“Miracle Mile” takes place in a metropolis within the throes of chaos as Angelenos flee the specter of a nuclear strike. The movie was launched in 1988, but it surely has resurfaced in the previous few years, attracting sold-out crowds on the American Cinematheque and the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences.
Written and directed by Steve De Jarnatt and made for $3 million, the movie was restored and re-released by boutique movie distributor Kino Lorber in 2024. In her commentary for the Blu-ray, writer Janet Fitch (“White Oleander”) stated “Miracle Mile” depicts “the kind of apocalypse that L.A. people imagine.”
Los Angeles is aware of how one can climate a disaster — or two or three. Angelenos are tapping into that resilience, striving to construct a metropolis for everybody.
And regardless that it didn’t make an enormous impression when it opened, De Jarnatt stated the movie has gained what he known as “cult status.”
A lot of the enchantment of “Miracle Mile” enchantment may be attributed to the movie’s apparent affection for the stretch of Wilshire Boulevard bordered by La Brea and Fairfax Avenues. Featured areas embrace the Might Co. and Orbach’s department shops (now the Academy Museum of Movement Photos and the Petersen Automotive Museum, respectively), the close by Park La Brea towers and Johnnie’s Espresso Store, which is closed and used primarily for movie and TV productions.
The film, which takes place over the course of 24 hours, begins out as a lighthearted romance. Anthony Edwards performs Harry Washello, a struggling trombone participant who falls for espresso store waitress Julie Waters (Mare Winningham) after they meet cute on the La Brea Tar Pits. The couple make a date to fulfill after her night shift is over.
However their plans crumble. Harry unwittingly intercepts a name at a telephone sales space, and the caller tells him nuclear missiles will strike Los Angeles throughout the hour. As town unravels, Harry and Julie attempt to save their upended romance.
The ending is each unhappy and completely happy. “To be with the one you love at the end, even if it’s a brand new love who you met at the La Brea Tar Pits, which is like a time portal and a museum dedicated to extinction, is as good a way as any to go out,” De Jarnatt says.
(And it was a very completely happy ending for Edwards and Winningham, who bonded whereas filming the mission. On the time, each have been married to different folks and stayed mates whereas working collectively on different initiatives — together with “ER,” by which Edwards performed the lead position as Dr. Mark Greene. The 2 finally grew to become a pair and wed in 2021.)
