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Pink Cadillac (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Pink Cadillac' is a 1989 American action comedy film about a bounty hunter and a group of white supremacists chasing after an innocent woman who tries to outrun everyone in her husband's prized pink Cadillac. The film stars Clint Eastwood and Bernadette Peters and also has small cameo appearances by Jim Carrey and Bryan Adams. 'Pink Cadillac' marks the third and final collaboration between Eastwood and director Buddy Van Horn, following 'Any Which Way You Can' (1980) and 'The Dead Pool' (1988), as well as Van Horn's final film as a director.
Plot
A white supremacist group is chasing Lou Ann (Bernadette Peters), whose husband Roy (Timothy Carhart) is a member. She has inadvertently taken counterfeit money from them by running away with his car (the pink Cadillac), which held the supremacists' stash.
Tommy Nowak (Clint Eastwood) is a skip-tracer whose speciality is dressing up in disguises, such as a rodeo clown, to fool whomever he is after. Tommy takes on the job of finding Lou Ann because she skipped bail.
When he finally finds her in Reno, Nevada, Tommy slowly becomes enamored. Roy and his gang kidnap her baby, whom Lou Ann has left with her sister (Frances Fisher), so Tommy decides to help Lou Ann get the baby back instead of turning her in. While driving through the West, seeking the baby, romance blossoms. They eventually fight the white supremacists and retrieve the baby.
Cast
* Clint Eastwood as Tommy Nowak
* Bernadette Peters as Lou Ann McGuinn
* Timothy Carhart as Roy McGuinn
* John Dennis Johnston as Waycross
* Michael Des Barres as Alex
* Jimmie F. Skaggs as Bill Dunston
* Bill Moseley as Darrell
* Gerry Bamman as Buddy
* Michael Champion as Ken Lee
* William Hickey as Mr. Barton
* Geoffrey Lewis as Ricky Z
* Dirk Blocker as Policeman #1
* Frances Fisher as Dinah
* Paul Benjamin as Judge
* Bryan Adams as Gas Station Attendant
* Mara Corday as Stick Lady
* Jim Carrey as Lounge Entertainer
* James Cromwell as Motel Desk Clerk
* Bill McKinney as Coltersville Bartender
Production
Filming began in late 1988, and took place in Utah and Nevada.Hughes, p.129
Parts filmed in Quincy, Cresent Mills, west shore lake almanor, all Plumas County
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack features ten songs, all done by various country and rock artists. The album peaked at number 45 on the 'Billboard' Top Country Albums in July 1989.
Track listing
Reception
The film received generally poor reviews. Caryn James wrote: "When it's time to look back on the strange sweep of Clint Eastwood's career, from his ambitious direction of 'Bird' to his coarse, classic Dirty Harry character, 'Pink Cadillac' will probably settle comfortably near the bottom of the list. It is the laziest sort of action comedy, with lumbering chase scenes, a dull-witted script and the charmless pairing of Mr. Eastwood and Bernadette Peters." ('New York Times', May 26, 1989.)
Hal Hinson praised the performers: Peters "...plays her comic scenes with a vivacious abandon..." She "loosens him (Eastwood) up... and humanizes him. These two make a nifty comic team."Hinson, Hal.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/pinkcadillacpg13hinson_a0a93c.htm Pink Cadillac (PG-13)"].'Washington Post', May 26, 1989
'Pink Cadillac' was released in May 1989, opening against 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'. The film eventually grossed $12,143,484. In contrast, the movie Eastwood made just prior to 'Pink Cadillac', the fifth Dirty Harry movie, 'The Dead Pool', grossed $37,903,295.[https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=pinkcadillac.htm "Eastwood boxoffice"].Box Office Mojo, retrieved March 22, 2010 Perhaps due to the poor reviews and meager box office, the film is, as of 2021, Eastwood's last action comedy.
It has a 24% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 21 reviews. It also went direct to video in the United Kingdom, without a cinema release.
References
Bibliography
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