Line #13 Film/MulhollandFalls


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mulhollandfalls.jpg]]
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3	''Mulholland Falls'' is a 1996 FilmNoir directed by Lee Tamahori and featuring an AllStarCast including Creator/NickNolte, Creator/MelanieGriffith, Creator/ChazzPalminteri, Creator/MichaelMadsen, Creator/ChrisPenn, Creator/TreatWilliams, Creator/JenniferConnelly, Creator/AndrewMcCarthy, and Creator/JohnMalkovich.
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5	Maxwell Hoover (Nolte) is the head of an elite squad of LAPD detectives in 1953, investigating the murder of a young woman (Connelly) who has been linked to a retired Army general in the Atomic Energy Commission (Malkovich).
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7	!!This film provides examples of:
8	* BettyAndVeronica: Max is torn between Allison (brunette) and his wife Katharine (blonde). [[spoiler:He ends up with neither, since Allison is murdered as part of a military conspiracy and his wife Katharine leaves him for good after she discovers the affair.]]
9	* BittersweetEnding: Verging on full-on DownerEnding. [[spoiler: They kill both the Captain as well as Fitzgerald, avenging Allison Pond. However, Coolidge is killed in the process, the US government will not be exposed as conducting illegal tests, and the LAPD anti-gangster squad is dispanded.]]
10	* BlackmailBackfire: The bad guys try to blackmail Detective Hoover with his affair with Allison by holding [[CaughtOnTape the film reels of their liasons]] over his head. The problem is, they mailed the copy of the reels directly to his house, as opposed to his office or a safety deposit box, so his wife has already seen them by the time he finds out. He later points out to the blackmailers that he really doesn't give a crap anymore who they send it to now, making their whole scheme worthless.
11	* BreakThemByTalking: The General likes to give those speeches to the main character, also pulling a NotSoDifferentRemark.
12	* CaughtOnTape: Alison's gay friend recorded a lot of her liasons at the motel on film through a two-way mirror. Both Hoover and the General are after these film reels because of the potential embarassment they could bring to respectively the former's wife and the latter's reputation. It also turns out that Alison had filmed [[spoiler:proof of illegal nuclear tests in the desert]], which the bad guys killed her for.
13	* DropDeadGorgeous: Averted with Alison. Her body is found bloodied, covered in dirt, and mangled. There's even a shot where the cops hold up her arm and it ''bends like rubber'' because every bone in her body has been broken.
14	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The very first scene establishes Hoover and his fellow detectives as a no-nonsense group of hardasses who will resort to any means to bring criminals to justice, [[RabidCop often violently]].
15	* DeathByIrony: The film culminates with the bad guy being tossed off the plane, the same way he murdered his victim.
16	* DeathFlight:
17	** [[spoiler:Allison was killed when the bad guys shove her out of a plane, breaking every bone in her body.]]
18	** [[spoiler:The BigBad and TheDragon attempt to do this to Max and Elleroy as well. But the two proceed to turn the tables on the bad guys and push them off the plane with extreme prejudice.]]
19	* DeathIsDramatic: All strings are being pulled with the death of [[spoiler:Elleroy]]:
20	** It starts with an ImColdSoCold.
21	** Then [[spoiler:Elleroy]] collapses and does a MortalWoundReveal.
22	** Next he breaks into a FinalSpeech.
23	** Max tries a HowDareYouDieOnMe.
24	** [[spoiler:Elleroy]] finished with ItHasBeenAnHonor.
25	** Then he [[DiedInYourArmsTonight Dies in Max's Arms]].
26	** The following MeaningfulFuneral is accompanied by DisturbedDoves.
27	* DidNotGetTheGirl: Surprisingly Max doesn't get to keep Katharine.
28	* FemmeFatale: Interestingly, subverted with Creator/JenniferConnelly's character Alison despite the setting being ripe for it. While she ''did'' have a torrid affair with the main character, a married Sergeant in the LAPD, it's never established that she was evil or manipulative in any way. She's even killed early on, and becomes his motive for revenge against the real villains.
29	* GroinAttack: Twice, in the parkade fight and during the final plane combat.
30	* GilliganCut: After Jack Flynn is collected by the squad, and told that they're taking him to "Mulholland Falls," Flynn rightly states that there's no falls in Mulholland, resulting in the cops all laughing. We immediately cut to Jack bouncing down the hillside, having been tossed down "Mulholland Falls," a large hill off of Mulholland Drive.
31	* HappyFlashback: Max's back story with Allison Pond is explored through flashbacks of memorable moments they shared.
32	* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:Alison was murdered because she had uncovered and recorded illegal nuclear testing on U.S. military personnel at the atomic testing site.]]
33	* ImColdSoCold: Played straight as an arrow with the death of [[spoiler:Elleroy.]]
34	* JurisdictionFriction:
35	** The LAPD detectives' investigation leads them onto restricted military areas. When they're inevitably arrested by the [=MPs=] for trespassing, the Colonel points out that they're out of their jurisdiction.
36	** When the detectives' investigation starts to uncover a high-level conspiracy within the U.S. military, an FBIAgent is sent to Los Angeles in a slimy attempt to intimidate the local cops. This falls flat on its face when Hoover (the main character--an LAPD homicide detective--, not the FBI director of the same name) and the Chief immediately call it out for what it is, and Hoover later ambushes the FBI agent to beat him up. Then he drags the guy out of the federal building they're in and points to a line on the floor to tell him where his jurisdiction ends.
37	* LoveTriangle: Max is torn between Allison and Katharine. He eventually chooses the latter.
38	* MsFanservice: Jennifer Connelly! 'nuff said.
39	* NotSoDifferentRemark: The general draws a connection between himself and Max during their first encounter on the military base.
40	* PosthumousCharacter: Jennifer Connelly's MsFanservice character is killed off almost immediately, and her character is only developed through flashbacks or in-universe film footage.
41	* RabidCop: Hoover and his crew deal with organized crime in 1950s L.A. through extralegal means with the unofficial consent of the chief. Methods include arresting mob guys at parties and driving out to the hills to throw them off a cliff, or overdosing one of them on cocaine.
42	* SeinfeldianConversation: During the detectives' investigation in the ForbiddenZone, Elleroy breaks into a long-winded rant about cowboy movies that doesn't really have anything to with the rest of the plot.
43	* ShootOutTheLock: DoublySubverted. When attempting to get into a restricted military area, a character is taunted for trying to shoot open the gate lock. After lockpicking failed, they returned to use this trope, with success.
44	* SmokingIsCool: Mandatory for film-noir.
45	* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''.
46	* SunshineNoir: Despite what the movie poster implies, most scenes take place in bright Californian light.
47	* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: [[spoiler:Mc Cafferty]] suffers a DeathByIrony when being tossed off the plane in the same way he got rid of [[spoiler:Allison]].
48	* TitleDrop: "This is Mulholland Falls, Jack." Specifically, it's a nickname that the four detective protagonists have made up for the hills around Mulholland Drive. It's "sort of like the Niagara Falls"--except they drop unwanted criminals to their disfigurement or death.
49	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It's never made clear if Jack Flynn (Creator/WilliamPetersen) ultimately survived his trip down "Mulholland Falls." He's in pretty bad shape when they leave him, however.
50	* WhereDoYouThinkYouAre: "You guys can't do this. This is America." -- "This isn't America, Jack. This is L.A."
51	* YouWatchTooMuchX: Subverted. Madsen's taunts Penn's character that he'd seen too many movies when trying to [[ShootOutTheLock shoot open the gate]] to the ForbiddenZone. It turned out to be the better option after all.

Context Film / MulhollandFalls