''Nadine'' is a 1987 American

crime comedy film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

written and directed by

Robert Benton Robert Douglas Benton (born September 29, 1932) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the writer and director of the film ''Kramer vs. Kramer'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Adapted S ...

and starring

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

and Kim Basinger.

Plot

It's 1954 in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, and a slightly pregnant Nadine Hightower ( Kim Basinger) is in a lot of trouble. She's gone to sleazy photographer Raymond Escobar's (

Jerry Stiller Gerald Isaac Stiller (June 8, 1927 – May 11, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He spent many years as part of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara with his wife, Anne Meara, to whom he was married for over 60 years until her death in 2015 ...

) studio to reclaim some photos from him because they were "lots more artistic than I bargained for." Escobar assures her that he knows Hugh Hefner and she will certainly make it to the top. But Nadine has second thoughts, as she wants her photos, and when she goes back to the studio to retrieve them, gets caught up in the middle of a murder scene. She grabs an envelope with her name on it and hightails it out of there. Unfortunately, she gets the wrong pictures. She has stolen plans for a new highway development that ends up in the hands of her estranged husband Vernon (

), a handsome, wise-mouthed bum who owns a bar called the Blue Bonnet which no one goes to and that's not the worst of it. He's fooling around with a former Pecan Queen who works for the Lone Star Brewing company (

Glenne Headly Glenne Aimee Headly (March 13, 1955 – June 8, 2017) was an American actress. She was widely known for her roles in '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'', ''Dick Tracy'', and '' Mr. Holland's Opus''. Headly received a Theatre World Award and four Joseph ...

). He sees a way to make a bundle of money in all this. Shady real estate kingpin Buford Pope ( Rip Torn) wants the plans back and will stop at nothing to get them. The couple is soon on the run not only from Buford but from police who believe they've killed Escobar. All this time, Nadine and Vernon want a divorce, and Nadine hasn't told Vernon she's pregnant with his baby.

Cast

as Vernon Hightower * Kim Basinger as Nadine Hightower * Rip Torn as Buford Pope * Gwen Verdon as Vera *

as Renée Lomax *

as Raymond Escobar

Production

The film was written specifically for Kim Basinger. Shooting began on September 30, 1986 in

and further shooting took place in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. The framed picture of Jeff Bridges in a uniform in the film is taken from '' The Last Picture Show'' (1971). Much of the soundtrack was provided by the country group Sweethearts of the Rodeo.

Release

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives ''Nadine'' a rating of 46% from 13 reviews.

Home media

The film was released on VHS with a 4:3 ratio in 1988, and on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

with a 1.85:1 ratio on July 5, 2005.

References

External links

* * * {{Robert Benton 1987 films American romantic comedy films 1980s crime thriller films 1987 romantic comedy films American comedy thriller films 1980s English-language films Films set in Austin, Texas Films shot in Austin, Texas Films shot in San Antonio Films set in 1954 TriStar Pictures films Films with screenplays by Robert Benton Films scored by Howard Shore Films directed by Robert Benton 1980s American films