Detective

Another Tom Berenger special, this time courtesy of Hallmark. For some reason they have two TV stars in supporting roles: Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Boxleitner.

There wasn't enough content to stretch to three hours, but it's three hours.

I believe the main story is the detective and his messy private life. Malcolm (Berenger) is an ex-priest, separated from his wife, and his detective girlfriend is a councilman's daughter.

However, we never find out about his life in the priesthood, any guilt he may have about that and shacking up with someone else while he's in marriage counseling, or any angst over the fact that his son is angry with him.

Instead he concentrates on the vicious serial killings in the LA area. I suppose Hailey made the character an ex-priest so he could recognize signs at the crime scenes from the Book of Revelations.

All this added up to not much. The serial killings were gross beyond belief as were the suspects. In the end, you really didn't care about any of it.

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.

Being a Tom Berenger fan for many years, I purchased the DVD and enjoyed this "made from TV" movie a lot. Tom can play any role and was excellent as the conflicted man faced with ethical and personal problems. Scenes with Cybill Shepard and the marriage counselor rang true to me, as did those involving the priest-detective dilemma of this man's life. There was more to ponder in the story than just the murder mystery. The supporting cast, overall, was well chosen and the performances satisfying. This was one of those motion picture treatmentsof a novel which caused me to make plans to read Arthur Hailey's book. All in all, my impression of this movie is positive and I hope that you, the reader of this review, will give it a try.

As usual with many movies, the "Sound Engineers" on this film should never work again. There was "background music and sound effects" where none should be and it was much too loud covering up the actors.

Tom Berenger plays Malcolm Ainslie, a former priest turned detective, and he has one big case on his hands. A madman is killing elderly residents in gruesome fashion and his actions seem to be somewhat borrowed form The Book of Revelations. As a former priest, Ainslie might just prove to be the perfect one to solve the case.

Mixing in Ainslie's troubled personal life, Detective has a good story throughout it's running time. I can't help thinking this could have been even better had it not been a Hallmark presentation. There's no gore here (but plenty of opportunities) and the suspense seems to watered down somewhat, especially during the climax. It's totally got that TV feel to it, but director choirs are well handled by David Cass, a seasoned television director.

The cast is mostly good. Tom Berenger is good as Ainslie, handling all aspects of the character well. Cybill Sheperd is fine as his wife but Annabeth Gish is completely stone-faced all the way through. It's fun to see Charles Durning but his role is a small one.

Had this movie gotten the theatrical treatment it could have been one hell of a thriller. Sourced from a good book by Arthur Hailey, it really cries out for better production values and some bloody set pieces. Still, it's quite good all the same.