Crowfoot

This is an interesting made for television film that was a pilot for a never made TV series. Jim Davidson (of Pacific Blue fame) plays the title hero, a police detective who is part Indian/Native American and heir to Shamanic powers that help him with his investigations. It is set in Maui, Hawaii and makes great use of its location. The plot concerning murder is nothing new but is presented in a refreshing way. The supernatural side of things is perhaps at odds with the usual police series but stranger pilots have made it big time since the 1990's and this would have made a better series than some of them. Jim Davidson makes a decent lead and is certainly no stranger to iron game as he displays his highly defined physique even when it has no bearing in the story. He is backed by an average cast who all perform well. Kate Hodge as the romantic interest does the job well - she looks fine and acts her quirky role well. If this is on TV and you fancy some exotic locale with an esoteric story line than check this movie out.

Donald P Bellisario is the cheese-meister's cheese-meister. One of the 'unholy trinity' consisting of Stephen J. Cannell and Aaron Spelling, However, Bellisario is also prone to moments of genre defining genius such as `Quantum Leap', `Magnum' and `Airwolf'. Alas `Crowfoot' was written on his day off, if it was 'written' at all, it looks like the Director shouted "Action" and they made it up as they went along.

Imagine pitching THIS story to a Studio Exec - `Muscle bound half German, half Navajo with latent shape-shifting and soothsaying powers, teams up with Kooky middle aged Japanese-American woman to find the murderer of a beach babe who appears to him in the form of a ghost and with whom he falls in love'

You can imagine, if your name was not Donald P. Bellisario then the Exec would be frantically stabbing the panic button under his desk and screaming for `SECURITY !'.

Oh, the shape-shifting powers are only talked about and never seen, the future and past visions play no part in the main story. Why do all Native Americans (couldn't they find a genuine Native American actor to play the lead ?) have to have mystical powers ?? Why do Japanese have to be eccentric and also obsessed with `ancestors' ? In fact the only people with ethnic authenticity are the Hawaiian Islander's, and they are reduced to the roles of musical performers for the obese American tourists. Shame on you Hollywood.

There is good cheese, and there is bad cheese. On his day Mr B can produce a fine Televisual Stilton, but on this day he created the kind of cheese that you find between your toes after a 5km run.

TV movies are always anaemic compared to other films - even low, low budget straight-to-video fodder. This is no different. Lead actor has a tailor's dummy role, it's just about looking good - his biggest claim to fame being the "Baywatch on wheels" that was the Pacific Blue TV series. It sounds interesting enough - cop meets ghost, falls in love, tries to solve mystery but it just doesn't engage. No soul. Erin Gray pops up from the past and Tsai Chin looks amazingly well for her years. This is a long way from her days as Christopher Lee's sidekick in the Fu Manchu films though. This is alright if you like glossy romance and weak thrills. Nothing special.