By Edwin Jahiel
NADINE (1987)
Written and directed by Texan Robert Benton who co-scripted such films as "Bonnie and Clyde," "Bad Company," (also directed) and "Superman," and wrote and directed others like "Kramer v. Kramer," or "Places in ther Heart." Action-comedy "Nadine," set in 1954 Austin, is an unexpectedly amusing comedy-thriller. Hairdresser Kim Basinger, wanting to retrieve her nude pictures , witnesses a murder, ends up with land-graft prints that merciless gang leader Rip Torn wants and gets involved in tongue-in-cheek adventures with the help of her hustling husband (the owner of a roadhouse in bad times) Jeff Bridges , whom she is about to divorce. Acting, dialogue (for which Benton has a great gift), atmosphere and tempo are excellent. So are the genuine accents, the behavior and the look of the trashy characters and their milieu. Inventive plot is clever but does not wink at us, has thrills that are marginally implausible but come out as believable.Most entertaining. (Edwin Jahiel)
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