THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR
5.5/10

HAVANA
6.5/10

One of Robert Redford's least-seen directorial outings, THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR (117 mins., 1988, R), generated a fair amount of surprise when it won Best Original Score for Dave Grusin's unreleased soundtrack, besting the likes of John Williams' “The Accidental Tourist” and higher-profile efforts by Hans Zimmer (“Rain Man”), Maurice Jarre (“Gorillas in the Mist”) and George Fenton (“Dangerous Liaisions”).

Beyond that unlikely (and seemingly political) Oscar win, this Redford adaptation of John Nichols' novel plays like a stripped-down “movie adaptation” that's filled with too many characters that aren't given enough screen time, and the ones that are happen to be superficially, and broadly, drawn. That applies to both “the good guys” – a Chicano community rallying to save their New Mexico valley – and “the bad guys,” the greedy, white real estate developers who seek to ravage it to construct a new golf course. Wandering in and out of the film are the likes of Chick Vennera, Sonia Braga, Julie Carmen and Ruben Blades on one side of the equation; and James Gammon, Christopher Walken, and sympathetic Caucasians like Daniel Stern and John Heard on the other (Melanie Griffith also pops up for good measure in a pre-”Working Girl” turn).

Though watchable, Redford's unnecessarily R-rated film plays everything in such black-and-white terms that it needed a lighter touch to really score – perhaps a key reason why the surprisingly bland film struggled to net interest either commercially or with most critics, who by and large found it mediocre.

Still an interesting film to revisit on Blu-Ray, Kino Lorber's disc is hampered by a tepid, seemingly ancient Universal master (1.85) that's plagued by an overly dark contrast level as well as a mono soundtrack (the film was released in Dolby Stereo). Extras include the trailer – which illustrates the difficulty Universal had in selling the film – as well as a commentary with Chick Vennera and moderator Daniel Kremer.

Redford later reteamed with director Sydney Pollack for an unofficial reworking of “Casablanca,” HAVANA (144 mins., 1990, R), which didn't muster much noise at the box-office back at Christmas time 1990. It's still a moderately entertaining and well-mounted film from Pollack, with Redford playing a gambler trying to score in Cuba before Castro took over – falling for the wife (Lena Olin) of a local revolutionary (a curiously unbilled Raul Julia). Alan Arkin co-stars with Dave Grusin again scoring (and this one is better than his Oscar win) – it's not exactly a searing love story but “Havana” is still compelling in the manner even Pollack's less satisfying films typically are, leisurely yet spiced occasionally with interesting detail. Kino Lorber's BD includes a very attractive, detailed Universal licensed 1080p (1.85) transfer with DTS MA stereo sound, a commentary with critic Sergio Mims and the trailer.

I saw The Milagro Beanfield War in the theater. I thought it was entertaining at the time, and liked the angel character, in a kind of "Bishop's Wife" way (though why did he -- and no many other characters -- have to drop f-bombs?). Agreed on the excessive plethora of characters. Grusin's score was pretty good -- but like so many composers in the aftermath of Goldsmith's Under Fire, he too used South American panpipes in a Central American setting!

Yes exactly! I was dumb-founded by the need to make that film R rated. It could've been tailor-made for a broader audience.

Grusin's score is OK but his score for HAVANA is quite lovely and much more interesting with some broader orchestral sections. I just ordered a used copy off Decluttr. I think Grusin only put a "suite" for Milagro together on one of his albums (did it show up in one of his later compilations too? May have). I didn't find it nearly as compelling musically.

One other thing on HAVANA that was weird was Raul Julia being unbilled. I wonder if it was a "thing" with Pollack since Gene Hackman's name appears nowhere on THE FIRM's poster, promotional materials or advertised credits. He gets 2nd billing in the movie credits itself -- and he was seen in the trailers prominently -- but I guess they only wanted to sell it as a "Tom Cruise Movie."

What's different on HAVANA is that Julia isn't billed ANYWHERE. His name doesn't even appear in the film's opening or end credits at all. From reading stories, he apparently didn't want any credit if he wasn't going to get prominent billing (over the title I'd imagine), and between Redford and Lena Olin, they weren't willing to go there I guess.

Paul MacLean wrote: ↑Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:24 pm I saw The Milagro Beanfield War in the theater. I thought it was entertaining at the time, and liked the angel character, in a kind of "Bishop's Wife" way (though why did he -- and no many other characters -- have to drop f-bombs?).

Paul, in Europe, we tried a couple of ways to get rid of F-Bombs, but it never seemed to work, so what would of been an easy PG for us & as Andy states wider audience, ended up as a 15, strictly because the BBFC had no 12 (a USA PG-13) & the language at that time made it a 15. We lost on all fronts as the title for us was taken as a war film, which is not & no matter how we tried (ghost on the poster etc) could not find an audience. Fell out the cinemas within a week & CIC dropped it with little fanfare to VHS.

It is a personal favorite & I got the German edition a while back, but happy to see it come out again, maybe it will find some new viewers?

regards
andy b