Delitto a teatro

Watched this because a friend of mine is a huge Kristofferson fan and had never even heard of this one so I thought i'd give it a shot. Yeah, there's a good reason neither of us had heard of it before, as it is so very not worth watching. Everything about this movie you have seen before, most likely on TV in an episode of some crime show. The only thing even remotely interesting here is unfortunately seeing O.J. Simpson in a wheelchair. He gets one very brief scene where he gets to convey his feelings about being confined to a wheelchair after being a football star, (he literally shrugs off his grief immediately after his dramatic monologue by saying "hey its no big deal") and then he gets to save Drew Barrymore from two guys with guns who are trying to break into the safe house where he's guarding her. (he dispatches one guy with a mallet!) I'm making this sound a lot more entertaining than it is, its really dreary. Its not even so bad its fun, its just dull and plodding. Kristofferson has lost his wife and daughter in a car accident years before the present and he gets a flashback scene where he gets to act out his rage that may be the one effective scene he has in the film. The rest of the time he's just barely holding himself awake enough to get through his scenes. Its not good.

An adult film -- only those who have experienced what it might be like to lose one's family to the carelessness of a drunk driver might find a certain resonance with Kris Kristofferson's superb portrait of an embittered yet vulnerable detective. A version of the "I've got to put my life back together" story, the film comes perilously close to focusing too much on Drew Barrymore's teenage angst -- her rebellion against authority is not simply the typical teenager's, nor merely the result of being spoiled, as Kristofferson's detective finds out when she begins to cling to him out of real need. As a potential victim of the mysterious group that killed her sister, she needs protection; but as the discarded and abandoned orphan she has become, she needs the love and care of the father she never had. A film to be watched for intense and subtle performances by the two leads, and as well, for OJ Simpson's final film role as Kristofferson's physically disabled pal - a nice counterpart to to the emotionally crippled Barrymore-Kristofferson duo.

Disgruntled cop (Kris Kristofferson, looking good sans beard and mustache) protects a sassy teenager (Drew Barrymore) from the killers who just did away with her sister, a professional ballerina who was killed during a performance. Barrymore's character (named "Tinsel"!) is tough to take, with lots of whiny outbursts and tantrums, but Kristofferson is decent as are supporting players Martin Landau, Dey Young and O. J. Simpson. Cannon Pictures product was barely released, though it isn't terrible (Kristofferson, however, refused to ever talk about it). Writer-director Richard Danus gets the job done and, while the movie doesn't exactly showcase a hot new talent, the film is minor rather than an embarrassment. *1/2 from ****

A good cast cannot save this one from poor direction, poor production values and some of the stupidest background music ever. The story is predictable, the characters seem to be reading their lines, and the action is contrived. Having said all that, how bad can a movie be that features O.J. Simpson in a story about a slasher?

Before going any further, I should note that I caught this on cable, so it may have been, and probably was edited to tv. I rather think they may have trimmed some minor nudity. The movie starts off okay, but it quickly becomes a formula movie about a tough, but good-hearted cop in disgrace, and a teenage orphan in fear of her life, running from a super-secret underground organization that killed her sister. If this had been a made-for-tv movie, I would say it was a little better than average, as a big screen movie, it was somewhat weak. The problem is mainly in the run-of-the-mill story, not the acting or direction.