Word About Biehn

Though there are some funny scenes in Mojave Moon, in general the film misses its comedic mark, coming across primarily as a lackluster interlude with a group of social misfits aimlessly plodding through life.

What little plot there is begins when our hero Al (Danny Aiello), hanging out at his local café with a couple of buddies whose humdrum lives rival his own, is spotted by an attractive young siren, Ellie by name. To Al's amazement (not to mention the viewer's), she beckons him over to her booth. He answers her call and by day's end finds himself driving her to her "movable home" in the desert. There he meets her mother, Julie, and Julie's boyfriend, Boyd (Michael), and right away we realize that these are not normal people. Mom is one of those cloying types who singsongs her dialogue in a poor imitation of Marilyn Monroe and who wins Al's instant affection with apple pie and ice cream. Boyd's penchant for lighting his cigarettes with a blow torch sets him off as a fellow who just might have problems passing the Rorschach inkblot test.

In due course, Ellie leaves to meet her boyfriend, followed awhile later by Boyd. Al, whose car won't start, risks discovery by the possessive Boyd and dallies dangerously with Julie under the mesmerizing Mojave Moon. Disconcerted by Boyd's sudden off-camera return, Al again decides to depart, and this time, his car suddenly cooperative, he succeeds. Things pick up when on his way home, Al finds a body in his trunk. In his own lethargic way, he's horrified. Who is the guy? Who killed him, and who put his body in Al's trunk? Was it Boyd? And, if so, why, and what might he do next? From there we follow Al, as he tries to outwit the batty Boyd and extricate himself, Julie, Ellie, and friend Sal from the whole sorry mess.

For the most part, the story moves along at a languid pace, generating a minimum of interest or involvement. However, it doesn't fail entirely as a comedy. There are a few scenes that do tickle the funny bone. For example, there is a gas station shoot out, where would-be robbers and the service station attendant (with Al trapped in between them) exchange hundreds of rounds, failing to hit anything but inanimate objects. At scene's end, the attendant is still firing away in crazed ecstasy, apparently just another soul experiencing Mojave Moon madness.

Michael does well as the off-the-wall Boyd. Through his easy transitions from psychotic leers and irrational outbursts to apparent normalcy and back again, he demonstrates the schizophrenic nature of the unbalanced Boyd, teetering on the brink of homicidal mania. Michael energizes his scenes and is involved in some of the film's funnier ones. I particularly enjoyed Boyd's encounter with Al and Sal, as they try to frighten him into revealing the whereabouts of Ellie and Julie. Michael effortlessly moves from feigned fear to pretended friendliness to menacing madness, and in doing so, succeeds in making Boyd a watchable character if not a likable one.

Unfortunately, even the welcome lift Michael gives to Mojave Moon isn't sufficient to make the film more than mildly diverting. Throughout, the writing leaves us pretty clueless about what makes the characters tick, and it's hard to sympathize with lives that seem merely pointless and bizarre. At film's end, I found myself wondering why it had begun in the first place.