8 Million Ways to Die

8 Million Ways to Die
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Hal Ashby
Produced by	Stephen J. Roth
Written by	Lawrence Block (novel) Oliver Stone David Lee Henry Robert Towne(uncredited) (screenplay)
Starring	Jeff Bridges Rosanna Arquette
Music by	James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Stephen H. Burum
Editing by	Robert Lawrence Stuart H. Pappé
Distributed by	PSO TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	April 25, 1986
Running time	115 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,305,114 (sub-total)

8 Million Ways to Die is a 1986 American crime film. This was the final film directed by Hal Ashby, and the first attempt to adapt the popular Matthew Scudder detective stories of Lawrence Block for the screen. The screenplay was written by Oliver Stone and David Lee Henry, with uncredited contributions by Robert Towne. The film starred Jeff Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, and Andy García in a leading role for the first time.

Plot

An alcoholic Los Angeles narcotics cop, Matt Scudder (Bridges), takes part in a drug bust that results in his fatal shooting of a small-time dealer in front of the man's wife and kids. Scudder ends up in a drunk ward, suffering from booze and blackouts, ending his career, his marriage, and jeopardizing his relationship with his daughter.

After an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, a woman hands Scudder a note, which invites him to a private gambling club on a hill, owned by Chance Walker. At the club, Scudder is greeted by a call girl named Sunny who pretends that he is her boyfriend. He also meets regular Angel Moldonado (Garcia) who is infatuated with another call girl named Sarah (Arquette). Bewildered by Sunny's behavior, Scudder follows Sunny around all night, eventually ending up back at his place as she explains that she is frightened and needs his help. He agrees to help her escape prostitution, but the next day, as they are putting her affairs in order, she is kidnapped. As Scudder gives chase, Sunny is killed and thrown over a bridge.

Scudder tracks down Chance Walker, convinced that he killed Sunny because she was going to leave his prostitution ring. Chance is insulted and insists that all he does is run the private club, paying the girls a flat salary to attend his parties. Any prostitution they do is up to them, and they keep their money. He tells Scudder that Sarah was Sunny's best friend, and Scudder seeks her out to find out who Sunny was so frightened of the day before she died. She hints at the fact that Moldonado was behind Sunny's fear. At the club that night, Scudder sees Moldonado wearing a ring with an emerald that matched the missing jewel in a necklace that Sunny owned. Convinced that Moldonado is Sunny's killer, he forces Sarah to leave the club with him, as Moldonado looks on in a rage.

Scudder sets up a meeting with Moldonado the next day, where he pieces together that Moldonado is running a drug ring through Chance's club, and he was using Sunny to help infiltrate Chance's staff with his own underlings. Scudder lets Moldonado leave with Sarah, but he sets up a drug buy. Chance is furious that Moldonado has been using his club as a cover and that he killed Sunny, but Scudder convinces him to go through with the deal, in order to trap Moldonado.

At Moldonado's house, he charmingly talks to Scudder about Antoni Gaudí, putting off any talk of drugs. When Scudder presses him for the cocaine, Moldonado explains that he knows Scudder is a cop, and he refuses to be trapped into a sting. Unfortunately, one of his underlings walks in with a shipping tube that Scudder had seen earlier when he scoped out a grocery store which happened to be one of Moldonado's front businesses. Realizing that the drugs were all at the grocery store, Scudder and Chase go to the store and steal all of the drugs. Scudder offers to return them in exchange for Sarah.

At an empty warehouse, Moldonado arrives with Sarah duct taped to a shotgun that one of his underlings is holding. Scudder has booby trapped the drugs and threatens to destroy them if Sarah is harmed. Eventually, Moldonado agrees to cut Sarah loose, but before he can secure his drugs, a shootout erupts. Moldonado manages to escape in the chaos, but Chance is killed. Sarah and Scudder head back to his club, and as they ride the funicular up to the house, they see Moldonado standing at the top, waiting for them. Scudder manages to kill him, and the closing scene shows Scudder at an AA meeting on the beach. He and Sarah stroll happily along the water as the film closes.

Cast

• Jeff Bridges as Matthew "Matt" Scudder
• Rosanna Arquette as Sarah
• Alexandra Paul as Sunny
• Randy Brooks as Willie "Chance" Walker
• Andy García as Angel Moldonado

Tommy Lister as Nose Guard

See also

• List of American films of 1986

References

External links

• 8 Million Ways to Die at the Internet Movie Database
• 8 Million Ways to Die at AllRovi