Mulholland Falls | 
| Director: Lee Tamahori
Actors: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $3.89
You Save: $11.09 (74%)
New (30) Used (20) from $3.08
Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 14535
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: MGMD1007185D
ISBN: 0792862651
UPC: 027616913210
EAN: 9780792862659
ASIN: B0002V7O5Q
Theatrical Release Date: April 26, 1996
Release Date: November 2, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Too much surface. Director Lee (The Edge) Tomahori's noir story serves as a McGuffin to its ripe style. Amid secret agendas and unspeakable acts onscreen you stare at the fall of light across old cops' desks. Musing on super-8 footage of naked Jennifer Connelly, your mind wanders. Ah, yes, an allusion to the opening shots of Chinatown. Roman Polanski's grand reinvocation of the dark intuitions of 1940s noir is there, too, in the sumptuous look, the plump list of stars (Nick Nolte, Michael Madsen, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich), and the swoony, bittersweet soundtrack. The zigzags of the story that bring together two cheating husbands, one pneumatic babe, and (somehow) homosexuality waywardly recall The Big Sleep. The Atomic Energy Commission subplot feels like an homage to Kiss Me Deadly. With so many other movies to please, by the middle of the film it's clear that the story isn't going to thicken, that for all the amperage in Nolte's performance, for all the male rage in Michael Madsen and Chazz Palminteri, the hints of sexual malfeasance aren't going much past Nolte's domestic guilt about his affair with Connelly. And yet there are rich things. Tracing a path from his girlfriend to the head of the Commission (Malkovich), Nolte listens, hat in hand, to a purring existential science lecture about the invisible world of atoms. "Yeah," Nolte growls, "well, I see too much." Would that the filmmakers had let us see more. --Lyall Bush
Product Description
An elite squad of los angeles detectives who play by their own rules while serving justice. But while investigating the murder of a young woman they uncover a deadly conspiracy involving the u.S. Government. Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 11/02/2004 Starring: Nick Nolte Chazz Palminteri Run time: 107 minutes Rating: R
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| Customer Reviews: Read 39 more reviews...
 Dave Grusin writes a mean score March 7, 2009
Ektoman (London, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had to comment after reading review after review of whole-movie reviews for this product - which is the SOUNDTRACK for the film.
Dave Grusin is as accomplished a writer as he is a player - Mulholland Falls particularly shows off a lush period score that fits the movie perfectly (whatever you think of it). I only liked the central actress in the film (Jennifer Connelly - she's stunning) but was thouroughly impressed the the ultra atmospheric score, with rich jazz harmony and dark, dynamic swells - it really fits into the detective film-noir genre.
I don't usually pay attention to film scores that much but I heard this one and wanted to transcribe it. Now I know it's Grusin I'll get around to it sooner.
 1.5 stars out of 4 February 3, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Ann Arbor)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Bottom Line:
A garish and ridiculous neo-noir that features Nick Nolte in full screen-chewing mode, Melanie Griffith in full awful-Melanie-Griffith mode, and some truly terrible dialogue and situations, Mulholland Falls has a good first scene but nothing else to recommend it.
 Great movie January 6, 2009
Michael T. Howard (Clearwater, FL. USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Nick Nolte plays a hard core detective and the supporting cast performed very well. Jennifer Connelly is worth the price of admission. Don't miss.
Entertainment plus October 2, 2008
Pete Witt (New York)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mulholland Falls is one of Nolte,s best. A strong cast with no weak links coupled with a thriller/mystery.
A period detective film for fans of period detective films January 22, 2008
S. Winterich (Atlanta, GA)
I must first confess my undying admiration of the gorgeous Jennifer Connelly. Now, with my bias out of the way, married plainclothes detective Nick Nolte and doomed party girl Connelly have a torrid affair such that it hurts both to break it off. Hard-guy Nolte and his 3 partners are members of the thuggish but sharply-dressed "Hat Squad," who take it upon themselves to rid the city of organized crime figures transplanted from Back East. With the gracious assistance of the "Hat Squad," these organized crime figures have a way of rolling down the side of the canyon off Mulholland Drive, which is their "hint" that they have overstayed their welcome in L.A., and that it is time to leave town. Hence the title. This was obviously before the days of internal affairs divisions and citizen review boards' influence.
Recovering a woman's body found in an open field, Nolte is shocked to discover that Connelly was the victim. Probing deeper, Nolte and his partners determine that Connelly may have been killed for what or whom she knew. Nolte takes it personally. He and his men place themselves in harm's way with the FBI and other well-armed federal agencies. The plainclothes L.A. cops do battle the Feds and, of course, get way in over their heads. Ultimately, no one wins. When you dig deeply enough, no one ever wins.
The upside: this film stars a great ensemble cast--Nolte; Melanie Griffith, his wife; Chazz Palmintieri, Chris Penn, and Michael Madsen, his partners; Connelly; Andrew McCarthy, an effeminate witness; Daniel Baldwin, a smug FBI agent; John Malkovich and Treat Williams. The film looks super, and it recreates 50's L.A. in clear detail, and the dialogue is convincing. Philosophy and psychology are also briefly discussed, which earns it a half-star with me.
The downside: although most scripts made into movies are implausible, the film has difficulty making a believable transition from everyday murder investigation to the scale of atrocity uncovered by the "Hat Squad." This lack of a smooth transition detracts from the credibility of the plotline and the cohesiveness of the film.
The director was obviously influenced by "Chinatown," which is superior viewing, as is "L.A. Confidential," which was released soon afterwards. "Mullholland Falls" is a "Chinatown-lite," although set 15 years or so later.
If you can avoid overly critical comparisons with the best films of this type, you should enjoy it, too. (Adapted from my review of 5/23/00.)
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