Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues

**1/2 out of ****

I grew up with the Indiana Jones trilogy—as a child, my mother was a huge fan (to be fair, what woman isn’t?), and I remember sitting wide-eyed at our glowing family television, riveted by Indy’s adventures through secret jungles and enchanted fortresses. I especially remember how I always hid my eyes during the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Nazis evoke the wrath of God, who subsequently sends his death angel to burn them from the inside out. After having his adventures embedded in my childhood brain, I revel for an opportunity to see Indy on the big screen again, but due to delay after delay in the production, this privilege grows more and more unlikely.

I suppose that I’m writing this review because of that disappointment. After George Lucas’ recent rejection of Frank Darabont’s script for a fourth official Indiana Jones film, I fear that Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues, one of the several made-for-television films about the adventures of a twenty-something Indy, will be the closest experience to a third sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark that we might ever get. The element that distinguishes this particular Young Indy adventure from the others is that Harrison Ford returns as an older, grizzled Indy. He narrates the film and appears in its bookends, and his gray-bearded appearance reveals that he isn’t getting any younger.

Ford’s appearance is the best thing here; for me, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles were always a bit bland and underwhelming. George Lucas always intended the television show and subsequent TV-movies to be less action-packed and more philosophical, telling how a young Indy (played by Sean Patrick Flanery) journeys around the world, witnesses significant historical events, and grows into a man. This premise is certainly an interesting idea, but is it right for Indiana Jones? Here is a television series based on three of the most riveting action adventures of all time, and it contains hardly any action!

It also doesn’t help that Sean Patrick Flanery never quite comes across as a young man who will grow to become Harrison Ford’s character. If you have seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, you will remember that Flanery is not the first actor to portray a young Indy—River Pheonix was much more believable in the part, portraying Indy as a subtle, intense young man who could easily become the later daring, opportunistic archeologist. It’s not that Flanery in a bad actor; he simply isn’t Indiana Jones. Without Ford’s narration and appearance in the opening and closing scenes, The Mystery of the Blues would come across as someone else’s movie altogether.

Still, we must appreciate this film for giving us these few moments with Harrison Ford, who makes the most of his brief but fun outing as his signature role. The opening shots of The Mystery of the Blues gives us an exciting car chase sequence, in which Ford attempts to outrun unidentified enemies through some snowy American mountains. As his Native American companion, Great Cloud (Saginaw Grant) panics at the fast speeds and the firing guns, Indy gives him a tired grin and says, “I’ve done this before, you know.” This is exactly the right note to play an older, mellower Indy, and Ford demonstrates his perfect understanding of his most famous character.

After the opening action scene, Indy and Great Cloud outrun the bad guys and hide in an abandoned cabin, where Indy begins the narration that segues into the flashbacks featuring Flanery. We don’t see Ford again until the movie’s closing moments, but his voice narrates throughout to let us know that he’s still in the game. His final scenes are also clever and humorous, if a bit rushed. We realize in the end that Ford’s appearance is pretty inconsequential to what happens in the main storyline, but advertising ploy or not, how can we do anything but welcome the sincerity in Ford’s gleaming eyes and his firmly-set fedora?

As for the middle passages featuring Flannery, they are as underwhelming as most of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. They feature his life as a waiter in 1920s Chicago, and his interest in learning about jazz and playing the saxophone. These scenes are interesting drama, but nothing that we haven’t seen addressed better in other films (themes include racism, Harlem, etc.). Along the way, he gets tangled up with some mobsters in an early prohibition era. These scenes are a little livelier, but nothing in comparison to a gigantic boulder chase through tight corridors, or a death-defying ride on through a gold mine, or a gravity-defying leap off a cliff in an army tank. Ask yourself: When you watch an Indiana Jones film, what would you rather see—Indy seeking to reform the political and social limitations of his day, or Indy flying a biplane, engaged in a dogfight against several expert Nazi pilots as he searches for the Holy Grail?

Some of the coincidences in Mystery of the Blues are also likely to induce eye-rolling from its audience. It is difficult to believe that Indy was the college roommate of Eliot Ness (Frederick Weller), friends with one freelance reporter Ernest Hemingway (Jay Underwood), and that all three went up against a young Al Capone (Nicholas Turturro), who happened to work in the same restaurant as Indy. Add that to Indy’s personal saxophone lessons with Sidney Bechet (Jeffery Wright) and Louis Armstrong (Byron Stripling) and the film starts playing like a Universal monster movie, with Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and all the rest being replaced by famous historical figures. I suppose none of this is any less outrageous than Ford’s impossible stunts and adventures in the earlier feature-films, but none of it is nearly as engaging.

When it’s all said and done, Ford’s presence has wetted our appetite for another big-screen adventure featuring an older Indiana Jones, and everything else about the movie seems trivial in comparison. Nevertheless, if Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues is the only chance we get to see Ford in the role again, I advise that we take what we can get.

A.KA.: The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Mystery of the Blues

Click here to read my review of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Click here to read my review of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Click here to read my review of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Cast:
Sean Patrick Flanery: Young Indiana Jones
Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones
Frederick Weller: Eliot Ness
Jeffery Wright: Sidney Bechet
Jay Underwood: Ernest Hemingway
Nicholas Turturro: Al Capone
Saginaw Grant: Great Cloud

Paramount Pictures presents a Lucasfilm Ltd. release. Directed by Carl Schultz. Written by Jule Selbo. Produced by George Lucas and Rick McCallum. Rated PG, for exciting action sequences and alcohol use. Running time: 98 minutes. Original United States television air date: March 13, 1993.