There is an intriguing question at the core of Miracle Mile; what would you do if you only had 70 minutes before the end of the world? In this movie, the answer is "run around in circles like an idiot". Harry's quest — to get himself and Julie to a helipad that will whisk them to safety — could have been accomplished with a leisurely half-hour stroll. Instead, Harry is a moron who repeatedly makes dumb decisions and constantly gets himself into harrowing situations as a result. The entire movie ends up being a pointless Fetch Quest by an Idiot Hero that builds up to a Shoot the Shaggy Dog ending, with the only escalation being the sheer implausibility of it all (yes, let's wander a neighborhood at 4:00 in the morning and hope we can find a stranger who happens to be a helicopter pilot!). By the time the crazy homeless man appears babbling nonsense in the final scene, the viewer is too inured to the movie's nonsensical nature to even give him a second glance.
All of this could be forgiven if Miracle Mile was entertaining in some way, but it fails in that regard as well. There's little humor in this movie — romantic, black, or otherwise. The chemistry between Harry and Julie is barely present, and the Real Time impending disaster allows little room for the two to build their relationship. The film fails as a thriller once you take a moment to realize that all of Harry's tribulations are caused by his full-on embrace of the Idiot Ball, aided by several Contrived Coincidences that strain credibility to the breaking point. In fact, the only good point of the movie is to serve as proof that a Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot is no assurance of success, a reminder that a Jack of All Trades can simply end up as a disappointment in multiple areas.
If you want an apocalyptic black comedy, watch Dr. Strangelove; if you want an apocalyptic thriller, watch Wargames. If you want an apocalyptic romance, watch Don't Look Up. Me? I'm going to the La Brea Tar Pits and watch the fossils there, wondering if they were from the animals too stupid to avoid falling in...
Film The only Miracle is the praise this movie gets
*** MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW ***
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I watched Miracle Mile on a whim; it gets a lot of praise as an overlooked classic, a Dark Humor Romantic Comedy apocalyptic thriller filled with surprising twists and shocking swerves, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about.
As it turns out, not much.
There is an intriguing question at the core of Miracle Mile; what would you do if you only had 70 minutes before the end of the world? In this movie, the answer is "run around in circles like an idiot". Harry's quest — to get himself and Julie to a helipad that will whisk them to safety — could have been accomplished with a leisurely half-hour stroll. Instead, Harry is a moron who repeatedly makes dumb decisions and constantly gets himself into harrowing situations as a result. The entire movie ends up being a pointless Fetch Quest by an Idiot Hero that builds up to a Shoot the Shaggy Dog ending, with the only escalation being the sheer implausibility of it all (yes, let's wander a neighborhood at 4:00 in the morning and hope we can find a stranger who happens to be a helicopter pilot!). By the time the crazy homeless man appears babbling nonsense in the final scene, the viewer is too inured to the movie's nonsensical nature to even give him a second glance.
All of this could be forgiven if Miracle Mile was entertaining in some way, but it fails in that regard as well. There's little humor in this movie — romantic, black, or otherwise. The chemistry between Harry and Julie is barely present, and the Real Time impending disaster allows little room for the two to build their relationship. The film fails as a thriller once you take a moment to realize that all of Harry's tribulations are caused by his full-on embrace of the Idiot Ball, aided by several Contrived Coincidences that strain credibility to the breaking point. In fact, the only good point of the movie is to serve as proof that a Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot is no assurance of success, a reminder that a Jack of All Trades can simply end up as a disappointment in multiple areas.
If you want an apocalyptic black comedy, watch Dr. Strangelove; if you want an apocalyptic thriller, watch Wargames. If you want an apocalyptic romance, watch Don't Look Up. Me? I'm going to the La Brea Tar Pits and watch the fossils there, wondering if they were from the animals too stupid to avoid falling in...