The Blue Iguana

R

1988

1h 30m

Comedy

List

0%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

38%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

IRS agents send a private eye (Dylan McDermott) to Mexico to recover money laundered by a banker (Jessica Harper) and her sidekick (James Russo).

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Offbeat crime comedy, with a Yojimbo-like plot, and a particularly dry Dylan McDermott as the noirish hero. Quirky characters, some memorable lines, and plenty of black humor means this will play poorly to most, but very well to a select few.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

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Audience Member

"She was a real looker, but I knew if she got the chance, She'd put a bullet in my back. Dames are funny that way." To stay out of the slammer, down-on-his-luck bounty hunter Vince Holloway (Dylan McDermott) reluctantly agrees to do the bidding of two crooked IRS agents (Tovah Feldshuh and Dean Stockwell). Tasked with recouping $20 million of laundered drug money, Holloway heads south of the border to a banana republic where double crosses and murder are de rigueur. James Russo and Jessica Harper provide support in this quirky caper film. Also features Flea of the Red Hot Chillip Peppers. The soundtrack is a wild, unpredictable collection of songs (a James Brown mega-hit, a popular Fela Kuti number, and a rousing cover of âBorn To Be Wildâ by Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction), a couple of doo-wop classics (âYou Cheatedâ by the Del Vikings, and the great âWinner Take Allâ by the Platters), some hip-hop curiosities (an early rap-rock fusion with the White Boysâ(TM) âThis Is Hardcore, Is It Not?â, an ultra-rare Fat Boys track, and Kurtis Blow doing the movieâ(TM)s theme song), a few original songs by punk producer Ethan James (who also wrote the surf-noir score), and even some funk and metal (by Chuck Brown and L.A. Guns, respectively). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zoe 'The Bartender': Found a new sport that I like. Know what it is? Golf. Know why I like it? Because golf is walking through a park... with a purpose.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

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John Lafia

Director

Dylan McDermott

Vince Holloway

Jessica Harper

Cora

James Russo

Reno

Pamela Gidley

Dakota

Tovah Feldshuh

Detective Vera Quinn

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

The Blue Iguana is as close to a no-brainer as you can get, and still have anything left on the screen at all. It's a smart-aleck parody of private-eye movies, but it knows as little about private eyes as it does about parodies, and movies.

Rated: 0.5/4

Sep 24, 2001

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Seems like a type of visual quiz for aficionados of old movies. [Full review in Spanish]

Jul 7, 2022

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

An unusually irritating misfire...

Rated: 1/4

Nov 6, 2008

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David Cornelius

DVDTalk.com

It's little more than an interesting failure, a not-so-clever execution of a clever idea.

Rated: 2/5

May 22, 2006

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Aug 12, 2005

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Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Rated: 2/5

Jul 29, 2002

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Synopsis

IRS agents send a private eye (Dylan McDermott) to Mexico to recover money laundered by a banker (Jessica Harper) and her sidekick (James Russo).

Director: John Lafia
Production Co: Paramount
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $114.9K
Runtime: 1h 30m
Sound Mix: Stereo, Surround

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