# Midnight Crossing (1988)

### reviewed by
Jeff Meyer

                                  MIDNIGHT CROSSING
                             A film review by Jeff Meyer
                              Copyright 1988 Jeff Meyer

    MIDNIGHT CROSSING (USA, 1988)

Director: Roger Holzberg Screenwriters: Roger Holzberg, Doug Weiser Cast: Faye Dunaway, Daniel J. Travanti, John Laughlin, Kim Cattrall, Ned Beatty

In the words of Leonard Pinth-Garnell, "Really awful." I don't mean unsuccessful or poorly done or a disappointment; I mean raccoon liver oil sitting out under the sun for five weeks. Downwind. The last half-hour had the audience in stitches during the most "suspenseful" moments, and from the opinions expressed by my fellow full-season pass holders, I would guess that this is the worst film of the festival so far.

In short, we have a young couple (John Laughlin and Kim Cattrall) who own a large sailboat in South Florida. Cattrall's boss and his blind wife (Daniel J. Travanti, Faye Dunaway) wish to hire the couple to sail them to the Caribbean for their 20th wedding anniversary -- or do they? Turns out Laughlin's dad and Tranvanti stored a bunch of Cuban gambling money off an island before Castro took power in 1959. And Cattrall has been doing more than just selling insurance in Travanti's firm....

Basically, you have these people who are either slugs (Travanti), sluts (Cattrall), flakes (Dunaway) or bumpkins (Laughlin), all trying to get the money. I was personally hoping Ellis (Ned Beatty), an old sailor who overhears their plans in a cantina and Knows More Than He's Telling, would just sink their ship and let us out of the theater. But no....

The dialogue here is poor, but the plot -- Roger Holzberg and Doug Weiser must have thought they were producing DEATHTRAP at sea. Instead, it twists so many times into so many ridiculous, impossible plot twists (including the "happy ending" that's tacked on) that you wish there were zombies or ghosts or some supernatural forces behind this -- then it might make some sense.

    Really Stirring Moments:

* Cattrall's third soft-porn scene. * Dunaway's outrageous over-acting as she tries to convince Laughlin that Travanti is out to kill him. * Travanti chasing Dunaway around the boat with two speargun spears in him (they breed 'em tough on The Hill). * Everyone screaming at everyone else while they're all mortally wounded on the deck.

As to why we saw this film (and why the soundtrack, a fast-track generic pop-rock ditty, was played overly loud before the film started), I must point out that Dan Ireland, one of the two people who started the festival, now working for Vestron pictures, was one of the executive producers for this film. Come to think of it, Dan's brought in some really lousy pictures over the last couple of years that he's been involved in (SHADEY comes to mind immediately). Danno, your credit's wearing a mite thin around these parts. Considering the reaction the audience gave this, and that this was the World Premiere of the film, I wonder if it will get out at all -- or in the shape we saw it.

         Well, Caveat Emptor, and all that....

                                            Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
    INTERNET:     moriarty@tc.fluke.COM
    Manual UUCP:  {uw-beaver, sun, microsoft}!fluke!moriarty

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