8 Million Ways to Die (1986)

8 Million Ways to Die (1986)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Ashby's final theatrical film (which he was also fired from) is part thriller, part crime/drama, part love story but all the way mess. In the film Jeff Bridges plays Matt Scudder, a former cop who was let go from the force due to his drinking problem. He's asked by a prostitute for help but she soon ends up dead so Matt tries to find out who killed her. Everything points to a drug dealer (Andy Garcia) but Matt is able to get the hooker (Rosanna Arquette) that he's in love with in hopes to bringing down the entire racket. In many ways this thing plays out as a modern day noir but if you pick up any film book it's doubtful you're going to find a positive review. In fact, the three books I own each rate this as a BOMB, which I think is a bit unfair. Sure, this movie is a complete mess that at times appears to be three movies rolled into one but this thing is certainly never boring. I'm not sure when Ashby was actually fired but that might have something to do with the overall strange nature of this film. It starts off pretty much as a cop drama but then we get bits and pieces of a love story. We've also got the theme of alcoholism that is constantly being brought up as Bridges is fighting his demons. We then get all sorts of subplots including the drug dealer being in love with the hooker who just happens to have her own demons from her father leaving her as a child. There are all sorts of issues with the screenplay, which is a little surprising since Oliver Stone was one of the writers. I'm not sure how much of his original screenplay actually got filmed but in many ways this thing is a cocaine-warped nuthouse much like SCARFACE. It's funny that both films deal with cocaine and that both have one strange sequence after another. As bad as the screenplay is here you still can't take you eyes off the screen for several reasons. I thought the performances were rather good even if they're constantly being letdown by the material. Bridges was born to play a role like this and manages to turn in a very good performance as the former cop down on his luck and getting in over his head. Garcia is a lot of fun as well and he gets to shout and go off a few times like Pacino did in SCARFACE. We've got Arquette doing a fine job as the hooker with the heart of gold and Randy Brooks is fine as Bridges' friend. The actual mystery of who killed the original hooker is what the film goes on yet it's never really played out in the end as we switch gears to the second hooker. We even get an opening sequence where Bridges gets in trouble for shooting an unarmed man yet the man was beating an officer with a bat but no one ever mentions this as Bridges is getting nailed for it. All of the madness leads up to an even crazier ending with all our main people inside a warehouse full of cocaine, which Bridges keeps setting on fire, one kilo at a time. What falls just continues the crazy ways. I'm not sure if footage was cut out or if some sort of longer version could be put together but while watching the movie it's clear certainly things are either missing or perhaps everything was just thrown together poorly. Either way, this is a mess from start to finish but it's never boring.