So many doomsday films have come and gone, but there are only a few that really stick with you. The 1988 romantic thriller (with some surreal humor) Miracle Mile, directed by screenwriter Steve De Jarnatt, is definitely one of those hidden gems of the apocalypse genre, a cult film that fully impressed and frightened me in equal measure.
Buy Miracle Mile Blu-rayAnthony Edwards (in an early leading role that is both quirky and charming) plays Harry Washello, a musician who has a meet-cute with adorable waitress Julie Peters (Mare Winningham giving a winning performance) in a museum. They are both clearly attracted to each other and have an instant connection. But just as they are about to have their very real first date, he picks up a random phone call from a very frantic soldier warning of a nuclear attack on Los Angeles in less than an hour. Skeptical if the chilling phone call is real or a prank, he scrambles to find Julie and escape the city before it’s too late.
Miracle Mile was made during a time of uncertainty, which made it very prescient. It brilliantly suggested that one minute you could be enjoying life, and the next minute fighting to save it, especially with a suggested nuclear catastrophe. It has a solid tonal shift that doesn’t hurt it but makes it better. Once the tension begins, it never lets up. You are rooting for the main couple all the way through, the immense chemistry between Edwards and Winningham making their plight so real, as well as for the supporting characters (wonderfully played by Myketi Williamson, Denise Crosby, John Agar, Kelly Jo Minter, and Kurt Fuller) whom they encounter over the course the film.
The sense of pandemonium the film creates is another reason why it works so well. During the second half of the film, you see people killing each other, stealing from stores, crashing their cars, and destroying stuff, which gives it a very terrifying euphoria, and you’re not exactly sure what’s going to happen next. I was very invested in it and wished that I watched it sooner. Thanks to Kino Lorber, I was able.
And speaking of Kino Lorber, they really outdid themselves with their new 4K restoration, while also providing a stacked two-disc release full of special features including three commentaries: 1) Jarnatt and film critic Walter Chaw, 2) Jarnatt, cinematographer Theo von de Sande, and production designer Chris Horner, 3) L.A. literary mavens Janet Fitch and Matthew Spector; Johnie’s Supporting Cast Reunion Parts 1 & 2 featurettes; Scoring Miracle Mile: interview Paul Haslinger; Harry and Julie: interviews with Edwards and Winningham; two short films; storyboards; photo montage; trailers; and more
Miracle Mile has a great mixture of humor and menace. eccentricity and bleakness, and an amazing amount of care was obviously put into it by everyone involved. Like I wrote, it’s a hidden gem that I hope will no longer be hidden, especially with its all too real end-of-the-world approach.
