Escape Clause

Grabbed this one purely because I needed a Kate McNeil fix. Getting harder and harder to find her these days.

The poor early dialogue and overdone exposition made me think this is another cheesy cable drama, but once the story begins to unfold (and the dialogue lessens) it really rolls out into a darn good thriller. Many different suspects (the parents, the friend, the lover, the co-worker), lots of motives keep you guessing.

Its no frills, you won't have anywhere near the production value of Seven, Silence of the Lambs, or even Kiss the Girls. And try not to pay too much attention to Andrew McCarthy, or Paul Sorvino for that matter, as their minimalist approach to character will only distract you from the story.

Too bad this little script ultimately found itself in the low-budget land of straight-to-video. A little TLC and a few bucks could have paid big dividends here.

All in all a very pleasant surprise.

"Escape Clause" from 1996 is a low-budget film starring Andrew McCarthy, Kate McNeil, and Paul Sorvino.

McCarthy is Richard Ramsey, an insurance adjuster and quite well-known in the industry for the "Ramsey Curve" used by insurance companies. He seems to have a great sex life with his wife (McNeil), but out of bed, they have a few problems.

One day he receives a phone call from someone who says that Richard's wife hired him to murder him for $10,000. For $20,000, he'll forget about him.

When Richard finally goes to meet him, someone shoots the hit-man. Shortly afterward, his wife is found dead.

Richard finds himself under suspicion by the lead detective (Paul Sorvino) and tries to find out who is responsible for his situation. There are a few suspects, including his wife's best friend, who has always had a crush on Richard.

There is also a Japanese partner who works in the firm and seems to be the new golden boy. Meanwhile, his wife's parents are trying to get custody of his children.

I actually thought Andrew McCarthy was pretty good. The character is very volatile and erratic. You could easily see him going off the rails and killing his wife.

I could have used a little more back story.

Paul Sorvino is good as well. Kate McNeil has a great figure and shows it off.

The denouement of this movie is ridiculous. Just know what you're getting into before you watch it.

I like to think that movie makers take a good story and put it together into a good film. But sometimes they don't. Here it seems they wanted the ending to be undetectable so they twisted the story into knots and attached an ending to it that leaves you dazed and confused and wondering why you chose to watch it. The acting is ok but the screenplay is not. It's kind of like playing a game of Clue by yourself. 5/10.

Dull, tedious, with a ridiculous ending.

The Ramsey curve indeed!

Completely unbelievable. And, to top it off, the CN train doesn't even stop after wrecking a car? Well the conductor was probably calling an insurance company.