Guilty as Sin

There's a big laugh in the middle of this contrived psychological thriller. I won't give it away, because it's easily the best moment in the film. It's the scene in a bar with Don Johnson, and it sketches in his character more brilliantly than anything before or after. You'll know it when you see it.

Well, if you see it. If the script had displayed that kind of wit throughout, this movie would be a must-see. As it is, there is too little that makes it memorable and too much that makes it hard to suspend disbelief.

Rebecca De Mornay plays a flashy criminal defense attorney who does her job with spectacular cunning – even for the most unsavory defendants. But her newest client (Don Johnson) is not just unsavory. He could be dangerous enough to kill her.

The first thing you'll notice is Howard Shore's excellent score during the title sequence. It's silky and sinister and immediately draws you in (despite the tacky-looking computer graphic that accompanies it). Next, the film looks really good. Sidney Lumet – who also gave us "Twelve Angry Men," "The Verdict" and many other terrific movies – knows how to direct a good courtroom thriller. And what a courtroom. The photographer, Andrzej Bartkowiak, makes the most of this spacious green-marble set.

An early scene is promising. Don Johnson glides into De Mornay's office and asks her to take his case, brazenly confessing that he's a womanizer and a gigolo – yet innocent of throwing his wife out of a skyscraper window. She refuses at first, but Johnson's boyish egotism is too hypnotically fascinating.

But later, both actors falter. De Mornay makes several bad choices in her performance, playing too many scenes like a frightened rabbit. Johnson has a scene in his apartment, where he makes a sandwich with a long kitchen knife that he winds up waving in De Mornay's face. His character loses control, but so does the actor. Johnson looks and sounds ridiculous.

But the main problem is the script from schlock-horror director Larry Cohen. First, there's Jack Warden's character, a father figure to De Mornay, who comes off as purely functional. He's there to do things De Mornay's character cannot, and we don't give a damn about him, not even when he winds up in danger.

Second, De Mornay ends up framing her own client, an enormously risky endeavor that could easily destroy her career and even send her to prison. Why? Presumably to protect herself and other women from Johnson. But the movie fails to convince us she has no saner options.

Third, there's the woman who becomes a last-minute witness for the defense. I won't give away too much, but her motivation for doing what she does is totally inscrutable.

Lastly, there's the gruesome climax. It plays ludicrously, though De Mornay is allowed one last, good moment. Her hysteria at the peak of her ordeal is touchingly real. Otherwise, the whole thing feels forced and phony.

So does the movie.

The issue with this film for many will probably be the ending, which isn't bad by any stretch but falls short of the well done job throughout. Don Johnson is simply at the top of his game and De Mornay is captivating herself. I strongly recommend a watch for any fans of either actor. The story itself is compelling enough.

Rebecca de Mornay and Don Johnson made a great double act for this gripping thriller.

As usual Rebecca de Mornay put everything she had into her role as Jennifer Haines and she did a grand job avoiding the stereotypical lawyer role. Don Johnson also performed well in one of his best roles. I enjoyed Johnson in Miami Vice and Nash Bridges and I was pleasantly surprised when he convincingly portrayed a cool and calculated psycho.

The story itself is gripping throughout and Johnson really is scary in his role as David Greenhill. One moment he is all sane and has the audience feeling sorry for him;the next moment he is a total psycho.

I strongly recommend this underrated little gem.

Every few years you see a performance by an actor in something that really impresses you, where you want to watch the whole thing again just to watch him/her, where the person is so fascinating as a character, so extraordinarily in that role, that the performance just BECOMES the experience. That was true in this movie with Don Johnson - on one level alone, he was more believable as a fabulously wealthy man who'd been wildly successful on all levels throughout his life - than anyone I've ever seen.

Think of say, the great performances of say, Steve McQueen in Thomas Crown Affair, any actor who's played James Bond, any of the wonderful character actors playing wealthy men in movies like My Man Godfrey, The Philadelphia Story, Holiday, The Awful Truth, Meet John Doe, Fifth Avenue Girl, Bachelor Mother, You Can't Take it With You -- and Don Johnson is yet more believable.

Nothing's ever gone wrong for this man - and he relies on it, and he's very very smart, and very very charming, and he knows all of that - and yet somehow he IS charming nonetheless -- And you suspect from the first moment, there is something bad there.

I remember thinking when I saw Lisa Eichhorn in 1979 in Yanks, that I had seen someone who really and truly seemed that character - Don Johnson seems this character and it's a great and effortless performance and you should see it. (And if you weren't a fan of his television series, don't worry - neither was I - I never really paid attention to him - and wham, I'm now a fan!).

This guy has gotten to be a superb actor.

The movie is pretty straghtforward when it comes to the guilt (or not) of our main character (played by Don Johnson). Since there only is a yes or no to that answer, there are not brownie points if you guessed right before the early on revelation. But you need someone with the charisma of Don Johnson to carry the movie - and a lot of other actors to assist (Rebecca De Morney being the other main character).

As far as thrillers go this lives off the screen presence of the actors and their ability to convey anything. And maybe even make you root for someone you shouldn't. You should not root for a bad guy/gal, but since this is a movie, maybe you can at least partially feel that way without being a complete and utter bad person yourself.

Having said that, the end is quite gruesome and may take some out of the movie (maybe there was even an alternate take or end to this?) ... but it is true to what would happen in a situation like that ... and a nice throwback to what ignited all this ...