Pink Cadillac (1989)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Absolutely amazing

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

"Pink Cadillac" was one of Clint Eastwood's few flops. Not only did the film do poorly in the box office, but critics hated it. Was all this really merited or was the film actually much better? Well, after watching about 90% of it, I must say that the hatred is, in this case earned. Why only 90%? Because I disliked the film and characters so much I couldn't make myself finish the movie...and that is very rare for me.Eastwood plays Tommy Nowak, a skip tracer. This is a person who works for a bail bondsman in order to track down folks who ran away to avoid prosecution...thus leaving the bondsman with a huge debt. He's really good at what he does and is very clever in order to catch these people...which is why what he does with Lu Ann McGuinn (Bernadette Peters) makes very little sense. In her case, for once, her tears and request for his help after she's captured makes little sense--especially since she is on the run from the law AND already lied to him and escaped from him already. However, the pair go off on an adventure to see her baby before she is turned in...and along the way the sleaze-bag husband and his Neo-Nazi friends show up and Nowak must contend with them.There are two huge problems with the film. First, Nowak's character is very inconsistent and makes little sense. Second, and most importantly, there really is no chemistry between him and Lou Ann. These are problems and good writing wouldn't have let such glaring problems get into the script. Overall, a dopey film which tries, in vain, to be a comedy but just comes off as forced and disappointing.

I knew the leading actor was in this film because I had heard the title quite a few times, I didn't realise it was meant to be a funny as well as serious, and I had to see why it wasn't highly rated. Basically Tommy Nowak (Clint Eastwood) is a skip tracer, with a talent as master of disguise who fool a criminal on the phone or in person into thinking well of him, and then he makes his move to catch them for whatever crime they are wanted for. His latest target is Lou Ann McGuinn (The Jerk's Bernadette Peters) who has skipped bail, and she married to husband Roy (Timothy Carhart) who is Nazi inspired and has a stash of counterfeit money, which he hides in the pink Cadillac. Tommy does catch Lou Ann in Reno, Nevada, but he comes to like her with the time they spend, being chased by Roy's gang of thugs for example. It is when the bad guys kidnap her baby who was being looked after by sister Dinah (Frances Fisher), Tommy decides to help his new friend get her baby back and deciding to forget about her in to the police. While driving through the West and catching a few more criminals with the disguise tactic along the way, romance is blooming between Tommy and Lou Ann. Eventually after some adventure, they do eventually catch up to Roy and the other criminals, and in the end they do manage to get the baby back and Tommy and Lou Ann drive away in the pink Cadillac together seemingly as fugitives. Also starring John Dennis Johnston as Waycross, Michael Des Barres as Alex, Geoffrey Lewis as Ricky Z, William Hickey as Mr. Barton, Home Alone's Gerry Bamman as Buddy, James Cromwell as Motel Desk Clerk, Bryan Adams as Gas Station Attendant and young Jim Carrey as Lounge Entertainer. I will admit I did giggle a little at the moments where Eastwood was in disguise as the radio DJ, the rodeo clown, the casino hotshot and the trash pool player, Peters was also quite amusing as his female companion, and the car of the title is obviously nice, but the film is too long, the more serious side of the story is silly, and not all the jokes are funny, so all in all, a disappointing comedy drama. Adequate!

Someone who, as the result of long military deployment at the end of the Cold War, saw nearly every theatrical release of the time is familiar with the Eastwood Mayoral Late Bubblegum Period. Scholars define this as Clint's tenure as mayor of Carmel, between the Marine anthem "Heartbreak Ridge" in 1986 and Clint's Western opus "Unforgiven" in 1992. In 1988 he put a belated end to Dirty Harry in the "Dead Pool," in 1990 he had a PG-13 bondage scene with Sonia Braga in "The Rookie," and in between there was this streetwise chase caper that was, to our loss, his only work with Bernadette. Bounty hunter Tommy (euphemistically a "skip tracer" since he's chasing a girl) captures bail jumper Lou Ann in Las Vegas and becomes caught up in the chase for a cash stash hidden in her pink '59 Caddy convertible by her drug-addict husband & his white supremacist, counterfeiting friends. Clint is at his most likable in these average-Joe tough-guy roles, men who survive only by their wits in seedy jobs (bounty hunter, bank robber, detective, street boxer) & take their lumps when they fall for lost causes or damsels in distress. Peters is fantastic in a humdrum role, going from sullen to sassy to sexy to sensitive without letting us down for an instant. The film is pure fun for its first two thirds, featuring little besides the two stars (Clint mimicking Bernadette's unique soprano is not to be missed). Geoffrey Lewis, an essential in all Eastwood movies like this, is entertaining as ever, this time as an addled hippie forger. The story follows the formula of several movies of this period, the best of which was "Midnight Run" (Cop/bounty hunter finds initial quarry, who's a patsy holding the key to bringing down a really nasty criminal/terrorist outfit). Unfortunately, the bad guys are too psycho-nasty for the light-hearted script, which also features Lou Ann's baby as a hostage. The pre-"Sopranos" mob bad guys of "Midnight Run" brought just the right amount of humor to distill their menace, but if you can find anything funny about neo-Nazi redneck drug addict survivalist militiamen who kidnap babies, please seek therapy. Clint actually gives it a shot near the end, so never let it be said he's not up for a dramatic challenge. "Pink Cadillac" isn't worthy as the only vehicle for the Broadway star and the greatest tough guy of his day, but it was a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours at sea. Compliments to "Speed Channel's" Lost Drive-in for bringing this & other forgotten car movies back to the small screen.

Like most people I guess, I'd never heard of this movie (it not getting a theatrical release in the UK). But I like Clint so when it came around on late-night TV...The leads are excellent, the script is witty, but the direction plods. The first third is so slow it almost had me reaching for the off switch. (A Pink Cadillac that runs on Valium, is no fun ride, me thinks.) Still I hung on in there and am not disappointed that I did.Eastwood's attempt at playing "characters" was vaguely cringe-worthy. Let's face it, his best role is playing Clint Eastwood. Even so, he still has enough charm to get away with trying. Bernadette Peters adds subtlety, humor and integrity to her role. The film is well made. It hangs together. It was just never worth a special trip to the cinema. But fine on DVD or video with wine and a pizza.