Miracle Mile

I remember going to see this movie at my local cinema.. it only lasted about 1 week at the multiplex.. We left the cinema in silence. It's a thought provoking film, and not the typical Hollywood trash from the era. Yes, it's low budget, you've probably never even heard of it.. it's disturbing, but compulsive viewing.... I've never forgotten this film - it's not a film I look back on fondly, but it's one that has made a lasting impression. When Hemdale went bankrupt, I never thought I'd get a chance to see this film again.. Thank heavens that they didn't ruin the ending.

When this film was released, on VHS in one of those clunky scuffed boxes held behind a strip of wire in a videostore, a little silver hologram sticker twinkling when you flipped it - this film was a gruelling piece of low-budget cinema. It had little money but some cracklingly powerful elements - a simple and effective premise, a good Director, Tangerine Dream at the height of their game and, at the time - a believable cast. I say that because all these elements would have been beautiful today if it hadn't been made at the end of the 80's. Anything that isn't a comedy or 'Wall St' from that era hasn't aged well. This film isn't 'Wall Street' and certainly isn't a comedy. You need to see it for what it really was then. How when I saw it I walked away feeling very sick. You have to look past the terrible wardrobe and often poor acting, and instead place it in the context of 1988. This was the year that the first (first!) transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fibres was completed. A year when there was no internet, no email, no mobiles (apart from some supremely clunky things available to a select few). The Cold War was still ongoing, information that was received by the world was still through paper and book, through the television channels. You needed coins to make a phonecall. Going back to that time is a necessity before watching this film. That way you can appreciate how clever it was. How it built on our fears of the world, of our undetected (until now) isolation. Watching 'United 93' gives you a familiar feeling. Even then our communication skills were hideously limited. Imagine how they were in the 80's. Perhaps the most important but underlooked power of this film is in Anthony Edward's management of the information that he has. How he has to adapt to make people believe him. How isolated he is and how he must be careful with who he tells what he knows. Today just one tweet would render the film pointless 5 minutes after the phonecall. However dated, there are many standout moments in 'Miracle Mile' - the wail of the fire engines and the rising moon, the animal eating the food in the restaurant, the rats, the lift ride. Elements that have been emulated and directly lifted for many things following ('Collateral' & Snow Patrol's 'Chocolate' is an obvious example). Yes there are some moments where you go, 'Really? Oh Really.' But look past them and even if you only experience a small degree of growing dread during the the realtime unfolding of events, then it has managed to make a small mark 22 years later.