Dang! This movie is 30 years old already, how did that happen? Also it actually holds up really well. Can’t believe that it was a flop at the box office. I hadn’t seen it in years and came across it on Disney + over the weekend. A down-on-his-luck pilot and his friend stumble upon one of Howard Hughes’s latest inventions that is wanted by everyone, including the Nazis. This movie has everything: gangsters, chase scenes, romance, Jan from The Office as a night club singer, and a restaurant in the shape of a dog. This film is also gorgeous on so many levels. The 1930s sets are lavishly rich, the costume design is sharp. Directed by Joe Johnston and the score is by James Horner (the guy who basically scored my childhood: Jumanji, Casper, Star Trek, Titanic.) The cast is also easy on the eyes and ears, I mean, Billy Campbell, it’s crazy how good looking that man is, but he plays the sorta clueless ordinary guy well. I heard Johnny Depp and Bill Paxton were almost cast as Cliff, but I’m pleased they went with Billy because any other known actor would have been bringing a whole different swagger to the roll that may have proved unfit. Jennifer Connelly plays the sweetheart and Timothy Dalton perfectly pulls off the two-faced actor in the tradition of Gable/Flynn. And Alan Arkin is the pitch-perfect partner in crime. Give it a watch, you won’t regret it.
