Crimetime

Crimetime (1996): The plot is a tad convoluted but basically you have a crime reenactment television series. The studio executives are satirised to high heaven, after an old man is set on fire along with his dog one of the producers wants to get a dog from the pound to set on fire. Only viewership figures matter to them. Stephen Baldwin is a small-time actor who takes himself too seriously; his method acting style and histrionic outbursts costs him roles. But the Crimetime programme recruits him to re-enact murders carried out by a serial killer. Baldwin shines in the role and attracts the attention of the actual killer, Pete Postlethwaite, who leaves him encouraging voicemails with tips. The resulting relationship results in a synergy where at times Baldwin finds it difficult to differentiate fantasy from reality. A violent film with graphic scenes of murder and mutilation including one nauseating sequence with Postlethwaite lining up the trophies he's cut from his victims. The disjointed nature of the script means that I was, like Baldwin, unable to tell what was real from fantasy. Still there is good acting from Postlethwaite, Baldwin and Karen black on a supporting role. It might have failed to fulfill its potential but Crimetime is certainly worth watching. Directed by George Sluizer, Written by Brendan Somers. 6.5/10.

i'm not totally sure what to make of this film, it has a weird mix of actors, some classy and some not so. the good actors were unable to lift crimetime out of utter mediocrity, and in my humble opinion it was over long, and bordering on painfully tedious in some places. i stuck with it simply out of curiosity, having read the other reviews, but in all honesty i just feel cheated out of 2 hours of my life that will never come back. i think it is to be avoided at all costs, except for those wanting to enjoy looking at the oil slick that is stephen baldwin's hair, or the grotesque mask like appearance of karen black's face. 4/10 is the best i can do, and those points are probably all pete postlethwaite's, whom one can say, did his best in the face of adversity.

It may appear that I was lording it over all commentators, that it was I and not they who was brilliant enough to write this or any script. NO!!! And a thousand times NO!!! My lording it is ONLY over those who hysterically criticised the film and not those who saw good things in it. And please ..... have a little sense ..... a first time screenwriter is not at all powerful enough to force a bad screenplay on the financiers/producers etc. They made me write about ten scripts until I got what they thought was right. Crimetime was meant to be a funny/clever/ nasty little slasher movie and I think the producers and financiers were afraid of that - the video nasty scare was still in the air and they hadn't the guts to understand what the public wants. I'm afraid the acting with the exception of Pete and that wonderful actress playing the waitress(I'm serious!) wasn't what I wanted at all. Bobby was meant to be an utterly normal nice guy not the brooding presence that Baldwin was from word go. Finally read the Sight And Sound review (1996) for a less hysterical view that my detractors (one even criticised me for only having written German TV films!!!!).

OK, I agree it is not the great film it could have been, but we have to accept that the problem is not the film itself but the script. The film contains everything to be a hit: nice story, good plot and well done characters, even its soundtrack is excellent.

Some people say the problem is the lack of deep characters, but since when this art is made only with characters? most of them represent nothing but emotions, in other words, they are symbols the writer and the director use to say something...

The film is trying to establish an atmosphere of uncertainty; the big real problem is that the movie is trying to show too many different things, but it can not do so.

Watch it and then judge by yourself.

Thinking that it could only get better was the worst assumption I ever made....

Drivvle does not describe this movie appropriately enough!

Not only is the plot thin, but I get more emotional acting from my pet fish!

It was a shame to see Pete Postlethwaite, whom I respect as an actor trying to do the best with the little he had to work with...

I think that a cardboard cut out of Stephen Baldwin would have done a better job , and in fact have been more animate.

Avoid at all costs! This could really be hazardous to your health!