Wonkette Movie Night: The Mighty Quinn

'Guess who's coming to dinner?'

I saw this outside my window a few days ago.

I love snow but wouldn't mind spending some time on a tropical island.

The tree in the picture becomes a palm tree swaying with a gentle ocean breeze. The sun is warm on my face, the tide tickling at my toes in the sand. Then I am awakened by my cats Harry licking my toes and Bear breathing in my face. Things aren’t always what they seem.

On an unnamed Caribbean island, where its idyllic setting is hiding its ugly past, we meet Chief of Police Xavier Quinn.

Chief Quinn is faced with solving the murder of a wealthy man found beheaded in a hot tub. Quinn’s childhood friend Maubee is the number one suspect, and having a suitcase full of cash doesn’t help Maubee’s claim of innocence. The chief is a smart cop; having studied at Quantico he trusts his intuition, something is not right, Maubee is not a killer. Politics and friendship complicate things for Quinn, but he will follow the facts where they lead.

Xavier Quinn is also a father trying to connect with his young son and wife. This is a family full of love but the marriage is strained. Arriving late to pick up his son, Henry, from school, Chief Quinn asks him what he learned that day. Henry says they learned about the venomous snake the Fer-de-lance.

Quinn then explains the viper’s connection to the island’s history.

“Well way back in the old days, plantation owners, they imported a snake to discourage the escape of slaves.

But the snake don’t know the difference between black and white.”

The snakes also connect to the present. The story Quinn tells his son serves as an allegory to the crime he is trying to solve. Xavier is a man handling many issues, trying to solve a murder and save his friend while battling the powerful and at the same time holding his family together and working to repair the relationship with his wife. That’s probably why they call him mighty.

Woven throughout the film is the beat of reggae music. From original songs to a lovely cover of (I'm) Hurting Inside, written by Bob Marley and performed by Sheryl Lee Ralph, Cedella Marley, and Sharon Marley Prendergast. It’s a song full of yearning. In this acoustic version the emotion in Marley’s voice touches you deeply.

Happiness

Come back I say

Cause if you don't come

I've got to go looking...

For happiness

We recently passed his birthday on Feb. 6 and with the new biopic Bob Marley: One Love premiering recently it’s nice to reflect on the music he left us as well as his life.

One of my favorite songs, the one I sing to make myself feel better, is Three Little Birds, with the line “Don’t worry ‘bout a thing, cause every little thing gonna be alright.” Because you can’t help but feel the song is correct.

The Mighty Quinn stars Denzel Washington, Robert Townsend, Sheryl Lee Ralph, M. Emmet Walsh, and Esther Rolle. Directed by Carl Schenkel.

Available for free with ads on Tubi, The Roku Channel or Pluto TV; with subscription on MGM+ and Brown Sugar (free trial available on Prime); and for $2.99 on Vudu.

To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules, go to WonkMovie.

Get those munchies and indulge in some ganja, enjoy!

Tonight our cartoon is Hamateur Night from 1939, a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short directed by Tex Avery.

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