Tödliche Gedanken

Not being a fan of either Demi Moore or Bruce Willis, I was not prepared to be blown away by both their performances in Mortal Thoughts. The two actors give nuanced and very real performances as regular Jersey folks, and Glenne Headly steals the movie. Demi (Cythia) and Glenne (Joyce) play lifelong friends, both beauticians at Joyce's shop. Joyce is married to the insufferable Jimmy (Willis), who alternately ignores, harasses, and hits her, when he's not out partying. Joyce is constantly talking about killing Jimmy, and since the movie begins during the investigation into his death, the movie raises your suspicion from the start.

The entire movie is told as a flashback during the police questioning of Cynthia, and Demi manages to bring to life a scared, distraught, exhausted and defensive woman whose life as a simple mother of two has been turned upside down. Harvey Keitel, as the lead investigator into the case, gives an amazing performance, supplying the audience with the right level of doubt about Cynthia's story to keep the suspense flying until the end - and all while sitting in the same chair for most of the film! Glenne Headly shows just how good she is as Joyce goes from kooky and fun to paranoid and potentially dangerous. The ending manages to tie all the ends of the mystery up while grabbing at your emotions. Truly a satisfying film for a dark and stormy night.

I'm not a big fan of the genre but this one is very well done. The flashback technique works beautifully. The acting is good by Headly, an awesome actress who should be A-list by now. Willis, who is a bit underrated because of the action blockbusters but does comedy well, is pretty believable here in a stereotypical type character that he manages to get something more out of than your average actor. Keitel is marvelous and you have to appreciate the nuances he brings out as the pro that he is. John Pankow is good and should be working more than he is. Moore has the largest role and as usual, she's the weakest actor, but decent enough to carry off the role. The story is riveting; you always can't wait to see what happens next. The touches of humor are really funny and come naturally from the characters and situations rather than being jokes. The plot has plenty of twists. The ending, while a little unsatisfying to me, does leave it up to the viewer to make the moral decisions. If you like suspense movies and great acting, you'll love this and even if you don't, you'll enjoy it anyway.

`Mortal Thoughts' is another of those films which I nearly did not see, not because of any forgetfulness on my part, nor from any other involuntary reason, but quite frankly I tend to avoid any film with people like Bruce Willis (you can put in the names of Lundgren/van Damme/Stallone/Bruce Lee and other assorted muscular brainless types at your leisure) playing the big macho he-man; I'd rather have a try at cards on the computer, even though the two of clubs always goes missing when I most need it. As well as that, the title did not seem very inspiring. I mean, just how many films are there with the word `mortal' in them? I will tell you: just over 200 including video films etc. according to IMDb's incredible search facility.

As luck would have it, firstly there was not anything else on to while away a couple of relaxing hours, and secondly a few well-written commentaries from other IMDb users (I do not take any notice of badly-written commentaries, though of course I do take into account those little mistakes that creep in to commentaries written by people whose mother-tongue is not English) suggested that I was about to see a perfectly acceptable film.

How right they were, I am glad to say. If on the one hand Bruce Willis' participation is somewhat limited and what he did was really quite decent, on the other, a very young-looking Demi Moore (29 when she made the film) played a stirring rôle, which helped to put this thriller drama a head above most of similar ilk.

Alan Rudolph's directing of a well-written script produced a more than acceptable result, aided by those timely flash-backs between the interrogation and previous events. The formula was intelligently employed, such that at no time did you feel you were getting lost anywhere along the line - as so often happens in other films trying to use the flash-back/flash-forward method.

Cynthia (Demi Moore) is `helping police enquiries', which means interrogated, into the death of her best friend's husband (Bruce Willis), and as she recounts events, the film flashes back, at times even synchronising with the dialogues in the interrogation. A handy device, which lent much to the coherence and continuity. Good work here by Demi Moore and Glenne Headly as her best friend, and it was real good to see Harvey Keitel as the detective (see him in `Shadrach' (1998) (qv), Ridley Scott's classic `Thelma and Louise' (1991) and in `The Piano' (1993), to name a few of his best rôles.

As in all films of this genre, there is that plot twist in the denouement, but in this case perhaps it misfires a little: it left me with a slight taste of incoherence after all that had happened. It left too many incognitos floating about. Perhaps the idea was not too well thought out, or perhaps I was left with the two of clubs and nowhere to put it...... Maybe I am being a little unjust, or pedantic, as the film is worth your while with some interesting interpretations from all concerned.

Just about 6 out of ten on my scale, or a couple of decimals higher.

The hairdresser, wife and mother Cynthia Kellogg (Demi Moore) is in police department being interrogated by the experienced detective John Woods (Harvey Keitel) and his partner, Detective Linda Nealon (Billie Neal). Through flashbacks, she reveals how her best friend and colleague Joyce Urbanski (Glenne Headly) married the scum and nasty James Urbanski (Bruce Willis); how hard Joyce's life with James was; and why Joyce became a criminal. The smart detective finds some contradictions in her statement and presses Cynthia, trying to disclose the truth of two murders.

"Mortal Thoughts" is an intriguing and underrated low budget thriller. The storyline is simple but the tight screenplay and outstanding performances of the cast are impressive. Demi Moore performs a mother living in the dilemma between disclosing a secret and hiding the truth. Harvey Keitel in the role of an astute detective is amazing, finding the controversies in the testimony of Cynthia. Glenne Headly is also great, in the role of an abused and unsecured low class woman. Bruce Willis has a different role, performing a disgusting drug addicted. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Pensamentos Mortais" ("Mortal Thoughts")

Note: On 15 May 2016, I saw this film again.

Note: On 29 December 2022, I saw this film again.

This movie is worth seeing once.

The suspense is well crafted. The story unfolds in flashbacks which work effectively. The score is stylish, eerie and possibly the best feature of the film. A number of optical effects greatly enhance the movie. The script is reasonable.

Willis hams it up but shows some talent for acting; Keitel does OK (I usually think that he's supreme). Glenne Headly indeed, steals the show with a good performance.

Demi Moore? "Excellent"? "Awesome"? My God - she's barely mediocre. It's a crime that someone with such a basic talent is paid such fortunes.