Devlin

This is quite an interesting and intriguing TV movie starring Bryan Brown as Frank Devlin, a New York cop who has been framed in the assassination of a mayoral candidate. What results is an exciting plot of cat and mouse as Frank tries to dodge the authorities and outrun the mob. Therefore, he must solve the murder before he becomes the next victim of a cover-up.

Good, convincing acting and with plenty of unpredictable motives and elements and surprising moments. This kept the plot engaging and suspenseful and kept me entertained throughout the movie. Touched by an Angel star Roma Downey is the female lead in the movie, portraying Frank's girlfriend Eileen, who gave a rather commanding and sultry performance, and Lloyd Bridges plays one of the main antagonists.

Overall, it's a good TV movie to pass the night.

Grade A

**SPOILERS**Making waves in his campaign for the Democratic Nomination as New York City's Mayor reform candidate Jack Brennan,Mark Melymic, ends up being blown away together with high priced call girl Jane Milburn,Julie Power, while engaging in an S&M session at the Palace Hotel.

It was Jack's promise to rid the city of organized crime that turned out to be his death sentence. What's so ironic is that it's Jack's father "Big Bill" Bennan, Lloyd Bridges, who runs the NYC mob including it's top honcho, or Godfather, successful businessman Vincent Di Fabrizi, Peter Rubes. Det. Frank Devlin, Bryan Brown, got involved in this whole bloody mess by being on "Big Bill's" sh*t list. Besides being the late Jack Brennan's best friend Devlin is the estranged husband of "Big Bill's" somewhat mentally unstable daughter Maryellen, Frances Fisher, whom "Big Bill" accuses the recovering alcoholic Devlin of driving her to suffer a mental breakdown.

We see right away that the entire mob, with help from the NYPD and the Mayor's Office, are setting up an unsuspecting Jack Devlin in his best friend reform candidate Jack Brennan's murder. It's only too bad that Det. Devlin doesn't see that as well. Devlin is so naive in what's being planned for him that he lets important information, like phone recordings, out in the open to be destroyed or erased that in fact would clear him in in being implicated in Jack Brennan's murder. The killer himself hotel busboy Octavio Lopez, Eduardo Gomez, is quickly dispatched as he's brought to Central Booking in downtown New York City. To make sure that Lopez's assassin is also silenced he also gets iced moments after he gunned down the drugged out former busboy.

Despite him not being too hip to what's happening Det. Devlin with the help of his long suffering girlfriend Irish National Radio reporter Eileen O'Mally, Roma Downey, cracks the Jack Brennan murder case wide open together with about a dozen bad guys heads arms and legs. In the process Det. Devlin ends up with a number of busted bones himself including an ugly gash on his head resulting from a booby trap bomb, at the late Octavio Lopez's apartment, left for him.

***SPOILERS*** As both Devlin and Eileen uncover all the evidence leading up to Jack Brennan's murder, and the framing of Det. Devlin for it, it leads straight to City Hall and the Police Commissioner's office! It turns out that Mayor Alder, George R. Robertson, and Police Commissioner Rivera's, George Sperdakos, ties with both "Big Bill" Brennan and businessman Vittorio Di Fabrizi go back a long long way together with Det. Devlin's boss Capt. Art Wolf, Lawrence Dane. All three were involved some twenty years ago in the covering up of a brutal murder that in fact brought "Big Bill" Brennen into the position of being the city's major political king-maker that he's right now!

Predictable big city police drama with the added attraction of seeing actor Lloyd Bridges re-create his famous role of scuba diver Mike Nelson in his top 1950's TV series "Seahunt". Bridges managed to do all that-swimming & sleeping with the fishes-without the aid of any scuba diving equipment but with a motorized wheelchair.