I think it's the insects' turn...
This is a great film from an unlikely source. Who would have thought
that Steve De Jarnatt, the director of Cherry 2000 (starring a pre-famous
Melanie Griffith) would be capable of such an involving, harrowing picture?
The film begins as musician Harry Washello (Anthony Edwards, before
he became a household name as a result of his roles in Northern Exposure,
ER, and Pet Sematary II) visits the museum at the LaBrea tar pits. During
his tour, he sees a teacher (Julie Peters, played by Mare Winningham) with
her students on a field trip, and is convinced she is the woman of his
dreams. Adding further doubt as to the "grim" nature of the film is their
meeting, a double example of the sappy film convention which Roger Ebert
dubbed the "Meet-cute"; the impossibly precious meeting of the romantic
couple. The first is Harry's charming clowning with her students, the second
is the scene in which Harry, after the couple tries to decide which live
lobster in a restaurant tank to eat, buys them all and "sets them free"
off a pier into the ocean (never mind that they'd most likely die in the
waters of the Pacific).
Later in the day, Julie joins her father Ivan (John Agar, a legend
in horror/sci-fi circles due to his roles in movies like Tarantula, Brain
from planet Arous, The mole people, and Zontar, thing from Venus) to attend
one of Harry's outdoor big band performances. All goes well until Julie's
mother (Lou Hancock, well known to horror buffs as Henrietta Knowby in
Evil Dead 2) shows up, and it's revealed that Julie's parents have been
long separated.
![[HENRIETTA]](ed212.jpg)
The sad story of her parent's estrangement told,
the couple arrange to meet up for some dancing (after Harry has gotten
a nap) at quarter-after midnight.
A fire in harry's hotel causes a power outage,
and he oversleeps, missing the date. He goes to "Johnny's" diner (their
meeting place) anyway, desperate to find her. She has understandably left
long ago, and he calls her on the pay phone outside and leaves an apologetic
message.
Just then the phone rings. Answering it, Harry
hears the voice of a man who thinks he's reached his father. The voice
is frantic: "Dad- it's happening- 50 minutes and counting. ". Not realizing
he's not speaking to his father, the caller continues, saying that the
US is about to launch a nuclear first strike, and that "you'll get it back
in an hour and 10". When the caller realizes he's dialed the wrong area
code, he asks Harry to call his father with the message. Harry then hears
guards questioning the caller, followed by gunfire. The guard picks up
the phone and tells Harry to forget what he heard and go back to bed.
A frightened Harry returns to the diner, unsure
if the call was a prank or the real deal. Panic overcomes him, and after
he's caused a disturbance, he shouts to the patrons "Anyone here have a
son in a missile silo?" He relates his pay phone conversation to a skeptical
audience, but is taken seriously by a woman (with mysterious high-level
government connections), who, when hearing the supposed launch code, attempts
to confirm the story on her cell-phone (not as ubiquitous in '89 as they
are now). After asking him to repeat the phone conversation verbatim, she
nervously places a call, asking "are we at forced readiness?".
All the patrons (excepting a transvestite) are
convinced the story is true, and panic. The owner, pushing a cart of supplies,
rushes out to his delivery truck, followed by the patrons. Harry joins
them, believing that they'd stop for Julie.
On Route, Linda (the woman with connections)
makes plans for a trip to Antarctica on her cell-phone. Harry realizes
that the driver has no intention of stopping to pick up Julie, and jumps
from the moving truck to find her.
Harry hijacks the first car he sees, driven by
a car-stereo thief. During a botched attempt to get gas, two police officers
are killed. Making his getaway in the cop car, Harry tries to get information
on the coming war on the radio. The police know nothing.
Harry arrives at the building where Julie lives,
and breaks into the apartment she shares with her Mother. Julie cannot
wake up because of the sleeping pills she's taken, but Harry carries her,
with the Mother following. In the meantime, the stereo thief has taken
off in the police car (to find his sister).
Harry leads Julie, her parents (now reunited
in the face of the crisis) in tow, across the street to the building where
Linda has arranged for an escape from the roof by helicopter. Julie, still
groggy, believes Harry is taking her to a romantic balloon ride or something
similar. Her parents (conspiring with Harry to temporarily keep the truth
from Julie) decide to leave survival to the young people, and after a final
good-bye head off to a diner to spend their last moments together.
Harry and Julie make their way to the rooftop
and find a scene of panic and chaos. It seems everything is set for the
escape except a pilot for the helicopter. Taking charge, Harry desperately
takes to the streets to find one. Amazingly, he does. In the meantime Julie
has learned the truth and set out to find a pilot as well.
As they return to the building, a police car
crashes through the glass doors. It is the radio thief on the run from
the cops, with his sister. After stumbling out of the wreck, the sister
dies of her wounds, and the thief begs Harry to shoot him. Harry is spared
the decision when the thief dies without Harry's help. Now surrounded by
police, Harry and Julie decide to surrender and claim to be innocent bystanders.
They emerge from the building to the sight of
the last SWAT member fleeing the scene. The thought of a situation so dire
that the police would entirely abandon arresting a suspected cop-killer
is chilling. Panic is spreading in the streets, but by this point Harry
is unsure if it's due to real war, or just panic spreading from his story.
"I could still be chicken little". Harry thinks he sees the pilot on the
street, and goes to find him, giving Julie the gun for protection until
they reunite on the roof. The "pilot" turns out to be a stranger, and by
this time the streets are full of panicked people. On his way back, Harry
is nearly killed during some of the most brutal rioting ever filmed. As
he and Julie take the elevator back to the roof, the power goes out, and
they prepare for the blast.
Instead, however, the elevator door opens on
the barren roof. Soon, the pilot returns with the helicopter. A reprieve
for our young lovers?
Shortly after take-off, the city is shaken by
an air burst. The helicopter's circuits are fried, and it goes down in
the tar pits where Harry and Julie first met. As they sink, Julie frantically
tries to open the door, but Harry stops her, saying "there's nothing up
there". He comforts her, suggesting they might be lucky and get a direct
hit. He tells her a touching story about how Superman could crush coal
into diamonds, and talks of their transformation after the blast. Their
"luck" comes through, and the screen fades to white.
Miracle Mile delivers on its promise fully, and
the horror of the situation redeems a potentially sappy love story. The
last scene may sound corny by my description, but in context it is quite
touching. And as anyone who's seen Casablanca will tell you, the best love
stories are tragedies.
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