Murder at the Presidio

Not a movie that will go down in history, but if you're looking for something to keep you interested for 90 minutes, you could do a lot worse than watching "Murder at the Presidio". It's a murder mystery set at a military base, and even though the script (based on a true story) gets too soap-opera-ish at times, the handling is solid in a somewhat old-fashioned way. Lou Diamond Phillips portrays the determination of his character to get to the truth convincingly (when someone asks him "You'll find the murderers, right?" and he responds "Yes. I will", you believe him), and Victoria Pratt is fit, sweet, sexy and beautiful - very close to my perception of the ideal woman (she may be somewhat miscast though - she looks too strong for what happens to her character at one point). The rest of the actors are mostly unknown, but they do the job. As does, in general, the film. Other reviewers have mentioned inaccuracies in the depiction of military life, but the majority of viewers will neither notice them, nor care. (**1/2)

Lou Diamond Phillips sadly signed his name to this train wreck of a "movie". Phillips does his best to make lemonade from this lemon of a script, but it proves fruitless. The unknown supporting cast laughably overacts. The writing is awkward & the characters are unsympathetic.

Phillips plays a military detective, and former MP, who comes to the Presidio (the former military base in San Francisco that was closed and converted into a national park in 1994, not to be confused with the Presidio in Monterrey, CA which houses the Defense Language Institute) to solve a murder. His love interest, a female MP who looks extremely awkward in her over-sized uniform, proves way too easy, so it is difficult to sympathize with them as individuals or as a couple.

The plot boasts TV-ready predictability, and the production was obviously made for TV- there were even breaks in the movie to insert commercials! What a disappointment.

My advice...skip "Murder at the Presidio" and watch a "Law & Order" rerun instead. The plot will undoubtedly be more interesting.

The movie was fine as far as the genre goes. I prefer military themed movies to at least portray members of the military accurately. There is no way an Army officer in uniform is going to have any facial hair other than a mustache. Special Ops sometimes do have beards, etc, but not garrison stationed officers. The Motor Pool PFCs were too old to still be at that rank. If they were that bad of a soldier, they would have not been retained in the Army. Actors who are hired to portray soldiers should have a haircut to match the role. Lou D. Phillips introduced himself as a Warrant Officer, yet I heard him referred to as Lieutenant. I still haven't figured that one out yet. The movie wasn't bad, but this reviewer found the military inaccuracies glaringly distracting.

I had to go back to the beginning of the movie to view the stock footage again to make sure this movie wasn't about the Presidio of Monterrey. It turns out that not only was the story really about the Presidio of San Francisco, but that also it 'missed it' in at least three main areas, in a made-for-TV production. As noted elsewhere, the comparison to realistic military living is off. I could only wonder with a dropped-jaw how a single Military Police corporal had such extravagant living quarters, and consider with rolled-eyes how the military post was inaccurately depicted as having a guarded entry gate. Further, none of the sets were created to accurately show the real beauty of the post, it's landscape makeup, or how the buildings were really constructed. Sure they showed enlisted family housing very near the water, but it is a beach and not near the yacht harbor. Finally, interesting talent was cast for the telling of the story, but beyond that the film direction demonstrated a lack-luster effort at best. After viewing it, the movie left me feeling disappointed, betrayed, and even a little upset about the loss of time spent viewing it. So frankly, as also noted in another place here, this crime story really about a place that is not at the Presidio.

Too many rather obvious errors in military matters prevent Murder At The Presidio from achieving any great status. Still as a murder mystery it's not a bad one. It is set in the final days of the Presidio in San Francisco being an operational military installation. And in those final days a murder is committed.

The wife of Sergeant Martin Cummins is murdered by home invaders which is a really odd concept other than the fact that the housing for the base personnel is nearly empty. Only one other unit was occupied in the building that Cummins and his wife lived in.

Lou Diamond Phillips plays a CID investigator and apparently as such doesn't have to wear a uniform. He's already assigned to a case involving theft at the Presidio of military equipment, but wants this homicide. The head of the Military Police Eugene Clark doesn't want him and that leads to a running conflict throughout the film. Phillips gets more than moral support from Victoria Pratt another MP.

The two cases at first not connected get connected during the course of the film.

Some nice supporting performances also come from Leslie Esterbrook as Cummins's partying mother, Daniel Roebuck as the base commander, and Jason Priestley as very hostile brother-in-law to Cummins.

About halfway through we know who did it. After that it's just a question of gathering evidence. Canadian locations stand in for the Presidio as it is now a national park and shooting there would be problematic.

Lots of goofs and errors, but the basic plot is a good one.