Two Shades of Blue

This film was made by a director who lacks the ability to bring any sense of realism to the screen. So if you approach it with high expectations of being entertained, you will be disappointed; and possibly upset. But don't forget, this mess has Rachel Hunter in it! She's not the greatest actress, but she's not bad. She is also gorgeous and almost six feet tall. And Marlee Matlin is there. She is compelling, and always worth watching. We have Gary Busey, leering menacingly; Eric Roberts, of evil profile and deed. And some hilarious over-acting by minor players. These people together make the film interesting for me. I love watching actors acting. Its a part of why I like films anyway. And if that isn't enough, there is the directors demented perception of reality. For instance, a police detective panics after wounding the murder suspect, and sprays two additional [large] magazines of ammunition around the room. We are treated to feather pillows being pulverized, lamps shattered and other silly things that a trained marksman can do with a gun. This same cop, mortally wounded, subsequently makes a clean shot on another suspect from almost fifty feet. And the director's attempt at "mystery" cause me to wonder if he ever did figure out the plot. There are a million little elements to watch the director miss or ignore. That's entertainment! I find such little films intriguing, if not entertaining in their original intent. But don't trust me completely. I'll watch anything with Rachel Hunter in it!

It's a bad movie but not the worst I've ever seen. But everything on it is obvious. After 30 min, I told my wife that the character of Gary Busey was not dead. I was right. But at the same time, they didn't say who was murdered there. Besides, as far as I know no other operator but Susan, took the calls between the D.A. and the character of Eric Roberts (in bad acting as usual). More, the detectives were dumb! They should watch a few episodes of Law & Order!!! Thinking better: it's not the worst movie I saw but it's one of them....

When I rented this movie, I was pretty confident of two things beforehand: (1) Marlee Matlin would be excellent. (2) The movie wouldn't be. I was not surprised on either count.

There's nothing particularly wrong with the movie itself; it's just your standard run-of-the-mill thriller, with the usual plot twists (some more predictable than others) and double-crosses. However, Marlee Matlin is as magnetic a presence as ever; for example, in the "phone sex" scene, just watching her facial expressions is more erotic than any amount of nudity. (Not that the nudity in other scenes is unwelcome...)

One thing struck me as odd regarding the VHS release (I haven't seen the DVD version): Considering that the movie stars the screen's most prominent deaf actress and revolves around a telephone-relay service for the hearing-impaired...WHY is there no closed-captioning on the video? I know that this isn't a major label distributing the movie, but you'd think they'd spring for captioning on this one.

I recommend not to see this movie.

It is a complete nonsense.

Don't spend time in this film, even Jean Claude Van Damme has better films than this one.

A MUST TO AVOID.

I thought this movie was awesome! Marlee Matlin has always been one of my favorite all-time actors. It seems as if the writer knew exactly how to create the perfect role for Ms. Matlin. While the directing sucks, and the photography is fair, the screenplay is brilliantly written. I saw this movie on Showtime and the story kept me involved. Rachel Hunter is a famous author who is framed for murder. To clear her name, she changes her identity and goes undercover as relay operator 060 for the hearing-impaired, where she becomes involved in a voyeuristic relationship between the District Attorney, (Ms. Matlin) whom she hopes to reach, and her mysterious lover (Mr. Roberts) who is the real murderer. The acting was good. It was fun watching Rachel Hunter as Susan Price. Gary Busey was pretty good too. But it is Ms. Matlin who fully realizes the role she plays. My favorite scene was the steamy three-way-phone-sex scene between Ms. Matlin, Mr. Roberts and Ms. Hunter. Who ever wrote this script is a genius. Personally, I think the film would have been much better in the hands of a director like Martin Scorsese, and with a bigger budget. But as an independent film, I give it a thumbs up. Definitely worth seeing for the novelty of its stars.