The Mighty Quinn

This is one of the most entertaining movies I've seen all year. It takes place in a town on a carribean island not unlike Jamaica, and tells the story of a drifter named Maubee accussed of murder, and his best friend who happens to be the town sherrif. I loved this movie, because of it's wonderful characters, and the things they deal with over the course of this movie. The film may not be action-packed, or even contain a gripping plot, but I assure any readers this movie will not dissapoint you. Denzel Washington is delightful as the sherrif trying to prove his friends innosennce, and Robert Townsend plays the down-and-out drifter Maubee, in an equaly pleasing role. While the films premise may not initialy draw you in, its wonderful characters and colorful island setting will. And everytime things start to slow down, the movie drops another dead body in. See this movie.

source: The Mighty Quinn

The Mighty Quinn

You will surely laugh at the awful singing when you watch this movie! And it was so stupid having Esther Rolle to play a witch doctor. I was so annoyed with Denzel Washington, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Robert Townsend's phony Jamaican accents! They were not speaking Jamaican. They were speaking Jamaicinglish! I thought this movie was stupid when I first saw it when I was 14. And I still think this movie is stupid! Denzel Washington cannot sing! This movie joined my list of movies that received a one star rating!

I just discovered this movie a week or two ago. It is really fun! That's more than can be said for lots of movies these days. I am surprised that people have not commented on the three blind men following one another as they tap their way through one of the scenes. A real "nod" to James Bond's Dr. No. This is just one of the surprises in this very entertaining movie. Denzel Washington was excellent. The film is full of interesting, quirky characters and some great dialogue as well. It is also good to see location filming in a place that is not often seen in films any more. This is really an old fashioned type of film with a sense of life and warmth in it.

something halfway DIFFERENT from Hollywood's usual fare; Denzel plays a rather straight-laced Chief of Police of a Jamaica-like island and must track down his free-spirit childhood friend, Maubee, suspected of murder. the best thing about this movie (to me) was its island locations and people, a great change of pace from the usual SoCal or New Yawk stuff. M. Emit Walsh is a scene stealer as a bemused corporate operative down to fix some loose ends. the numerous musical interludes are excellent (and its great to watch a movie without the usual hip-hop or angst-metal). many of the 'minor' characters--Ubu Pearl, Coco, Jose, Jump--are lots more interesting than the major ones. on the down side are some of the usual clichés--arrogant rich whites, the politician that browbeats the police so as not to alarm the tourists, the usual domestic strife, the precocious kid, a subplot involving the, gasp, CIA. watch this some night with 'Countryman' for a Caribbean Film Festival.

Washington plays a very low keyed Island cop who has a murder and some wealthy people to deal with if he wants to solve it. The if involves some racial and money overtones that would seem to put him over his head. Excellent support cast led by Walsh and Townsend make this a very good and underrated film.

Apparently everyone likes this movie except me. Strange thing, too, because while I was watching this I couldn't find a single positive redeeming quality to raise my opinion of it - even the locations are not photographed very attractively. It's a boring mystery tale, that never manages to get you involved, and when everything is revealed you don't get any particular pleasure from the resolution. In fact, the movie takes so long to reach at wherever it's going that you may feel like dozing off on several occasions. Denzel Washington, in this particular role, doesn't show enough star charisma to hold the picture; his co-star, Robert Townsend, steals the show as the cheerfully irresponsible "victim of circumstances". (*1/2)

A wealthy white resort owner is found dead in his hotel on the island of Jamaica. When Chief Xavier Quinn (Denzel Washington) investigates he's met with resistance and simply told to find Maubee (Robert Townsend). Quinn, not willing to simply turn away, pursues the investigation further much to the disapproval of the governor as well as Elgin (James Fox), another white bigwig. Based upon the book "Finding Maubee", it's an intriguing murder mystery with a Jamaican flare. There aren't many twists and turns but neither is the crime clear cut. The movie primarily follows Quinn through his surreptitious investigation as well as his family and woman troubles. The movie is easy to watch, easy to follow, plus you get to hear Denzel do his best Jamaican impression.

I read a previous comment calling this movie boring, so I had to respond. While this movie is far from perfect, it is a great afro-centric murder mystery set on a Caribbean island. It shares aspects with Marlon Brando's Burn in that the locals fall victims to the whims and greed of white colonial, in this case, American exploits. This film was made in 1989, during a black cultural rebirth that included Spike Lee films and the political rap band Public Enemy. This film fits into that category and is unapologetic in its portrayals. If you can't handle the reality of colonialism and intervention then you cant handle this film. Its not much wonder this film isn't seen often, just like Brando's Burn, and Ben Gazarra's high Velocity, two other films that plumb honestly colonial politics and tragedy, long past and recent.