... and that's not to say that the rest of the production and cast are not top notch.
The film starts with Diane Downs (Farrah Fawcett) arriving at the hospital with a bullet in her arm and her three children seriously wounded. The fact is that the middle child is already dead, but that is not known at this point. Diane tells a tale of a "bushy haired stranger" who came up to her while she was parked on a lonely road, said he wanted to steal her car, and then just shot her and her children. The police are called in to begin investigating as well as one ADA Frank Joziak (John Shea). But as the investigation continues there are inconsistencies in Diane's story and suspicion begins to fall more on her. Her two surviving children, have injuries that will last a lifetime. Robby, 3, will be permanently paralyzed from the waist down. The oldest daughter, Karen, 8, is old enough to say what happened, but she has had a stroke from blood loss and cannot speak. This may or may not resolve with time. When Diane comes to her bedside and speaks to the unconscious sedated girl, her pulse and blood pressure rise dramatically, indicating she is fearful. Why?
All of the performances were good here, especially the child actress playing Karen, whose account of what happened that night is of key importance. But Farrah Fawcett is extraordinary portraying the complex sociopath Diane Downs who wants what she wants when she wants it. She is clingy, rather scary when told No, and lies like a carpet to the point I think that she believed her lies. For example, she says she gave up medical school for her married ex-lover when she is in fact a high school dropout who couldn't concentrate long enough to get through night school.
The earliest thing I remember seeing Farrah Fawcett doing was "Murder on Flight 502" in 1975, and she wasn't very good in it. Or more precisely, she just had no presence. 14 years later her performance makes this film.
