In 1950s Texas, a woman trying to recover sexy photos of herself and divorce her husband witnesses a murder and uncovers corrupt land dealings. (from IMDb)

I never understood how people could often dismiss a movie as "forgettable." It wasn't till I watched a movie on streaming a few years ago and then found a sequence vaguely familiar that I checked my letterboxd app and found that I had, in fact, seen the movie five years earlier -- to the month. It was just... that forgettable. Enter 1987's Nadine, starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Bassinger. When the Blu-Ray release landed on our doorstep, I thought "Ah, cool! Never seen this; should be fun to check out." And, while watching it, I came across a scene that seemed vaguely familiar. I figured that maybe I'd seen that sequence on TV years ago or something. When I went to log it in my letterboxd app, I found that I actually had seen it before... three years prior... proving that, once again, I had discovered a rather forgettable film.

With that said, yes, sadly, Nadine is pretty forgettable. Even after seeing it twice, it feels like a movie that the brain takes in and just flushes right out. Set in 1954, it's about a separated couple who find themselves together again as they're chased by some pretty bad people. It has a little bit of a noir feel--like something Humphrey Bogart might have featured in back in the day. Kim Bassinger plays the title character, Nadine, who accidentally finds herself in possession of some blueprints that a group of unsavory guys are trying to retrieve. After bumping into her ex-husband, Vernon, played by Jeff Bridges, the two find themselves on the run together. The pair have chemistry enough, but the script and story aren't all that interesting, and the action beats just don't leave an impression.

The cast is round out by Rip Torn as the central villain Buford Pope, Jerry Stiller who has a blink-and-you'll-miss-him role, and Glenne Headly as Vernon's latest love interest Renee. Most of the characters don't add much to the film, although I suppose Torn is fine as the big bad. This is really Bridges' and Bassinger's show, after all.

The movie is rated PG by 1987 standards, but the content is probably more in line with a PG-13 film. It's not a kids movie, and it isn't exactly the most family friendly, but I can see why it didn't quite warrant the PG-13 rating in '87--even Beetlejuice was PG in 1988. The plot involves Nadine wanting to get back some racy photos a photographer took of her. While trying to do so, he's suddenly murdered and she takes the envelope of photos when she flees, only to find it's not her photos in the envelope at all. So we don't actually see her photos until the very end of the film, and they show a little "sideboob" with her arms crossed over her chest--but nothing explicit. A romantic encounter between Vernon and Nadine does happen, but it fades to black before anything is shown beyond kissing, and then we see them waking up together in bed the next morning. There is a little blood shown when Vernon is beaten up and a man is shot later in the film, but it isn't very graphic. The edgiest content is probably profanity. There are 8 uses of the "S" word, 7 of "g*dd*mn" and several other of God's name as an exclamation, 8 uses of "S.O.B," among other colorful words. I know that might not seem like much to a lot of movie watchers, but for a movie branded as PG, it may surprise some.

The Blu-Ray transfer is okay, but nothing to get too excited about. It's basically a decent HD transfer of a dated late-80s film. The movie itself just really feels like a feature-length episode from a show like Moonlighting or something from that era. It's a B-movie at best, even if the central players are doing their best. If you're a fan of the movie already, this Blu-Ray is a nice option, but if you're looking for a good noir film, maybe check out The Maltese Falcon, or just about anything else Bogie starred in decades prior, instead.

- John DiBiase (reviewed: 10/20/26)