A marriage of the 1940s Hollywood B picture and the Geordie underworld that produces a dark tale of brutal enforcers, beautiful waitresses and natural victims. The mean streets of Tyneside never glistened so black.
Mike Figgis’ impressive first feature is a tautly constructed crime thriller on the perils of sex (familiar territory, yes, but given a certain shaking up). Deftly mix... more >
Mike Figgis’ impressive first feature is a tautly constructed crime thriller on the perils of sex (familiar territory, yes, but given a certain shaking up). Deftly mixing gangsters, femme fatales and jazz, and relocated piquantly to Figgis’ native Northeast, Stormy Monday cannily balances innovation and social commentary with a loving homage to film noir. Sting (giving, for once, something that actually resembles a performance) stars as Finney, a laconic Newcastle jazz-club owner who crosses the path of crass American gangster Cosmo (the ever-relable Tommy Lee Jones). Cosmo wants to involve Finney in a land development deal -- if only he’ll give up his club. Entering into this increasingly dangerous game of brinkmanship is Kate (Melanie Griffith), a former gangster’s moll trying to put her past behind her. Could a relationship with the club’s innocent young apprentice (Sean Bean) offer a shot at redemption? With striking cinematography by Roger Deakins and an evocative score composed by former jazz musician Figgis and performed by the Kracow Jazz Ensemble, Stormy Monday makes one willingly forgive its occasional missteps. < less