Privatdetektiv Spenser: Verdächtiges Schweigen

I loved how true to the book the film stayed, thanks to Parker himself writing the script. My only problem is that none of the actors from the original series and Lifetime movies were brought in to reprise their roles. I could live with the recasting of Frank Belson, (done once before) Susan Silverman (done twice before) and Martin Quirk, (Richard Jaeckel's (qv) dead) but not bringing back Robert Urich (qv) and Avery Brooks (qv) made the film suffer. Sheik Mahmud-Bey (qv) struck me as someone I'd like to marry into my family rather than as a mysterious mercenary/crimeland enforcer. I was even hoping they'd bring back Carolyn McCormack (qv) to play Rita.

Plot is more original than most; I even learned something about drilling for oil. Joe Montegna is always watchable,one of most underrated actors. And Farnsworth,in small but important role, is always a joy to watch.

Y'know, my wife and I have EVERY Robert Parker book ever published. We've even read a few of them several times. We've seen EVERY "Spenser for Hire" TV episode at least a few times I think. So....it's awfully hard to sit through this decent outing thinking "Geez, Joe Mantegna isn't bad, but he isn't Robert Uhrich!" And Hawk: we REALLY miss Dr. Brooks! Couldn't Rutgers free him up from his teaching long enough for ONE more project?!

On the flip side, Vinnie and Gino were lots of fun, and it was cool seeing Mr. Parker himself (and possibly his very own canine, playing Pearl, the Wonder Dog?) in cameo roles.

The movie was pretty faithful to the book (after all the author also penned the screenplay). By the way, we're glad we videotaped it: A&E is AWFUL with commercial breaks (but aren't ALL broadcasters these days?!)

So 7 of 10 is all it gets from us. 9, if it's Uhrich/Brooks in the remake!

My dad and I are both huge fans of the Spenser novels, TV show, telepics, et al. Because we both agree, Robert Urich's cast a long shadow over the role of everyone's favorite Boston P.I., he (dad) didn't buy Joe Mantegna as Spenser at all - too ethnic, he said. "Small Vices" was the first of three TV movies with Mantegna. My dad couldn't get past it. I, though, think Mantegna nailed Spenser's dry wit and sense of humor. "Small Vices" certainly was the best of the A&E trilogy - just try watching Eric Roberts as Police Chief DeSpain in one of the others without cringing. But in a world where Warner Bros. has left "Spenser: For Hire" to languish on its AOL site, and all we have on DVD are the Lifetime TV movies, my investment in a region-free player has paid off again - "Small Vices" was released in Australia on home video and I picked up a copy from Amazon.

I agree, casting the Role of Spenser is a tough one, but if you have seen the poster/soverbox for the movie, "The Substitute", or if you saw "Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead", you can't argue with the fact that Treat Williams would have to make the all-time best Spenser. He's a boxer, He's Irish, He has the smirk, and he's a very good actor, he IS Spenser. And don't just get the first black guy that looks like Avery Brooks to play Hawk, put some thought into that as well. Ving Rhames would do well, since he can slide in and out of the educated accent and the street jive, and he's also one of the better actors out there. If not Ving, another good choice would be Dennis Haysbert, Pedro Serrano from "Major League". Susan Silverman is a tough one. Mr. Parker has almost made her shoes impossible to fill, but if I had to pick an actress who has her charm, looks, smarts, and is also Jewish (why not, Susan is?), I'd have to go with Rena Sofer. The other characters could be played by most any other character actors, Luis Guzman was spot-on as Cholo, the guy who played Little John In "Robin Hood: Men In Tights" is a great Teddy Blue, and Dan Hedaya is who I always see as Vinnie.

Those are just my opinions, everyone sees these characters in a different way. But Joe Mantegna is NOT spenser, sorry.....