Stormy Monday

1988

Stormy Monday

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

73%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 15

48%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,417
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Movie Info

Stormy Monday is a four-person character study in which style is all that matters. This tautly constructed, deftly executed crime thriller is set in economically depressed Newcastle England. Sting plays Finney, a relatively honest Newcastle jazz-club owner who crosses the path of crass American gangster Cosmo (Tommy Lee Jones). Flaunting his wealth at every opportunity, Cosmo wants to involve Finney in a land development deal -- if only he'll give up his club. Both men are enamored of Kate (Melanie Griffith), who becomes a pawn in their ongoing one-upsmanship. Kate and her lover (Sean Bean) try to prevent Finney from corrupting his own sense of values by wallowing in the gutter with Cosmo. Stormy Monday, the first feature-length directorial effort of former jazz musician Mike Figgis, who also wrote the script and composed the score, tells its story using subtle shadings of character and a vivid evocation of its Newcastle setting rather than through violent action. Figgis's moody direction of his excellent screenplay is quietly effective and brimming with visual nuance and irony -- particularly in its perceptive take on love, money, jazz, and economic necessity.

Cast

Melanie Griffith
as Kate
Sean Bean
as Brendan
Sting
as Finney
Tommy Lee Jones
as Cosmo
James Cosmo
as Tony
Mark Long
as Patrick
Brian Lewis
as Jim
Derek Hoxby
as Bob
Heathcote Williams
as Peter Reed
Prunella Gee
as Mrs. Finney
Guy Manning
as Hotel Waiter
Alison Steadman
as Mayor
Al Matthews
as Radio DJ
Caroline Hutchison
as Finney's Secretary Jean
Fiona Sloman
as Hotel Receptionist
Deborah Brown
Roderic Leigh
as Counciller Perry
Pam Rack
Mary Selway
Mick Hamer
as Pianist
John Tong Ying
as 1st Heavy
Andrzej Borkowksi
as Andrej
Catherine Chevalier
as Cosmo's Secretary
Clive Curtis
as Cosmo's Bodyguard
Dulice Liecier
as Carol
Richard Hawley
as Weegee's Manager
Elizabeth Mason
as Waitress
Tony Bluto
as Chef
Keith Edwards
as Barman
Czeslaw Grocholski
as Old Polish Man
Terry Day
as The Krakow Jazz Emsemble
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Critic Reviews for Stormy Monday

All Critics (15) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (4)

  • All visual flash and no script, with comatose performances to boot.

    Mar 26, 2009 | Full Review…

    Variety Staff

    Variety
    Top Critic

  • Mix American gangsters, molls and majorettes with Polish avant-garde jazz musicians against a Newcastle background - and what you've got is a curious homage to B movie Hollywood and the rain-washed neon of the pulps.

    Feb 9, 2006 | Full Review…

    Derek Adams

    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • Mr. Figgis, who is a musician as well as a film maker, brings the place, the plot and the film's haunting characters vibrantly to life. What's more, he makes them irresistibly interesting.

    May 20, 2003 | Rating: 3.5/5

    Janet Maslin

    New York Times
    Top Critic

  • "Stormy Monday" is about the way light falls on wet pavement stones, and about how a neon sign glows in a darkened doorway.

    Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

    Roger Ebert

    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic

  • Jones works his machismo persona into a lather, but it's unclear what he's doing in this movie, so he's more a source of campy fun than menace.

    Jan 1, 2000 | Full Review…

    Desson Thomson

    Washington Post
    Top Critic

  • It is all style and promise, a come-on that keeps on coming on but never satisfies. The Big Tease.

    Jan 1, 2000 | Full Review…

    Rita Kempley

    Washington Post
    Top Critic
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