Blue Desert

I would totally agree with the review made by the guy before me. This movie really has everything going for it. I was very impressed with the story line & plot as well as the great acting by Cox and Sweeny among others. I would ask anyone who likes thriller flicks to go and rent this you won't be in for something boring and predictable.

This movie really builds to a climax at the end. D B Sweeney (Memphis Belle, Superfire, Hardball, 8 Men Out, The Cutting Edge) is such an under-rated actor. This guy should be getting major movie roles!

I ordered this movie, Blue Desert, because Sweeney was in it. I was not disappointed. He plays the local law enforcement officer (Steve Smith) of a small, sleepy, boring desert town. Lisa, (Courtney Cox), a rape victim, leaves NYC to get away from that madness and settle in the desert where she will feel safer. Boy, was she wrong! She meets a weird drifter who immediately tries to take sexual advantage of her (Craig Sheffer of A River Ran Through It). So she finds out fast that this sleepy little town isn't as safe as she wishes. She turns to Steve, (D B Sweeney), who is the helpful and protective police officer. Steve is always polite, trusting, and soft spoken. Sweeney plays this role perfectly! Steve is there to help the damsel in distress.

The movie twists and turns. Evidence mounts against the drifter but Sweeney can't get enough evidence to put the guy away. The drifter tells Lisa bad things about Steve and the polite and efficient Steve tells Lisa he is there to protect her and not to believe the drifter. Who to believe? After awhile Lisa doesn't know who is the bad guy and who is the good guy.

The ending is as suspenseful as you can get in a movie. Like I have said before, Sweeney is wonderful in this role. He makes this movie work as far as I am concerned because he is so believable.

If you like a psycho thriller. If you like suspense. If you like Courtney Cox and if you like D.B. Sweeney, then this movie is for you. I highly recommend this sleeper of a movie. It is well worth watching.

A young woman relocates to a small town. She attracts the unwanted attention of some bloke. The police officer who comes to her aid develops a similar interest, spins her a yarn, and gets her into bed. Meanwhile someone has jizzed in her undies drawer.

Unfortunately it doesn't really get any better.

There is an awful lot wrong with this picture, beginning with a script that is both obvious and redundant. Courtney Cox plays a comic book artist who escapes to a small desert town after being raped twice in the big city. She immediately is stalked by a local who appears quite unhinged (Craig Sheffer), and who seems to be attempting a third rate Mickey Rourke imitation. D.B. Sweeny is a local cop, who is supposedly there to protect and serve. Meanwhile, the script manipulates the audience as to who's really the good guy? Logic flies out the window after the first ten minutes and never returns, and there are more unanswered questions than there should be. If you think "Blue Desert" might be saved by the wonderful Philip Baker Hall, you will be disappointed. His part is insignificant, just like the entire movie. - MERK

Lisa Roberts has been raped, so she leaves New York for her aunt and uncle's trailer in the desert community of Oneida. She lives there alone with her relatives' birds, but helpful neighbor Walter is next door with his wife Emily.

Lisa is the illustrator for Iron Medusa comic books. While she is working on her art in a restaurant, she meets Randall, who likes her work (later we learn his daughter, who died in an accident, was a big fan of Iron Medusa). They become friends. Randall rides a motorcycle and enjoys the great outdoors, but he hates living in a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business. Though he explains he is living on disability and taking short-term work, he says his goal is to move to San Francisco and renovate houses.

Randall wants to move his relationship with Lisa to the next level, but she is not ready because of her recent traumatic experience. What happens next brings Deputy Steve Smith into the picture. He is very nice and suspicious of Randall.

Something strange is going on in this town. It may involve Joe and another man Lisa sees outside the trailer.

There's not anything really special about this movie, though Lisa is confident and determined while never completely overcoming her nervousness, and she has plenty of reasons to be scared. Lisa's art (according to the credits, Matthew Nelson's) is really good and probably has real therapeutic value because she can pretend to dispose of the villains in her life. In reality, it is not that easy. (By the way, I'm not interested in comic books or their art.)

Courtney Cox, D. B. Sweeney and Craig Sheffer all give good performances. The circumstances provide us with the occasional chilling moment, and the obligatory creepy music shows up from time to time. Most importantly, a number of plot twists keep us constantly guessing. There is more violence than I would have liked, and obviously some sexual content--not necessarily of a violent nature.

I was disappointed by the ending. I'm sure nothing significant was edited out, but it seemed to me the writers dug themselves a hole and then found a white rabbit with a pocket watch.

This was a pretty good thriller.