The Mighty Quinn
       
Director: Carl Schenkel
Year: 1989
Rating: 7.0
Denzel Washington looks so damn young and fit here. He takes off his shirt a few times just to let us know. He had been on the popular TV show St. Elsewhere since 1982, but never having seen it, I don't know where he ranked in it. But it was definitely time to leave TV behind and become a movie star and that he did over the next few years. Even having to put on a Caribbean accent in this, it is pretty clear that Washington is a star in the making. Charisma, good looks and charm surround him. I recall that when this was released, he received a lot of positive buzz but the film kind of fizzled at the box-office. Now that Denzel is Denzel, it has gained a lot of fans and recognition. The director Carl Schenkel probably thinks, thanks - 30 years too late for me.  But in truth, there was a lot against it back in 1989. Nearly, the entire cast is black with a few big name small screen time white exceptions, it takes place on a small Caribbean island, all the blacks have accents, there is a lot of reggae music and the film meanders around like a lost puppy on ganja. All of that though is why this film is so enjoyable. The slow pace, the lack of focus, the cultural aspects, the peculiar plot just adds to the charm and mood of the film. It is like a tropical drink at the beach reading a good book.



Denzel is Xavier Quinn (there are two renditions of Dylan's The Mighty Quinn played) who is the head of the police department. He was an FBI graduate who for his own reasons took this job. He is married to Lola played by the lovely Sheryl Lee Ralph. Everyone knows the Mighty Quinn and he knows everyone. And they like and respect him but he still is the law. He gets a call that a man has been murdered - beheaded - at a wealthy very white beach resort run by Elgin (James Fox). Fox brings all of his racist imperial acting skills to bear on his character. In this small island he has a lot of pull and tells Quinn to leave. That Quinn's friend Maubee (Robert Townsend) is the obvious guilty party and to get him. The town mayor who needs to play up to Elgin tells Quinn the same thing. We don't need a scandal. We don't need to scare off tourists.



But Quinn doesn't play that game. A hired killer and a government official (M. Emmet Walsh) who keeps intruding makes him wonder if there is more than murder going on here. Mimi Rogers plays the wife of Elgin and his slapping her makes you hope that he will turn out to be the guilty party or killed at some point. Keye Luke has a small role as the island doctor and Esther Rolle from Good Times gets to be a witch doctor with a basket of poisonous snakes. When the film decides to try and be tense at the end, it is almost too bad. It throws it into standard cop movie endings. The mood was so good. In one small but memorable scene, Quinn sits down at the piano at a club where a party is going on and sings the blues and then the crowd breaks into The Mighty Quinn.