Down, Out & Dangerous

This is a TV thriller starring Richard Thomas as drifter Tim Willows, who was taken in by accountant Brad Herrington (Bruce Davison) to do odd jobs. However, after an accident involving the death of a neighbor, Tim uses the cover-up against Brad to his advantage, eventually making Brad's life miserable.

The plot is is fast-paced from beginning to end, full of thrills, suspense, and some good old-fashion detective work.

Decent acting and a good setting that captures the thrills of the atmosphere. The drama makes you feel sympathy for the protagonist. Overall, an entertaining TV thriller!

Grade A

Extremely cliched psychological thriller but that is more of an observation than a criticism as this movie serves up more than enough tension and nailbiting moments. If you can get your head around Richard Thomas playing the bad guy (but still with the boy next door appearance) then you should get a certain level of enjoyment from this movie even if you can predict pretty much the whole plot.

Earnest and successful nice guy Brad Harrington (Bruce Davison) is having problems in his life at the worst possible time. His wife Monica (Cynthia Ettinger), who has a history of miscarriages, is pregnant, pressure at the investment firm where he works is high. He is also continuously provoked by his abrasive weasel of a neighbor Calvin Burrows (Stuart Pankin) who makes a mess of his beautiful back yard in a dispute where Calvin is technically in the right but unreasonable in resolving. Things escalate resulting in legal action.

Brad, a man with a lot to lose, meets Tim Winchell (Richard Thomas) a homeless hippie drifter who has nothing, is new in town and whilst not too proud to beg insists that he is not too proud to work for food or money either. Tasked with cleaning the huge mess Calvin has made of his back yard one weekend Brad thinks it is a happy coincidence. Tim is immediately cooperative, helpful and gracious in acceptance of any form of remuneration. Brad takes Tim home to help him with the clean up and the stranger proves to be a tireless worker.

Calvin is, of course, around and acting even more obnoxiously in wake of his court date with Brad. He also takes an immediate dislike to Tim showing even greater lack of respect for the shaggy vagrant than he has for Brad and insists on prodding both of them about the clean up of the mess which HE caused. A physical confrontation with Brad ensues in a rehash over their boundary dispute and Calvin falls and goes 'boom' with an ouchy that proves fatal.

Tim makes it look like an accident (which it was...except for the part where Tim made sure Calvin was dead by bludgeoning him a few times with the bricks he fell on whilst Brad wasn't looking). Brad knows how it looks given his disputes with Calvin and Tim is only too happy to remind him when a determined police detective (Jayson Bernard) investigates. A clash of wills ensues as Tim tries to use what he knows to blackmail Brad and milk him to the point of displacing him in his own life.

The real show here is the arc of the Tim character - a volatile and extremely violent outsider whose galling opportunism and resourcefulness suddenly erupt after he has shown every outward sign of being helpless at the beginning. His transitions showing different faces are not necessarily as long a reach as they might seem after we have seen things play out. Ultimately it helps if the viewer was not a big fan of the Waltons. That makes it less of a leap to see John-Boy go bug-eyed psycho.

Weaknesses in the production are readily apparent. The characters never really develop beyond being one-dimensional in a cheap TV movie version of those new-acquaintance-turned-maniac scenarios which have quite frankly being done to death time after time since Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951). There are no strong female characters beyond that of Brad's co-worker CeCe (Melinda Culea)

Richard Thomas is perfectly cast in this TV movie, playing a creepy sociopath. As a homeless man who insinuates himself into the life of Bruce Davison, like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction but without the sex, Thomas is first seen in Charles Manson beard and long hair. This getup hides his facial mole which defines him as much as the cleft in Kirk Douglas' chin. One may find the presentation of the homeless as greedy psychopaths offensive, particularly when Thomas demonstrates an accumulation of money from begging. However once we learn how Thomas has become homeless, with the suggestion that he hasn't been on the street for long, the shaming stereotype lessens. The first resentment of Thomas' street behaviour is a test for the audience's tolerance. Is Thomas harassing or is the person he approaches over-reacting? Since we have seen that Thomas is accumulating, and his reaction to the man's refusal, we are more likely to read Thomas as dangerous, even if the title didn't already say so. Thomas Director Noel Nosseck even makes a demonic parallel, though specifying it would spoil the climax, and I could have done without one close-up with Thomas' face half lit. Thomas claims that he knows people, which is always the excuse of the sociopath, and his in-your-face technique creates the opposite desired effect to any reasonable person -anyone who doesn't see through the banality of his trying to be friendly act deserves whatever happens to them. Nosseck actually uses this effect when Thomas has a tirade which reveals his intention. The teleplay by Carey and Chad Hayes is streamlined. Nothing seems superfluous, everything feeds the narrative, and Nosseck keeps things moving. We get a standard hiding so as not to be discovered when Thomas' room is being searched and he returns unexpectedly but without an obvious conclusion, some off-camera killings, and the jovial smile of a detective falling from his face when it is no longer required. Davison can play this kind of nice guy family man in his sleep but thankfully he is given limits when provoked.

Good enjoyable thriller with Richard Thomas as the villain and Bruce Davison as the loving family man who helps a stranger only to have his life completely turned upside by a psychopath. The script is not the most original we will ever see and I'm sure we will see many more films with this type of story line in future but in all its good acting by both the main actors and the supporting cast who lend there own talents to the film. I have seen this films many times and for a film that you can enjoy and not take to seriously I suggest this film Down out & Dangerous which will keep you entertained from start to finish so in all I will give this film 6 stars out of 10.