Nightwaves

This really wasn't bad for a TV psychological thriller type movie. Cherilyn Fenn did a nice job as Shelby and the premise was somewhat intriguing. The whole plot line of Shelby listening on and becoming obsessed with, the radio scanner, was done well and much of the Movie took place at night so there was always an appropriate moodiness to the movie. It's not a must see but it does make one want to know what is going to happen next.

I wouldn't call this the best TV movie out there by any means but it holds one's attention nicely and the worst things I can say about it is it's rather long and there are times where it moves rather slowly. But the movie does very well in the atmosphere department and having Fenn as the star was a good choice, as she's pretty good here. I suppose, in a way the movie could have held more intrigue as this was an interesting premise to build a movie on and though this is far from excellent if one is just looking for a good old fashioned TV mystery to invest some time in, one could do worse.

This movie is just a "high-tech" version of Alfred Hitchcock's classic movie, Rear Window. But instead of a man seeing a murder being committed while looking through a telescope, Shelby Naylor (played by Sherilyn Fenn) while using her dead husband's radio scanner hears a husband and wife fighting with each other over a cell phone, and of course, shortly thereafter the woman is found dead. And like Jimmy Stewart in the classic film, Naylor's life is in danger after she reports what she hears to the police.

If this wasn't such a recycled plot, the movie might have been much better as Sherilyn Fenn is a talented actress. But I couldn't give this movie more than a 5 out ten stars for only being so-so. With such a basic plot you pretty much know what's going to happen, so it becomes how well the actors do their jobs along the way, which is nothing spectacular.

As the first review said, a total waste of time. Why would anyone make this film, terrible acting and a totally ridiculous plot.

This made-for-TV mystery/thriller would be relentlessly silly even without the Magical Omniscient Police Scanner. But with it, "Nightwaves" becomes golden camp.

Ungracefully aging Sherilyn Fenn is a widow who overhears what she thinks is a murder on her dead husband's police scanner, then begins to doubt what she heard once her testimony helps indict a seemingly innocent man.

Fenn, who those of us old enough to remember "Twin Peaks" also remember that little trick she did with her tongue and a maraschino cherry stem, is supposed to be the star here, despite her dowdy housewife looks and the worst pageboy haircut since Cathy Rigby's "Peter Pan."

But in this show she gets totally upstaged by her dead husband's amazing computer. Its LCD monitor is touch-screen in no way that makes sense. Moreover, its police scanner software can somehow pick up cell phone and even landline conversations out of thin air.

Of course, Fenn's character tunes in at exactly the right times to hear things like death threats and murders, all taking place in crystal clarity over these massive speakers that look like "Star Wars" background droids in the jawa van.

And yet, despite this incredible, nonexistent-in-the-real-world technology, it's all wired into an old-school cassette deck, on which she records these conversations. Seriously, does your car even have a cassette deck anymore? Do your kids know what a cassette used to be?

Fenn, who's become every other '80s actress who may as well be Ally Sheedy, does just as good a job here as Ally Sheedy would, and that's not a compliment.

No one else you've ever heard of is in this movie, and none of them you'll ever probably hear of again.

The ending is stupid.

In Boston, Shelby Naylor (Sherilyn Fenn) is a rising writer at her magazine. Her husband likes to spend his spare time listening to the police scanner. Business partner Tom Williams is their friend. The couple gets into a car accident. Her husband is killed and she has extensive physical therapy. Someone breaks into her home. The cop suggests listening to the police scanner which has a tendency of picking up other transmissions. She records the scanner like her husband used to do and may have recorded damning evidence in a murder.

The premise is sorta like Rear Window. Of course, this is nowhere near that classic. Why the cop would suggest eavesdropping on the police scanner is beyond me. It would be more tense if her activity is illegal and hidden. After all, she is listening in on private transmissions. It would heighten the danger and that's what these thrillers need. Every bit of danger needs to be elevated. She should be more disabled for more danger. The cinematography is strictly TV movie level. It's all very flat. Any hope of an intense thriller is drained away. There is no tension in this wannabe thriller.