Mike's Murder (1984)

A bank teller (Debra Winger) has an on again/off again relationship over a two year time period with an undependable tennis bum (Mark Keyloun). When she gets a phone call that he's been murdered, she realizes how little she knew him and attempts to find out more about him and what led to his killing. This leads her to the L.A. drug scene and eventually, she finds herself in danger, too. The film has a checkered history. Originally, the director James Bridges edited the film to play out in reverse chronological order. The studio insisted on the film being re-edited in a chronological order and replaced Joe Jackson's score with a more dramatic underscore by John Barry (a very good one, too). But backwards or forwards, the film doesn't work. Principally because of the character of Mike. Not only is Winger's character besotted by him but so it seems is everybody else. But why? He's a shiftless pretty boy hustler who peddles drugs to pay for his lifestyle. As played by the rather innocuous Keyloun, there's nothing charismatic about Mike either. In order for the film to work, we need to see what attracts people to him. The film manages to whip up a bit of tension in the last twenty minutes but it's undercut by Darrell Larson's career killing performance. But the film is lucky to have Winger in the lead role because she brings a genuine humanity to the whole overheated mess. If only the film were up to her level. Winger is matched by a splendid Paul Winfield as one of Mike's conquests.