Deadphone

I don't know why 'Dead Air' gets railed on heavily. For a made-for-TV movie it isn't bad. It's not overly predictable, it scores some style points (that predominately featured BB King track) and Gregory Hines is good in the leading role that holds the whole picture together. Watching it again years after I originally saw it, I found it still held up.

I just find something so catchy about the whole radio personality rapped up in a thriller vibe. Ripe with atmosphere. A lone DJ, anonymous voices, murder, mystery. Yep I'm sold. Only a complete idiot could botch an angle like this ... and they have before.

It's not a terribly original plot device, but 'Dead Air' works. That the DJ is Gregory Hines and he's given a serviceable back story makes the difference. His screen presence works, the flick never tries to be anything it isn't and even the ending makes sense if you add it all up. There's a good laugh or two and the build up to the end is handled decently. Both Debrah Farentino as the apparent love interest / suspect and character actor Beau Starr as the flick's man with a badge have their moments too. You can do a lot worse than 'Dead Air'.

I love the made-for-tv atmospheric, and the roll-film colours are amazing. You can feel the heat of the sunshine only watching the initial credits. The song motif is also one of the most nice features of this film.