Normally, Lieutenant Max Hoover (Nick Nolte) has no trouble dealing with a criminal: he and his men -- Ellory Coolidge (Chazz Palminteri), Eddie Hall (Michael Madsen), and Arthur Relyea (Chris Penn) -- find the criminal and take them on a ride to "Mulholland Falls," where they learn a steep lesson. It's a legal gray area that Hoover is willing to operate in as long as it means Los Angeles stays crime-free, but his moral flexibility is put to the test when a dead girl is found in the middle of an open field, body smashed in 30 places, flattened like a pancake by some unidentified force. Hoover's men send her off to the morgue for an autopsy and identification, but Hoover already knows who it is: Allison Pond (Jennifer Connelly), a high-class call girl who counted Hoover among her clients for six months. The next day, he receives a film strip identifying one other customer: General Thomas Timms (John Malkovich), who works at a nearby military installation on atom bomb technology.

As a film critic, it's best to avoid using the word "solid", as its meaning is vague and generic. Still, in the case of a movie like the 1996 neo-noir Mulholland Falls, it might just be the most applicable adjective. The film, directed by Lee Tamahori, offers sturdy performances by a laundry list of character actors and reliable movie stars, contains a reasonably compelling mystery, is packed with gorgeous period detail, and moves along without any dull patches. Those looking for this kind of movie, with the hats and the dames and the jazzy score, could certainly do better (the next year, Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential would be released), and they could do worse. The movie is the very definition of solid, satisfactory, dependable, and / or sound -- not great but not bad, worth a look but probably not an experience that will demand repeat viewings.

The most effective part of the film is watching Hoover try to wade his way through a sea of ambiguity, with definitive "good" and "evil" on distant opposing shores. He argues, when Ellory confronts him about his infidelity, that while it's no good he cheated on his wife Katherine (Melanie Griffith), it wouldn't be an improvement to burden her with that information. His guilt, and the having to carry the burden, is punishment enough, and why create more sorrow over it? Later, when he confronts Thomas Timms about his relationship with Allison, Timms muses about authority and sacrifice. People had to die testing the atom bomb, and many more died when it was used, but it ended the war. It's no different than Hoover's willingness to throw a guy down a rocky cliff face in order to keep his city free of organized crime, and he struggles to reconcile one thing with the other. Nolte is a perfect fit for the role, his sad puppy-dog eyes contrasting with his beefy stature and weary voice.

Supporting this is the relationship between Hoover and Ellory, his loyal partner and one of his oldest friends. Ellory used to be right there next to Hoover tossing perps off of Mulholland Falls, but he's started seeing a psychologist to help with his anger issues. He questions things like the positions the team always sits in when they drive somewhere, and tries to convince Hoover that telling Katherine is the right thing to do. Palminteri, frequently given the tough-guy roles, is wonderful playing a softer character, oozing honest compassion and sensitivity from every pore. It's a surprisingly tender friendship that provides a tonal contrast to the hard-boiled neo-noir surrounding it.

Unfortunately, while the movie is able to string the viewer along for quite awhile, the mystery at the center of the movie is not as compelling as it seems on the surface, plagued with less-nuanced characters and more predictable twists and turns. For the most part, this is a stylish slow burn, basking in the period glory of 1950s Los Angeles, but the movie eventually builds to a more conventional Hollywood finale, with fistfights and gunfights. It's also a shame that the two women that are so important to Hoover's story don't get as much screen time as they ought to. Griffith is good as Katherine but it doesn't feel like it's in service of much but the generic idea of a marriage, and Tamahori offers even fewer glimpses of Allison and why Hoover's love for her was more than physical. Mulholland Falls starts pretty good and never gets any better, as flat as the deserts surrounding the city.

The Blu-ray
Much like Flesh + Blood, Mulholland Falls is another example of the original poster art being a little cramped for a Blu-ray cover. The line-up of faces, placement of the title, and billing block at the bottom all feel really cramped in the amount of space. Perhaps a different poster could've been used this time around. The back cover is Kino's standard white-on-black approach and there is no insert inside the Viva Elite Blu-ray case.

The Video and Audio
The 1.85:1 1080p AVC presentation provided by MGM for this release of Mulholland Falls is the most inconsistent of the Kino Lorber Classics discs I've reviewed. Although the bulk of the film looks pretty nice, with no obvious signs of digital manipulation, grain is all over the map. In one shot it will look nice, but in the next it's blocky and suggests poor compression. In other shots, it's nearly impossible to see grain at all, as if it's been scrubbed from the image (a close inspection reveals that it has not). Other than that, the disc is decent. Every once in awhile, it feels like color could be a bit more vibrant, and it seems there's probably more detail to be gleaned were the movie to be restored, but the quality of the HD print is pretty good, with minimal flecks or damage, and strong detail. Overall, thumbs up.

Sound is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that offers a very lively representation of Dave Grusin's fairly impressive score (calling to mind Chinatown and L.A. Confidential). The whack of a cudgel against a person's head is impressively beefy, and dialogue sounds nice. A scene in an airplane offers some nice ambience, and really ramps up during a subsequent action sequence. English captions for the deaf and hard of hearing are also provided.

The Extras
The only extra is an original theatrical trailer.

Conclusion
Mulholland Falls isn't a must buy in my eyes, but it is a strong movie, with lots to like for fans of the cast, of the genre, and of period pieces in general (I can't stress enough that the production and costume design are lovely). Still, the movie gets a good presentation on Blu-ray, so those that do want to buy it should consider it recommended.