Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Blue City Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf December 23, 2015

1986’s “Blue City” was part of a career strategy to mature leads Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy, who were working their way through teen cinema, hitting an apex with 1985’s “The Breakfast Club.” Of course, it’s not easy to suddenly go from high school hallways to twentysomething agitations, making the evolution bumpy in “Blue City,” which also has the unfortunate reality of being an incomplete, dismally performed film. Judd and Sheedy are only a small part of the feature’s woes, but their miscasting doesn’t help director Michelle Manning, who doesn’t quite know how to piece together this adaptation of a 1949 Ross Macdonald book, trying to tart up the endeavor with shoot-outs, sex, and wiseacre behavior. Her efforts fail to congeal, leaving the picture disjointed and ridiculous, best appreciated as a makeover movie for two stars who weren’t ready to graduate.

Billy Turner (Judd Nelson) is returning to Blue City, Florida after a long absence, ready to reunite with his estranged father and make things right. Sadly, Billy is informed by Chief Reynolds (Paul Winfield) that his dad has been murdered, with local criminal kingpin Perry Kerch (Scott Wilson) likely responsible for the crime. Stuck without evidence, the possibly corrupt cops can’t make an arrest, leaving Billy with a plan to harass Kerch as a way to bully a confession out of him. Reuniting with old friend Joey Radford (David Caruso) and his sister, Annie (Ally Sheedy), Billy begins a campaign of terror, with the siblings happily going along for the ride, making a mess out of Kerch’s shady businesses and his relationship with Billy’s stepmother Malvina (Anita Morris), escalating theft and humiliation, which exposes the trio to retaliations as the city explodes with violence.

“Blue City” purports to a wily film noir, offering a story of betrayal and revenge, set inside a coastal Florida town that’s bulging with corruption as Kerch takes control of local business, doing away with the defiant, including mangling Joey’s knee to keep him complacent on a fishing boat. Billy returns to his hometown a changed man, at least at first, hoping to rekindle with his father what was lost to youthful impatience. However, the reunion isn’t meant to be, with Billy left angry by the news of his parent’s murder, enraged that everyone in town is basically aware of the killer, but refuses to cooperate with the limited investigation. The set-up for “Blue City” is ripe with potential, following a hothead into the lion’s den where he intentionally pokes his enemies to find a response.

Supporting players factor into the descent as well, including Joey, who’s reluctant to participate in the hunt, and Annie, who’s immediately smitten with an old friend, adding a dash of romantic activity to a picture that doesn’t need it. Shakespearean touches are also present, finding Malvina a particularly duplicitous character, immediately entangled with Kerch after her husband’s murder, adding a fresh angle of suspicion to the effort. Unfortunately, her seductive ways toward Billy (a welcome bit of sleaze) appear to have been scrubbed away in the final edit, weakening this potentially disturbing subplot.

There’s really no suspense to “Blue City,” which rests entirely on the idea that a pipsqueak like Billy is able to waltz into a controlled town and smash it apart with minimal work. Judd is miscast as a tough guy, not credible as a gun-wielding, bomb-dropping bruiser capable of taking on Kerch’s thugs, with Manning treating viewers to the unintentionally hilarious visual of the star dropping hulking Tommy “Tiny” Lister (playing an enforcer) to his knees with a punch. Whoppers only grow from there, including the sexualization of tomboy Sheedy, who elects to break away from her civil servant day job to take a position as an exotic dancer at Kerch’s casino, and there’s an awkward love scene between Billy and Annie that looks like two siblings going at it for the first time. The leads are lost trying to portray personalities they aren’t connected to, but bad acting spread around the feature like a STD, watching Wilson ham it up as the villain, doing whatever he can to hold Manning’s attention, and Winfield strives for theatricality in an iffy role as the lone cop who’s hoping Billy succeeds.

Being Manning’s first and only feature as a director, she doesn’t show command of tone, managing a bluesy score by Ry Cooder that’s livelier than the dark atmosphere of the movie, almost mocking the effort’s attempt to butch up. Action sequences are also confusing, following Billy into the bowels of a dog track and a casino to rob the bad guys, with gunplay erupting and editorial muscle taking over, trying to make something exciting out of nothing. Granted, Manning isn’t working with the finest material (co-scripted by Walter Hill), with the heroes basically morons who sample retribution without concealing their identities (also carrying out violent acts in broad daylight), making Kerch’s inevitable comeuppance practically deserved. While Billy is trying to do the right thing, he goes about in the worst possible way, but the writing fails to identify his mistakes (he really has no problem endangering the lives of innocent people), instead propping him up as a beacon of nobility in a wretched town.

Blue City Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation is pulled from an older scan, with age apparent throughout the viewing experience. Detail is on the softer side, with period cinematography and stylistics diluting textures, but nothing is completely smoothed over, finding facial response still worth exploring and locations retaining some depth. Floridian hues are open for inspection, showcasing blue waters and bright decoration, while skintones are flat and never fresh. Delineation loses some punch in dense hairstyles and dark scenes, but frame information is preserved. Source encounters speckling and scratching, but no overt damage.

Blue City Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix understandably supports scoring efforts with energy. Music is crisp and defined, providing encouraging instrumentation and regional direction. Dialogue exchanges are acceptable, working a wide range of dramatic intensity that never spills into distortion. Atmospherics for water visits and club/casino sequences are handled comfortably, and group activity is flavorful. A mild amount of hiss is present throughout the listening experience.

Blue City Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplementary material is included on this disc.

Blue City Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

With padded main titles and long end credits, the meat of the film only runs around 76 minutes (still an eternity with a bad movie), leaving little time to explore Billy's crisis in full. Characterization is mystifying at times, and the ending has clearly been reshot to pack additional punch, with Nelson suddenly wearing a Lloyd Christmas wig after spending the rest of the feature with an '80s-suave mane. "Blue City" attempts to be a lean, mean machine of mystery and attitude, and Judd certainly tries to shake his adolescent casting by portraying a more mature smart-aleck. And yet, the effort doesn't have a chance to materialize in this choppy, misguided endeavor, with "Blue City" painfully inert, ludicrous, and completely forgettable.