Main Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Anspach, Bonnie Bedelia, John Lithgow, Ofelia Medina
Release Year: 1978
Country: US
Run Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Richard Dreyfuss plays Moses Wine, an ex-Sixties radical who pays the bills as a private eye. Wine is hired to stem a smear campaign against a popular political candidate. Gradually the plot thickens into a murder case, involving a hippie leader whose values, like Wine's, have been severely compromised over the years - and who plans to blow up a major LA freeway as a protest. Susan Anspach provides a great deal of dramatic (and sexual) tension as Wine's boss. Among the minor players are future stars Mandy Patinkin and F. Murray Abraham. The Big Fix was adapted by Roger L. Simon from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
F. Murray Abraham - Eppis; Nicolas Coster - Spitzler; Fritz Weaver - Oscar Procari, Sr.; Jorge Cervera, Jr. - Jorge; Michael Hershewe - Jacob; Rita Karin - Aunt Sonya; Larry Bishop - Wilson; Andrew Bloch - Michael Linker; Harry Caesar - Burke; Sidney Clute - Mr. Johnson; John Cunningham - Hawthorne; Frank Doubleday - Jonah's Partner; Joyce Easton - Woman in Mercedes; David Gale; Martin Garner - Bittleman; Kathryn Grody - Wendy Linker; Murray MacLeod - Perry; David Matthau - Volunteer; Bob O'Connell - Policeman; Lupe Ontiveros - Maid; Mandy Patinkin - Pool Man; Ron Rifkin - Randy; David Rowlands - Jonah; Al Ruban - Detective; Miiko Taka - Saleswoman; Joe Warfield - Worker; Dick Whittington - Newsman; James Wing Woo - Pak Chung; Billy Cardenas - Chicano; William Glover - Commentator; Chester Grimes - Chester; Caskey Swaim - Cop; Gregory Prentiss - Reporter #4; Pat Hustis - Dealer
Credit
Raymond Brandt - Art Director, Edith Head - Costume Designer, Jeremy Kagan - Director, Patrick Kennedy - Editor, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), Charles Schram - Makeup, Robert F. Boyle - Production Designer, Frank Stanley - Cinematographer, Carl Borack - Producer, Robert F. Boyle - Producer, Richard Dreyfuss - Producer, Mary Ann Biddle - Set Designer, David Ronne - Sound/Sound Designer, Roger Simon - Screenwriter, Roger Simon - Book Author
A former 1960s student activist turned private detective searches for missing Berkeley activist with whom he shared the barricades. Moses Wine is contacted by Lila, an old flame back from his radical college days. She wants him to work for Miles Hawthorne, who is a candidate running for governor of California. Moses is told that a flyer is being distributed around the state with a doctored photo of Hawthorne with a 1960s radical named Howard Eppis — a fugitive who had been convicted in absentia for inciting violence against the government — falsely claiming that Eppis is supporting him for governor. This libel is a clear attempt to destroy Hawthorne's chances for being elected. Moses sets out to find out who is responsible — with deadly results.
