The Mighty Quinn

Summary

“I’m in the way, Governor.”

Recently, MGM has been releasing some of their catalog titles on Blu-ray. As a collector, this has been interesting because the MGM library has long been the well from which other distributors have gone back to repeatedly. These releases have been no-frills releases typically just featuring the film itself without any special features. Most of the time, the master used is also older, but these releases have allowed MGM to put out some deep cuts that may not have seen the light of day anytime soon otherwise. Last night I watched MGM’s Blu-ray release of The Mighty Quinn. That film had been released on the defunct Olive Films label years ago, and my guess would be that this release uses the same transfer. 

The Mighty Quinn is a film by Carl Shenkel starring Denzel Washington. Released in 1989, the film was pretty well received as a light but enjoyable crime-mystery entertainment. The film was based on a book called Finding Maubee by Albert Z. Carr. It takes place in the tropical island of Jamaica, which gives the film a hint of the exotic. The screenplay is notable for having been written by Hampton Fancher who is best known for his contributions to the script for Ridley Scott’s classic Blade Runner.

In Jamaica, Police Chief Xavier Quinn (Denzel Washington) attends a wedding for a man named Golan. Before the nuptials take place, a man draws a knife on Golan. Quinn intercedes. The man claims that the bride is pregnant with his child, and Quinn explains that she can marry whom she wants. At a nearby hotel,  Hadley Elgin (Mimi Rogers) steps into the hotel room of millionaire hotel owner Donald Pater. A snake casually slides out of the room. Hadley screams. Donald’s body is found in the hot tub. Quinn is called to the scene. While en route, Quinn almost has a car crash with Maubee (Robert Townsend) who is driving quickly down a one way road. Maubee is carrying a suitcase which Quinn notes is suspicious despite their long friendship. Quinn arrives at the scene of the homicide where political fixer Thomas Elgin (James Fox) and a doctor are waiting. The doctor had stayed at the hotel the night before and he exclaims that Donald Pater’s throat had been slit that morning until his head was severed. The doctor rules this the cause of death. The doctor and Thomas Elgin (James Fox) try to have the body sent back to London. Quinn insists on an autopsy per policy. Quinn also finds a suitcase in the closet that matches the one he saw on Maubee. Quinn meets with Thomas’s wife Hadley and asks a few questions. As he leaves, Quinns sees Thomas slap her for having spoken with him. Quinn is pulled aside by Governor Chalk about a phone call he had received from Thomas Elgin. He is concerned that Quinn had sent the body to the hospital instead of just arresting Maubee for the murder. When Maubee evades the police nearby, a man explains that Maubee had paid him a $10,000 dollar bill to drink a beer filled with smoked marijuana joints. Quinn soon finds out that the hospital has sent the body on to the airport. Quinn brings his son home to his ex-wife. He had been so busy that he had forgotten him for a few hours. She is justifiably angry that Quinn was late picking him up, but he explains that he was after a killer before he leaves her place. Quinn enlists a local doctor to come to the airport hangar to perform an autopsy. Once again this draws attention from the Governor who does not want to see the tourism impacted over the death of a white man on the island. Mr. Fred Miller (M. Emmitt Walsh) from Pater Enterprises arrives to help “tie up loose ends” and accompanies Quinn as he continues his investigation. Quinn soon finds himself embroiled in a mystery that none of the higher ups want him to solve involving $10,000 dollar bills and his childhood friend Maubee.

The Mighty Quinn is an enjoyable and brisk light entertainment. The film is big on atmosphere due to the Caribbean locale, but at times it fails to be convincingly realistic (for example, there is a sequence where Maubee kicks out a support beam of a shack to avoid getting arrested. It does not look like something Robert Townsend would be capable of doing.) The plot of the film is fairly straightforward and the twists in the plot make good sense but won’t blow the mind of anyone who watches the film. It is a police procedural popcorn flick that never attempts to become overly gritty or serious. In a way, that is its strongest quality. The film rides by on the talent of leading man Denzel Washington and the exotic locales of the island. The cast in the film is largely given little to do with only small moments for supporting actors Mimi Rogers and James Fox, but M. Emmitt Walsh seemed to have a good time in his role. The film suffers slightly from the miscasting of Robert Townsend. Townsend does not come to the role of Maubee naturally, and his performance takes away from the film in its moments. Carl Shenkel does a good enough job with the talent at hand, but Denzel steals the show from the outset. I noted that the film seems to alternate from very simple camera setups to some fairly complex setups, so there are some pretty cool sequences in the film. That makes sense because cinematographer Jacques Steyn had worked as an assistant cameraman with Wim Wenders on the classic The American Friend. The reggae music is enjoyable and the movie has its charms including a sequence where Denzel sings a song in front of an audience at a bar. The Caribbean flavor makes up for some of the moments that don’t quite land, so overall I had fun watching the movie, even if the whole experience is a little bit forgettable.

Video

MGM has presented The Mighty Quinn in 1080p using an MPEG-4 AVC encode in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The master used is not a new master. I can not perform a direct comparison to the out of print Olive Films disc because I do not own it, but it may be the same master as used on that release. The fact that it is an older master will be apparent from the outset. The color timing shows some damage to the print and there is some specking, but fine detail is decent. This is a movie that could probably benefit from a new master, because I think it could look much better than it does here. This is only a decent presentation overall.

Audio

MGM’s Dolby Digital 2.0 track is decent. A 5.1 track would do a lot for this film since the reggae music in the picture would benefit a tremendous amount from expounded range. The clarity of the track is occasionally somewhat muffled. Like the video, the audio is only decent.

Supplements

• There are no supplements.

Overall Scores:

Video – 3.5/5 

Audio – 3.5/5

Supplements – 0/5

Overall – 3.25/5

The Mighty Quinn is an enjoyable and somewhat forgettable cop film that is elevated by a solid performance by Denzel Washington and a colorful Jamaican setting. The film does not have a ton of surprises up its sleeves, but it is still breezy enough to be enjoyed as a popcorn film. MGM has brought the film back to Blu-ray with an older transfer that definitely shows its age. I thought it looked okay overall. The audio is similar to the video in that it is acceptable, but not great. The film has not been given any supplements. Fans will be excited to be able to add the film to their collection, even if every aspect of this release leaves something to be desired. 

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.