Deadly Illusion

Quite a modest, but diverting modern crime noir featuring the likes of Billy Dee Williams, Vanity, Morgan Fairchild and John Beck. Director / writer Larry Cohen was the man behind the production, until he was replaced halfway through by director William Tannen. This makes the atmospheric tone rather uneven and the script does have its random occurrences (Williams stuffing his face with a pickle/ or chicken and getting in a confrontation with an elevator door?!) and continuity problems that seem to be more so noticeable the further along it goes. The climatic revelations leaves us with many loose plot ends and a disappointing pay-off. Nonetheless it's Williams' performance along with a luminous Vanity that adds life to this rather formulaic cut and dry presentation. Playing it tough, but with a sardonic edge ("Everybody is kicking my arse today"); a fashionable Williams made for a likable suave, if brash presence (well-dressed and also sweet talking the ladies) as his private eye character Hamberger finds himself set-up for murder after taking up an offer to knock off someone's wife. Instead he informs the lady of the deal, so she can flee. However she ends up dead, Hamberger is the prime suspect and he finds out the man who made the offer and the lady he met up with that night wasn't who he was to believe. Now it's a race against the clock to find the real killer.

Technically is competently pulled off with some sturdy set-pieces; like its great intro with a sweet cameo by Joe Spinell, a spectacular fist-fight in a large Christmas tree, Williams finding himself in a helicopter-by shooting and against the odds holding a chair while his aggressor aims up with a scythe. Not to forget the climatic shootout at Shea Stadium. The New York location work is very well pulled off. The narrative is busily structured, where one thing leads onto another and this follows Williams' luckless character. Outside Williams and Vanity; Morgan Fairchild gives an icy performance, John Beck does rather little and Joseph Cortese fairs up much better.

Enjoyable private detective movie with some punchy dialogue and old school noir tropes. Larry Cohen wrote and co-directed this so there's lots of quirky Cohen touches. However it's uneven in spots and has lulls, most likely due to the change in directors. Billy Dee Williams is terrific as the lead character Hamberger, a private dick who's framed in a fairly routine plot that you've seen before. But the plot's not the selling point. See it for the dialogue, charismatic performance by Williams, and offbeat Cohenisms. Vanity and Morgan Fairchild provide the pretty. I'm a little confused as to why this movie has such a low score here. It's not groundbreaking but it's solid entertainment that doesn't take itself too seriously.

I was hired as an extra and was waiting on the set for the day to start when Cohen called me over. "Hey kid - you an actor?" I thought, well that's why I'm here, but he added "I mean can you do lines?" I said sure, and he handed me two pages and said "Learn this." It was the Assistant District Attorney's scene with Billy Dee William's character - and I was beside myself with excitement - and fear, as it included a fairly long rip-him-a-new-one monologue. Apparently, the actor they'd hired was a no show. But about 15 minutes into my "star is born" opportunity, the actor showed - he'd been stuck in traffic. The director promised to "throw me a bone", and I ended up upgraded to playing the dead body on the slab next to the naked girl in the morgue scene.

Later in the filming, I came on again as Joe Cortese's stand-in, but had to leave the set later in the day with a 102-degree fever. But before falling ill, had a good time with BDW (one of the nicest guys ever on set) and playing cards with the Teamsters between shots.

Heard later that this film production managed to get the Staten Island Ferry stuck on a sandbar during filming - a first in the Ferry's history!

watch the first half of this movie and invent your own second half. it had so much promise.

mr. williams and ms. fairchild get it going with what seems to be an actual passion for their pairing and proximity. and why not? mr. colt 45 and ms. seduction were the hot and bother of their decade, and even if it would be a few more years before ms. sciorra and mr. snipes mixed it up in JUNGLE FEVER, the dams were ready to break. vanity fans will also not be disappointed. if you are souring from the aftertaste of lando calrissian in RETURN OF THE JEDI, this is good tonic. the best visuals of the movie are when mr. williams plants his lower body and delivers a punch. other action stars should study this, but alas, not everyone can move with the authoritative and accessible grace of billy dee.

ms. fairchild's fans will not like ms. fairchild in liza minelli hair, but she has her moments on screen and returns to familiar coiffure and stature soon enough. her moments make good excerpts, like cuttings from a magazine. ms. vanity, in contrast, flows more happily with the film's main stream.

the deadly illusion in this case is the illusion that mr. cohen had an ending to the film when he pitched the beginning. and no, neither this title nor its alternate title has anything to do with the story.

Lackluster thriller that fails to deliver on its promising premise. The film follows private detective Billy Dee Williams as he becomes embroiled in a complex web of murder and deception.

Despite a talented cast, including Morgan Fairchild and Vanity, the film's acting is subpar. The dialogue is clunky, and the characters' motivations are unclear. The plot twists and turns, but the surprises are predictable and lack impact.

One of the major problems with "Deadly Illusion" is its poor pacing. The film drags on for long stretches, with too much repetition and not enough tension. The action scenes are few and far between, and when they do arrive, they're poorly choreographed and lack excitement.

The film's attempts at style and glamour fall flat, with too much emphasis on Vanity's looks and not enough on her acting abilities. Morgan Fairchild fares slightly better, but her character is underdeveloped and lacks depth.

Overall, "Deadly Illusion" is a disappointing thriller that fails to deliver on its promise. With poor acting, a lackluster plot, and too much repetition, it's a film that's easily skippable.