Amnesia

Paul Keller (Nicholas Walker) is a Father married with the widow with a son Martha Keller (Ally Sheedy) and lives in a small town. He has an affair with the local schoolteacher Veronica Dow (Dara Tomanovich) in a hotel managed by Charlene Hunt (Sally Kirkland), who has a crush for Paul. One day, he pretends to fake his death and leave town with Veronica, but he indeed suffers an accident and loses his memory. A crap investigator (John Savage) from the insurance company comes to the town, where very strange situations will happen. This movie blends `Misery' with `Fatal Attraction' and is not indicated for all the publics, but for the viewers who enjoy a very black humor flick. My vote is six.

Paul Keller (Nicholas Walker) is a Reverend married to Martha (Ally Sheedy) with stepson Edgar. Nobody is happy and he's having an affair with Edgar's teacher Veronica Dow. Charlene Hunt (Sally Kirkland) runs the motel where he has his tryst. In order to escape his life, he plans to fake his own death and running away with Veronica. Instead, he hits his head and suffers amnesia. Disturbed Charlene finds him and keeps it a secret. Insurance investigator Tim Bishop (John Savage) examines Paul's large policy claim.

The story is full of holes. I don't see how any of it is supposed to work. There is no way that a death could be declared so soon without a body. The police is non-existent in the plot. I don't know how he's supposed to get his hands on his insurance money. I don't know why Veronica would work with Martha and vice versa. It seems to be trying for a black comedy but it doesn't work. It's trying to do a lot. Honestly, I was only interested to check out Ally Sheedy and she's fine. This movie is not so fine. It just doesn't work.

Nicholas Walker is Paul, the local town Reverand who's married to Martha (Ally Sheedy), but also is a habitual womanizer and decides to fake his own death to run away with his current affair, Veronica (Dara Tomanovich). However in so doing, he gets a bout of amnesia (hence the name of the film). Sally Kirkland is also on hand as a crazy old coot who pines for the good Reverand in a shades of "Misery" type of way. It's sad to see a pretty good cast wasted like this. Not the least bit John Savage in a horridly forgettable role as a shoddy private investigator. In a film billed as a 'black comedy', one has to bring BOTH elements into said movie. While this does bring the former in spades, it sadly contains none of the latter. Furthermore you can't emphasize with any of the characters and as thus, have absolutely no vested interest in them. Technically not an all-together bad movie just an extremely forgettable one.

Eye Candy: Dara Tomanovich gets topless; Sally Kirkland also shows some skin

My Grade: C-

Where I saw it: Showtime Showcase

I liked the movie a real lot. Wanted to see it just for Dara Tomanovich, but the plot and story were ok too. A very cool change in plot when you least expect it.

Towards the end of this thriller Ally Sheedy's gaunt latter-day image is used creatively to make up more than one hauntingly evil image. She convinces one that, if a nasty Bette Davis-type role were to come her way, she could carry it off brilliantly. Unfortunately, I can't find many other reasons for seeing this. If you've wondered what Sheedy looks like in a pair of old-fashioned glasses (but why should anyone?) then here's your answer. For the rest, Sally Kirkland's sex-starved crazy woman is really tiresome, and even if you like this sort of thing more than I do you'll have to admit that the tension sags badly during these scenes. Savage's drunken brute of an insurance agent is equally distasteful but at least it's a small role. Of the leading actors, Nicholas Walker inspires no sympathy at all for Paul Keller's plight and his acting is wooden. Dara Tomanovich is better and during her scenes with Sheedy the level rises a little. Sheedy's meticulous, understated performance (though she often seems to be on automatic pilot) is admirable in itself but out of context with the rest. The sets are drab, the camera-work undistinguished.