Full Moon in Blue Water

This genuine sleeper bombed at the boxoffice, but should be a breath of comic fresh air to more adventuresome video viewers. Gene Hackman stars as Floyd, a down-and-out bar-and-grill owner who's about to lose his business because of back taxes. Floyd is in perpetual mourning over the disappearance of his wife a year past--and has let the shop slide, so to speak; extending credit and setting hours according to his mood. Waiting in the wings is Louise (Teri Garr), a spunky bus driver with a mean calculator and a mission: to bring Floyd out of the land of Orpheus, and put the Blue Water Grill back in the red. The writing sparkles, the cast is excellent (including top-notch performances by Burgess Meredith as Floyd's foul-mouthed father-in-law, and by Elias Koteas as a former mental patient turned janitor/caregiver), and director Peter Masterson's sense of comic timing is solid. This loony "slice of life" portrait of love and loss on the Texas Gulf is highly recommended. (R. Pitman)