Lost Films: Miracle Mile

Miracle Mile is not new or even new to video. It was released in theaters in 1988, but you most likely did not see it at a theater nor have you rented it. You should. This is a great little sleeper of a movie, a small $3 million gem that was lost in the shuffle when it was released and has never really been found.

My wife and I saw it at the theater when it opened in 1988, and what we saw we found very disturbing, which might also account for its lack of box office. I think this was the most shocked audience I have ever seen. When the film ended they sat in silence through the credits and then, also in silence, they quietly walked out of the theater; literally stunned by what they had seen.

Miracle Mile stars Anthony Edwards (before ER and after Revenge of the Nerds) as Harry, a young man who meets and falls in love with Julie, Mare Winningham, at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles (this area of LA is known as the Miracle Mile). They make a date to meet later that night at a coffee shop, but Harry oversleeps. He rushes to the coffee shop anyway, but Julie is long gone. While waiting around outside the coffee shop the pay phone rings and Harry answers it. The frantic party of the other end, who thinks he is talking to his father but has dialed the wrong number, tells Harry that the US has just launched its nuclear missiles at the Soviet Union and that the Soviet nukes are already inbound. He has an hour to get out of LA. Harry then hears a gun shot on the other end of the phone and a different voice comes on and tells him to ignore the call. But can he? Is Harry the victim of a brutal practical joke, or does he really know the world is about to end?

Harry doesn't know what the truth is and neither does the audience, but as he tells those around him what may be happening, all hell slowly starts to break loose in the early morning hours along the Miracle Mile. If it is true, Harry knows he can not leave LA without Julie. He has an hour to find the woman he loves, and get out of Los Angeles, or does he?

Miracle Mile leaves you guessing to the end. This film is full of startling images of a world quickly going stark raving mad, and I give full credit to director Steve De Jarnatt. But in Hollywood, if the movies you make don't make money you don't get to make movies. Miracle Mile was a box office bomb, taking in a little over 1/3 of the piddling $3 million it cost, and except for some work on a few TV series, we have not seen much from Steve since. That is a down-right shame, but don't let that deter you from seeing this wonderfully quirky little film. You may not come away liking Miracle Mile, but like all good films, you won't be able to stop thinking about it or the images it presented.

With the end of the Soviet Union the fear is not quite as present as in 1988, but the film is gripping in its depiction of how diverse people handle what they think is the end of the world. This film is really worth the effort to seek out and view. A lot of the reviews on IMDb use the word "haunting" when describing Miracle Mile and I couldn't agree more; when was the last time a film got under your skin so much that it affected your daily life? Miracle Mile is one of those lost films that needs to be found again.