Note: This Blu-ray arrives on March 22nd from Olive Films (http://www.olivefilms.com).
This week, I’ve got reviews of two 80s comedies that I missed out on during their original runs. Jinxed! was a comedy starring Bette Midler that came on the heels of her successful live concert film Divine Madness (1980) and Oscar-nominated drama, The Rose (1979). This notorious project had a very troubled production, suggesting that the film’s title was apropos for both the events taking place onscreen as well as behind-the-scenes.
Reportedly, Midler and her leading man despised each other, and director Don Siegel (Escape From Alcatraz, Dirty Harry, Invasion of the Body Snatchers) also butted heads with Midler. Even worse, the filmmaker had a heart attack during production – although he wasn’t credited, Sam Peckinpah (Straw Dogs, The Wild Bunch) stepped in to complete sections of the film. It already sounds bizarre… talk about two filmmakers who you wouldn’t associate having anything to do with a Bette Midler comedy.
But that’s not all that went down. Additionally, the novelist whose book the film was based on and who wrote the first draft insisted that his name be removed from the final product. And adding insult to injury, the movie was a box office flop, grossing just $2.8 million against a $13.4 million dollar budget. It was also critically lambasted. So as a newcomer to the movie, is it as bad as all of the behind the scenes drama would suggest?
Midler plays Bonita, an abused singer and girlfriend of gambler Harold (Rip Torn). Harold travels from casino to casino following a blackjack dealer whom he has jinxed named Willie (Ken Wahl). Since cursing Willie, Harold continues to win big against the young man. In desperation, the dealer attempts to break the run by stealing something from his tormentor. It ends up being Bonita, who has plans of her own to escape from her nasty partner. Some pictures of this time can be seen on some articles posted up on https://www.casinoarbi.com/ they have an affinity for the retro.
The movie actually feels like several different styles being cobbled together. The first act plays more like a drama than a comedy with Bonita on the receiving end of several nasty blows. Between this, it wedges in a couple of song numbers featuring the star. Add an unexpected romance with and a comical revenge plot and you’ve got a film that is more than a bit jarring and schizophrenic. One gets the feeling that Siegel was more interested in cards than the film’s relationships. He focuses a lot of attention on the blackjack table (and the showdowns between the dealer and gambler) and at times employs a tilted camera angle to emphasize Willie’s discomfort.
The best moments involve Bonita’s plan to sever ties with Harry as well as the plan’s execution, which doesn’t go off without plenty of hitches. Moving an unwanted body around leads to some funny physical humor and off-handed comments, as does a failed attempt to get rid of a truck and camper over a cliff. Bonita’s attempts to collect on a life insurance policy lead her on another goose chase, which involves a couple of amusing stops along the way. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until the second half of the film before any of this happens and the movie begins to exploit its comedic potential.
What doesn’t work nearly as well is the romance. While the off camera disdain between the Midler and Wahl isn’t overly apparent, there’s little in the way of chemistry between the two and their interactions do come across in a stiff manner. There are a couple of scenes where Willie looks especially drained and annoyed. One wonders how much of it was performance and how much was authentic from the performer, adding a layer of unintended interest for this viewer.
The photography by Vilmos Zsigmond (Deliverance, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) is bright and impressive during the casino music sequences as well as at many of the Lake Tahoe and Reno locations. The romantic and dramatic moments are often shot in a soft haze, but this is an intentional technique commonly used on actresses at the time. While the source material features some flaws, overall the image quality is about as sharp as one could hope for.
Bette Midler would disappear from movie screens for a years and then bounce back in 1986 with excellent turns in Ruthless People and Down and Out in Beverly Hills. As for Jinxed!, I can’t say that it is a particularly good movie. However, it is an intriguing and consistently fascinating misfire that includes several talented but incongruent elements, including stars and crew members who probably never should have collaborated. If you’re curious about box office bombs or are simply a fan of the actress, you can now check it out in high definition.