Shadow of Doubt

Well, add another name to my list of singers who are actually better at acting than singing. There was Bjork and Cher, and now Huey Lewis. Of course, this case isn't really comparable to the others, because Huey is a really poor actor.

But it's still better than his singing. I believe the same would be true of Air Supply if they ever did any acting, no matter how poor. They could be worse than Ed McMahon in one of those Mighty Carson Art Player sketches, and still make the list

By the same logic, we can start a new list of actors who sing better than they act. I guess we can start the list with Sofia Coppola. I've never actually heard her sing, but it has to be better than her acting.

As for this movie, it' s another one of those oh-so-tidy grade-b murder mysteries where every single person in the cast is somehow related to everything the central character is working on.

For example, Melanie Griffith plays an attorney who is defending one client on a double murder charge.

The script also spends some time developing her unfortunate sexual liaison with a former client, and we know that the DA who opposes her in the case is her ex husband!.

NUDITY REPORT

Sandra Guibord is seen naked for a prolonged opening scene in which she climbs out of bed and gets into the hot tib, where she is murdered.

She is later seen topless in flashbacks.

Kimnerley Kates is seen naked as a corpse, in a very brief flash.

SPOILER

Guess who committed the double murder? You're going to think I made this up, but I swear it's true. The DA committed one of them, and the psycho former client committed the other, as a copycat thing. Pretty economical use of characters, eh? Both the DA and the psycho were paid to do so by a Presidential Candidate who was being blackmailed by the first victim. The DA was promised Attorney General. The psycho was just happy to kill for the fun of it, and turned down their offer to make him Postmaster General.

DVD info from Amazon.

widescreen anamorphic 2.35:1. Looks fantastic.
Jewel music video

So when it all went down, and everything was wrapped up like a nice tidy present under the Christmas Tree I call Mystery, it was topped off by a news announcer reading over the final credits, telling us what happened after the last scene we saw.

I'm pretty sure they didn't miss any cliches.

The Critics Vote

Apollo 69. (Probably about 20 points too high)

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 5.2, with a surprisingly large number of votes. Apollo users 41/100. These scores are much worse than Apollo's 69 rating, and are more in line with my thoughts.

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C-. No winner, but a satisfactory late-night watch for the genre. Respectable performances, except for Huey Lewis, of course. Decent production values.