adonis98-743-186503 A crooked American businessman tries to push the shady influential owner of a nightclub in Newcastle, England to sell him the club. The club's new employee and the American's ex lover fall in love and inadvertently stir the pot. Stormy Monday (1988) is one of those films that it does have it's fans unfortunately that isn't enough for me. The acting was mediocre at best especially Melanie Griffith was the worst part of the entire movie her voice sounded like she was trying to hard something that her daughter also has. Tommy Lee Jones was also not that good i just didn't buy him at all as Cosmo. The soundtrack got on my nerves after a while and the film doesn't know what it wants to be is it a Noir? a Romance or a Drama? It doesn't know and i don't think that the director knew either plus the ending was very quick and felt like there was more to it but honestly nothing could save this in general from being actually good. (0/10)

dougdoepke 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.

Predrag This is one of those films that lets you fill in the blanks and causes you to concentrate on each scene so as not to miss a nuance or clue. I found that the second viewing was more than twice as entertaining! I have now seen it four times; each time very enjoyable. Sean Bean was an unknown to me when I first saw the film, but has now become just about my favorite actorThe Polish element? Melanie's character is half Polish, and, as well, the band slated to play in Sting's club has an accident so the Cracow Jazz Ensemble (or some such), all Poles, steps in instead, among which is Andrej, a sympathetic band manager, the only one who speaks English. Andrej is destined to play a critical role in the film, but rather than provide a spoiler here, see the film to understand what this means. Violence plays a large part in the proceedings, as is obvious from the above description. This is a well-plotted film that put Mike Figgis on the map. Doesn't hurt that he not only wrote and directed it, but also composed the music for it, an effectively moody jazz score.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

fredpalm i only wanted to respond to the one review about the jazz score. stormy Monday was t-bone walker's big hit. bb king recorded it among others. so figges' film was noir blues and r&b based. this while i wait for mark twain audio book to download. but a great film. ah i now realize that i must write more. Griffith's is great here. sting does a good job. but what is very interesting is figges moves. now i do not know what he did before, but this definitely foreshadows las vegas with cage who has gone on to make fine movies with no soul. but las vegas was incredibly dark and sad. anyway Monday could well be an elmore leonard crime novel/screenplay set in england. but really i only wanted to reply about the musical component. now i have 10 lines.