Stormy Monday (1988)

Please don't spend money on this.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Best movie ever!

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Slow moving but stylishly photographed crime drama that some might call noir. Seems an American businessman short on ethics (Jones) wants to clear the way for a mall or some such project by buying out a resistant British pub owner (Sting). Plus, Jones doesn't care if it takes strong-arm tactics to finish the deal. Short of violence, however, Jones hires a frizzy haired waitress (Giffith) to smooth the deal, if possible. Meanwhile she gets mixed up with a handsome toilet cleaner (Bean), who gets rewarded by his employer Sting for passing along overheard information about Jones' nefarious plans. All in all, it's sometimes hard to follow the plot because of the slow paced intervals, especially the extended love scenes.Happily, however, the eye is entertained even when the story drags out. Then too, I can't help thinking there's a subtextual message lurking in the narrative. Namely, an allegory about aggressive American business interests moving into Great Britain. Note that it's officially American Week (or something like it) in Newcastle, so there's the general idea of a British welcome even if Jones is exploiting it for selfish purposes. Nonetheless, there's a British triumph of sorts when Jones goes home empty-handed and the pub remains in British hands. Perhaps something like this is implied by the focus on an American coming to England, but not respecting its laws.Anyway, the movie is not without its positives (atmosphere, mainly), but frankly I was yearning for the classic noir style of tight script, fast action, and double-crossing dames. So this 1988 entry may amount to a matter of taste for fans of noir.

Not much to say that wasn't said below, but I guess I need ten lines. Kudos to the cinematographer photographing the setting, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This film was near the height of Melanie Griffith's career, and I have to say that the short, reddish, hairstyle is not particularly flattering to her. But it is always nice to hear her soft dulcet voice, musically feminine, even when she's being tough. Sting's acting was just fine, which makes me think that it isn't that hard, since so many non-actors are able to do decent work at it. I am unfamiliar with Sean Bean, who seemed to be the main character. I found this film to be okay, but nothing really to write home about.

A better than average film noir set in Newcastle england which gives a fairly inaccurate portrayal of organised crime and the club scene in Newcastle (although i did read a statistic that there were over 400 firearms incidents in Newcastle in 1992 which is staggering considering the whole of england could fit into Texas Newcastle itself is probably the size of a tiny new york suburb and england has extremely tough gun licencing laws) the rain soaked streets and neon lights look fantastic the plot is somewhat of a no brainer the ending left me scratching my head a bit fantastic cast it has to be said but i think the over done the the American influence its like the whole film is a big party celebrating tommy lee Jones presence which is kind of unfair given his performance here pretty much stinks. sting is a fantastic actor and obviously Sean bean i a fantastic actor both from Newcastle however both speak with a fairly none descript northern accent there are no geordie accents (Newcastle accents that people from Newcastle are famous for) in the film which left me feeling a bit short changed to be honest.on an interesting side note there was a 6 part British TV series which kind of a sequel to stormy Monday called FINNEY (1994) which had none of the original cast but was actually really quite good somewhat of a pre SOPRANOS TV crime saga about organised crime and Newcastle's club scene featuring David morrisey (from TV's ONE SUMMER) taking the role of FINNEY (played in stormy Monday by sting).

This is one of those sleeper films, a good one that is not very well- known.....but should be. I really liked this modern-day film noir when I first saw it over a decade ago and the three additional times since.The movie has all the features of a good noir, most of all a feeling of impending doom throughout, which a good noir exhibits. You know some bad things are going to happen, but you just don't know what and when. That uneasy mood runs throughout the film.Add some tough characters, great cinematography (nice colors, too, in this case) and even a good blues music score and you have an interesting film. The story here revolves around a ruthless American businessman trying to buy up an entire block of the businesses in one area in Britain. There's humor in here too with a goofy Polish jazz band, which looked and sounded just awful, and just enough action throughout to keep from getting too talky. Tommy Lee Jones, Melanie Griffith, Sting and Sean Bean star and all are fascinating to watch.