeff Goldblum Richard Farnsworth Run time: 115 minutes Rating: R Director: John Landis

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16589 in DVD
• Brand: Universal Studios
• Released on: 2003-09-02
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
While caught up in the scandal resulting from the accident on the set of The Twilight Zone movie that killed actor Vic Morrow and two children, director John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) made this manic nighttime L.A. thriller with rising stars Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer. Goldblum plays an office worker with a dead-end job, an unfaithful wife, and a bad, bad case of insomnia. Unable to sleep, his midnight wanderings take him to the L.A. airport, where beautiful jewel smuggler Pfeiffer literally lands on his car. Fleeing Iranian terrorists (one is played by Landis), the two hit the road, and their adventures lead them to murder, mayhem, one scary hit man (David Bowie in a lurid, terrific cameo), and, of course, romance. Perhaps because of--or in spite of--the turmoil going on in his life, Landis fashioned a film unlike any of his previous (or later) safe Hollywood products; this is inventive, darkly comic, sincerely romantic, and L.A.-style sultry all the way. Landis's greatest success is perhaps in the mood of the film: he manages to convey that weary, dreamlike insomnia feeling of adrenaline bordering on exhaustion. Goldblum is at his deadpan best and, despite a bad haircut and '80s wardrobe, Pfeiffer shows the spark and beauty that would later make her a star. In support of Landis during his time of trouble, numerous directors, including David Cronenberg, Paul Mazursky, Don Siegel, Jonathan Demme, Lawrence Kasdan, and Jim Henson, made cameo appearances. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews

Underrated gem.
It's a shame. I don't know what's wrong with Universal; they've never really cared about this movie, it seems. -By that I mean they've never bothered to letterbox it. This movie never looked all that good on any of its video releases; I seem to remember it always looking pretty lousy, even on laserdisc. It's such a funny and exciting little thriller with a great (and sleepless) Goldblum, a tough and sexy Pfeiffer, an even sexier Harrold, a nasty Bowie, and lots of famous faces in cameos. -Enough reasons for a DVD, I should think !.

one of my all time favorites
This is a great movie that is always underrated by critics. Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer are wonderful here, at the start of their careers, and without big star egos. The surprise cameos are fun and the story is fresh and unique. I recommend it to anyone who is tired of the same old plot and action. This is well worth the money.

enjoyable film
This is a chase movie, a kind of film-noir without the black and white. Here the ordinary man is Jeff Goldblum, a guy so so unhappy with his mundane job and cheating wife that he spends his nights driving the LA streets instead of sleeping. One night he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time. He interrupts the murder of a beautiful and mysterious Michelle Pfeifer and very shortly he finds himself her unwilling accomplice as both evade her ruthless pursuers. She warns him right up front that she is "one of the bad guys", but he's hooked. The chase takes them to all of the "mink-lined sewers" of after dark LA and lets them encounter quirky and sometimes violent characters. This movie plays like a mix of dark comedy and thriller.It has a plot twist of sorts, but does not end darkly. The cameos will be interesting to film buffs, but not to anyone else. It's Goldblum, Pfeifer, and the chase that drives this movie. And thankfully, the story - though improbable - strings tightly together and does not involve stupid car chases, explosions, or wanton killing. In fact, the violence is tame by today's standards. There's the brief nudity seen in 80's movies and occasional mild profanity. A nice film to rent. I bought it.