Love on the Run

A young lawyer sacrifices career and freedom to save the inmate client's life.

Stephanie Zimbalist, who filmed this movie during Remington Steele hiatus, was great. She ably played a woman vulnerable to the advances of Alec Baldwin's manipulative criminal.

Based upon dramatic incidents that took place in Columbus, Ohio, when a defense attorney fell in love with her imprisoned client and subsequently assisted him in escaping from custody, this film, shot largely in and about Columbus, features Stephanie Zimbalist as lovelorn lawyer Diana Rockland, along with Alec Baldwin as the sociopathic convict who manipulates her sensibilities. Made for television, this production is saddled with many earmarks of such a work and in general is a fairly routine affair with the exception of telling performances from the two leads, unfortunately softened by slovenly production values and flawed continuity, in addition to a shallow script that is itself not helped by immoderate cutting and editing. Initiation of the relationship between the lovers/fugitives is barely made manifest and the extensive personality alterations required to justify motivation behind Diana's actions are not well written and the firm direction requisite to depict such a transformation is lacking; however, the importance to the affair of Diana's sister Elizabeth, played by Constance McCashin, is effectively dramatized. Zimbalist is quite mannered during the introductory scenes, but her performance clearly improves as the storyline advances, while climactic events of the film are, thanks to her, its strongest moments as she subtly projects qualities that finally affirm her persona, a nice job of acting, overcoming to some degree such foolishness as having Diana, for purposes of disguise, bleach her own hair without wearing gloves.

I saw "Love On The Run" when it came out over 30 years ago. I fell in love with it. I recorded it from t.v., own the VHS tape, and had it converted to a DVD. Yes, the movie has many flaws. It's choppy. It's sloppy. Its disclaimer is disingenuous, since it was based on the Mary Evans/Tim Kirk case in 1983. Yet I rated it an 8. Here's why: 1) As a social worker and a psychologist, I have treated many attractive, intelligent, and seductive patients. As a frequently lonely single woman who met lots of "normal" guys, the "not-normal" guys were indeed tempting. Plus often cuter, smarter, and cooler than my acceptable gene pool. The mind wanders..Fortunately, I married my soul mate. 2) Convicts make it their business to read people. Whatever his motives were, he read Diana very well and at least acted like she was important. No one else gave a damn. 3) Was it love? To Diana, yes. She felt understood, sexy, and got the courage to get real. Sean? As much as a sociopath can, he cared for her. He felt loved, and intrigued by her. 4) Stephanie Zimbalist and Alec Baldwin were poignant, authentic, and had great chemistry. I wish there was more time spent pre-breakout on how Diana, a repressed, insecure, vulnerable doormat decided to choose such a counter-intuitive choice. In particular, she just lost her dad, whose death gave her a lot of free time. Get past the 1980's production, the mediocre directing, and focus on Sean and Diana, especially Diana. Pomonok