Detective

This movie took a pretty massive book and condensed it somewhat into about three hours of screen time. Condensing I get, but there are other problems: (1) The original book had a fairly straightforward set of flashbacks that really built the suspense for me. This made-for-TV movie rendered the entire plot as a sequential time line, dashing key elements of the original story's suspense. TV viewers can't handle flashbacks? Come on, give me a break! (2) In the movie, Cynthia Ernst, fellow detective of the title role, had not an ounce of the charisma, go-for-the-jugular dynamism and downright sex appeal of the book's character. Worse, she may as well have been dressed in a sweatshirt and stretch pants for most of the movie. Bad choice of actress, too? Maybe. (3) The sexual tension between the movie's Ernst character and Detective-Sergeant Ainslie, a major source of the suspense in the book, was all but undetectable in the movie. Put it down to a lack of chemistry between Tom Berenger and Annabeth Gish, I guess. (Not as bad as Bird On A Wire, but I'm just saying...) (4) The potential for suspense that should attend the discovery of a major public figure's involvement in a major crime, plus the tension of obtaining the final proof, was 99% wasted. That was how the book made my pulse pound! (5) The motivation for the major public figure's crime was revealed in the book, but not in the movie. Another opportunity wasted. ... On balance, Detective-Sergeant Ainslie's wife Karen was played by Cybill Shepherd, and I love watching her do anything.... :)

not a bad movie. just not a good one. it is tolerable, the kind of movie you will end up watching if you are sick in bed and can't find the remote. it's a "movie of the week" paced like a mini-series event scheduled during sweeps. Tom Berenger is good (as he always is) and Cybill Shepherd is, well, Cybill Shepherd. Annabeth Gish is totally wasted. She seems to actually be absent through most of her performance except for the occasional shrill outburst towards the end. You can't really blame the actors because the real flaw is the story line and script: back-to-back pointless and clichéd conversations that do nothing to move the plot along.

Tom Berenger is once again a great detective. Like his characters Michael Keegan (Someone To Watch Over Me), Harry Dobbs (Love @ Large), Clifford DeBose (A Murder of Crows), and Rem Macy (True Blue)- his wit, take-charge attitude, and Noble authority - combined with his personal side - give depth to what could have been a staid character. Most of the supporting cast were perfectly cast. I was pleased to see that the movie kept very closely to the book, except for Malcolm's turning atheist. Was even more pleased that Hallmark did not show gruesome close-ups like was shown in Tom Berenger's Eye See You. Mr. Berenger shines in Alex Haley's Detective. A great movie to watch and re-watch :)

This movie reminds me of the reports I'd write in college that had to be ten pages on a subject I did not even remotely care about. The result was always 2 pages of substance with 8 pages of rambling crap that added absolutely no value to the final product. Was I a poor student? Yes, and I have the attention span of a hummingbird on crack so maybe I'm missing something here. It's 8:58pm where I'm at right now, and I swear this thing started six hours ago (no control over the TV). I glance up once in awhile to see another pointless conversation with some more cliché dialog. The actors aren't bad - they just have nowhere to go. It's a one hour episode of a cookie cutter crime show that's been stretched out like a Caramello. There should be an "end now" feature on modern cable systems that allows viewers to instantly turn any slow snore-fest into a disaster movie. Hit the blue button and in flashes an asteroid. Hit green and out comes a lava flow. Aliens on red. For now, I guess I'm stuck with the +/- option on my channel control - not that I have any control.

It is amazing the level of actors that stooped to act in this badly written movie. The plot idea has value, but 1. the dialogues were terrible, and 2. the audio production was horrible with background music almost drowning out the actors. Interesting concept, but be prepared to be disappointed.