Continental Divide (1981) - Unpersuasive Belushi comedy

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Co-star John Belushi looks unwell in the embrace of beautiful co-star Blair Brown on this poster for Michael Apted's Continental Divide

Ernie is a star journalist in Chicago, where everybody knows him, but where his knack for exposing the powerful is beginning to threaten his safety. And so he gets sent on an assignment to a woman who lives alone in the Rocky Mountains.

 

Continental Divide is written by Lawrence Kasdan (Mumford (1999)) and directed by Michael Apted (The Triple Echo (1972)).

Internal logic must yield to get this high-concept romcom train on a set of tracks: - Why does forceful Ernie go so far away, when he really doesn't want to, - for two weeks!?! His work and the totally predictable, clichéd romance are both elements that are presented stiffly, SPOILER and the ending, in which a pressured Kasdan seemingly wants to have his cake and eat it, too, has him letting the two get married, but then break up, as Ernie jumps on a train back to Chicago, is really bizarre. 

It is a general flaw in Continental Divide that it tonally sits between chairs: At times an honest, romantic drama with a visual nature vs. city contrast, and at other times an over-the-top comedy vehicle for John Belushi (Neighbors (1981)). Of course the film should have been the latter thing from beginning to end. What we get instead is the subversive Belushi magic sterilized for 90 % of the time here in a thin cup of tea posing as a 'good time' film. 

Related post:

Michael Apted: Gorky Park (1983) - Cool Hurt investigates murders in Apted's fine Cold War Moscow thriller

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 9 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 15.5 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely a flop (projected return of 2.22 times its cost)

[Continental Divide was released 1 September (Canada) and runs 103 minutes. It was the first film made by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. Shooting took place from October 1980 - January 1981 in Chicago, Illinois, Washington DC, Colorado, Washington, Los Angeles, California, Idaho, Michigan and Montana. Belushi reportedly was sober for the duration of the shoot but then fell back into a cocaine-driven production with his next - and last - film, Neighbors, which led up to his 1982 death from a cocaine and heroine overdose. The film opened #1 to a 3.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 15.5 mil. $. Its foreign release was limited to 9 other markets, and the result may have been small. A 20 mil. $ final gross is projected, which would rank the film as a flop. It was nominated for a Golden Globe. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Apted returned with P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang (1982, TV movie), First Love (1982, TV-series) and theatrically with Gorky Park (1983). Belushi returned in Neighbors (1981); Blair Brown (Fringe (2008-12)) in American Playhouse (1982, TV-series), Kennedy (1983, miniseries) and theatrically in A Flash of Green (1984). Continental Divide is fresh at 73 % with a 6.20/10 average rating at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Continental Divide?

Gorky Park (1983) - Cool Hurt investigates murders in Apted's fine Cold War Moscow thriller

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A simple, elegant poster for Michael Apted's Gorky Park

Three dead bodies are found the snow of Moscow's Gorky Park with their faces peeled off. The city's most successful cop smells KGB on the case, but his investigation also points him towards an American.

Gorky Park is written by Dennis Potter (Tender Is the Night (1985, miniseries)), based on the same-titled 1981 novel by Martin Cruz Smith (The Indians Won (1970)), and directed by Michael Apted (The Triple Echo (1972)).
It is a great proponent of a crime thriller with plenty of local color colors. The film also gives its audience a feeling of the repression the people suffered under in the USSR.
William Hurt (Syriana (2005)) is excellent as our cop protagonist; Lee Marvin (The Killers (1964)) doesn't seem to actually act much, but he's there and it works. Also in the solid cast; Ian McDiarmid (Spooks (2004, TV-series)) as a morbid coroner.
Gorky Park is a cold-looking place and its score (by James Horner (Avatar (2009))) is very much of its time. But the film is full of suspense and action, and it has a showdown in Stockholm.

Watch a 4-minute scene from the film with Hurt and Marvin here

Cost: 6.5 mil. $
Box office: 15.8 mil. $ (North America alone)
= Uncertain - but at least a box office success (returned 2.43 times its cost in North America alone)
[Gorky Park was released 16 December (USA) and runs 123 minutes. Shooting took place in Glasgow, Scotland, Helsinki, Finland, Stockholm, Sweden and in Moscow, then the USSR, from February - May 1983. Helsinki stood in for Moscow for most of the film, as the crew were denied permits to shoot there. The film opened #13 to a 1.2 mil. $ first weekend in 629 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #5, behind holdover hits Terms of Endearment, Silkwood, new release Reckless and holdover hit Never Cry Wolf. The film's international gross numbers are regrettably not available. If it made a realistic 20-30 mil. $ worldwide it would rank as either a box office success or a big hit. It was nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Apted returned with Firstborn (1984). Hurt returned in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985); Marvin in Dog Day (1984). Gorky Park is fresh at 75 % with a 6.53/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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