Den Kopf in der Schlinge

****MAJOR SPOILER**** Michael Nash, Luke Perry, working for the law firm of Sussman&Butler as a private investigator is assigned by his boss Beth Sussman to follow a Mrs. Eve Dodd. Michael is to get the evidence on her of being unfaithful to her very rich and powerful husband Zach Dodd a corporate lawyer.

when Eve married Mr. Dodd she signed a pre-nuptial agreement that if their divorced she won't get anything if it was found that she was cheating on her husband. Following Mrs. Dodd from LA to San Diego and everywhere else in between for some two weeks Michael can find anything to substantiate Mr. Dodd's claims against his wife Eve.

What Luke does find is that because of tailing and photographing her, where at one point he was forced to blow his cover as a PI in order to rescue her from drowning, that he fell in love with Eve which seriously jeopardized his investigation. Michael reports all his findings on Eva to Bath telling her that there's no foundation to Mr. Dodd's claims then goes back to continue his affair with Mrs. Dodd.

One night coming home to his apartment Michael sees Eva looking very scared and almost in a state of shock sitting there. Taking out a gun from her purse Eve tells Michael that she she just shot and killed her husband who came home from a corporate meeting in Seattle unexpectedly. Telling Michael that he accused her of cheating on him and pulled out a gun and in the struggle with her the gun went off and killed him.

Michael gets Eva to concocted a story that would take her off the hook in her husbands death and throw the light on one of his many enemies who would have a reason to kill him. Michael also drives with Eva to the Dodd estate and he plants evidence to make it look like someone broke into the house and after a very violent struggle with Mr. Dodd shot and killed him. But what Michael doesn't realize is that he's being set up as the one and only suspect to take the fall for Mr. Dodd's murder which he didn't have anything to do with.

Well made TV whodunit with a believable yet very surprising ending if you missed the clues that were there as soon as the movie started but were easily overlooked until the end. Small but solid performances by the two detectives on the murder case Det. Roos and Det. Burns, Peter Coyote and Julio Oscar Mechoso. Not only in how they broke the befalling case but how they steered the audience in the right direction without really giving away who was behind and who murdered the unfortunate Mr. Dodd.

As a veteran in watching thrillers I didn't expect much from this. To my surprise the film was absolutely a very positive surprise ! The plot, the actors, the music all caught my attention in short time. I would recommend this movie as highly as most "classics" with plots like this. I watched it at the channel "Showtime" and I am surprised about the high quality of the films this channel provides. The fact that the actors are unknown to me has no influence in my rating. As a matter of fact I think the actors are doing such a good performance, that I think it's just an advantage that the more famous actors doesn't appear.

I recommend this film and have given it the vote 9 of 10.

Øistein Ott, Oslo, NORWAY.

This is an average little murder mystery with a frame-up, it movies along ok in predictable ways, and stays above the boredom level. Don't expect it to be as good as something like Shadow of Doubt, Palmetto, or The Perfect Murder. It's likely the equal of Randon Encounter. Worth a few rental bucks to watch smarmy little Luke Perry squirm.

For the first half of this movie, I was frankly rather bored. But this almost predictable whodunit suddenly takes a life of its own and brings in a series of twists to taunt you to stay towards to the end. Luke Perry is so-so as an ex-cop turned private eye hired by a suspicious millionaire to trail his wife, played enticingly by Gloria Reuben. Perry falls for the millionaire's wife and a subsequent murder throws the movie into higher gear. Average, pacy and watchable. It's a pity that Perry (no pun intended) can't seem to raise his career and has to end up in B-grade TV movies like this.

Just caught INDISCREET on LIFETIME, which was the perfect place for it. This made-for-cable antique has Luke Perry, P.I., tailing a woman (Glora Reuben of ER) thought to be cheating on her rich hubby. Pretty soon, she is in Perry's arms and the husband is dead, Reuben claiming to have accidentally shot him. Perry covers up for her, but it becomes quickly evident he is being played. He is the classic patsy, the fall guy. A $75 million life insurance policy is the tipoff. Question is, will Perry end up in jail? Well acted, but just another "B" quickie. Reuben gets naked on a beach. She's no Rae Dawn Chong, but in her own way she is sexy. Peter Coyote is on board as a suspicious cop.