Synopsis
The movie Crimewave (1985) is a comedy crime film directed by Sam Raimi. The movie Crimewave (1985) centers around Vic Ajax, a death row inmate who tells his life story leading up to his execution. In flashback, Vic recounts how he was an employee at Farnsworth Technologies who got caught up in a murder scheme hatched by his boss.
Vic’s boss Mr. Farnsworth hires two incompetent hitmen to kill some uncooperative board members standing in the way of his business expansion. The hitmen mix up the names and targets, leading to a comedy of errors with people being killed randomly. The dimwitted detectives investigate the “Crimewave” of murders happening around town. Vic gets framed for one of the murders and is arrested. His co-worker Nancy tries to clear his name by finding the real killers.
Meanwhile, Vic escapes from prison but ends up being recaptured. Nancy manages to track down the real murderers and extract recorded confessions from them just as Vic is about to be executed in the electric chair. She rushes to the death chamber to play the tape and stop the execution. At the last second, Vic’s name is cleared and he is released while the hitmen and Mr. Farnsworth are arrested.
Cast
- Louise Lasser as Bobbi
- Brion James as Farnsworth
- Sheree J. Wilson as Nancy
- Edward R. Pressman as Trend
- Paul L. Smith as Bonejack
- Reed Birney as Vic Ajax
Trivia
The Coen brothers had written the script and were originally set to direct before leaving over creative differences.
It was subject to heavy editing and cutting, leaving director Sam Raimi unhappy with the final release.
The film was shot entirely on location in Detroit.
Anonymous on November 1, 2023