Death Sentence

This is a well-acted, well-written, well-directed little murder-suspense piece that is still quite watchable and entertaining.

Unfortunately, this is being promoted as a Nick Nolte movie on DVD. He is only in about four scenes for about ten minutes. The stars here are Cloris Leachman, Laurence Luckinbill, and William Schallert. Cloris Leachman is best known for her role on the "Mary Tyler Moore" television Show, but she was in 80 television shows before that and has been in about 80 television shows and movies since then. In films, she is best known for her role in Mel Brooks "Young Frankenstein" movie. Fewer people remember that she won an Oscar for her role in the "Last Picture Show."Her movie career started with a great small role of a young woman running nude on a Highway at the start of "Kiss Me Deadly" (Aldridge, 1956). Here she is terrific as the housewife who slowly comes to realize that her husband may be a killer. Laurence Luckinbill is excellent as the husband. He gives a very natural and smart performance, going against the stereotypes of the genre. William Schallert, with over 350 television appearances is legendary. He gives his usual lovable and sympathetic performance as a clever defense attorney.

The movie is mainly a courtroom drama with the gimmick that one of the jurists is actually involved with the real murderer. The suspense comes from the jurist slowly putting together the clues to figure this out. Some things ring a bit hollow here and there like the prosecutor making basic mistakes while presenting his case, but we can just chuckle over the goofs and enjoy the rest. Overall, it is a pleasant and suspenseful 74 minutes.

A passably entertaining made-for-TV thriller, "Death Sentence" reveals the killer in the opening scene. Laurence Luckenbill strangles his annoying blonde mistress with his own yellow scarf, because she threatened to go public with their affair, which would have destroyed his cherished family. Cut to the courtroom, where Luckenbill's wife, Cloris Leachman, has been accepted as a juror in the trial of Nick Nolte, who is on trial for the murder of his wife, the woman that Luckenbill killed in the opening scene. If the premise sounds a bit far fetched, it is, not to mention the murdered woman preferring Luckenbill to the young Nolte. Based on the novel After the Trial, the film cuts back and forth between the courtroom testimony and Leachman's domestic scenes with her husband and children. As the testimony progresses and evidence is presented, Leachman slowly suspects her husband's involvement.

The performances are uneven; Leachman is good as the wife, intently listening to witnesses, while slowly connecting the dots. However, Luckenbill, the family-values man, overacts at times, and poor Nolte sits looking at his hands for most of the movie, until he provides brief testimony in his own defense. Director E. W. Swackhamer keeps the proceedings moving fast enough to distract viewers from the inconsistencies and gaps in logic. Absolutely no motive or evidence are presented to implicate Nolte, other than the malicious dislike of his mother-in-law and unreliable claims from a nosy neighbor. Leachman's suspicions are all circumstantial, and some of her actions are completely implausible. However, for non-demanding viewers with an hour or so to kill, "Death Sentence" is decent entertainment, if they just go with the flow and do not ponder the details.

Cloris Leachman plays a wife and mother about to go on vacation with her husband when she's picked for jury duty on a murder trial; naturally, she's eager to be a good citizen, becoming emotionally (and personally) involved in the legal proceedings. Aaron Spelling-Leonard Goldberg production for TV isn't a flashy vehicle for the leading actress, but it doesn't need to be. Leachman is an appealing 'ordinary' woman, a good listener with a compassionate nature, and both her home life and her dedication to finding the truth in the murder case are engaging. Nick Nolte has an early role as the accused killer, and Laurence Luckinbill is appropriately smug as Leachman's spouse. The plot, adapted from the novel "After the Trial" by Eric Roman, is far-fetched, but waiting to see how writer John Neufeld and director E.W. Swackhamer work out all the angles is entertaining.

I bought this DVD for $.88 and has Nick Nolte larger on the cover than Cloris Leachman. The mistress' acting in this movie was so bad I was delighted she was offed quickly. During the court scenes I kept hoping to maybe see a flashback or two of Nolte and his relationship with the deceased, but nope .. then again as I said, her acting was so bad anyway, I gave up caring. What little lines they handed out for Nolte were disappointing. Cloris Leachman appeared pained in struggling to give each and every one of her lines as if to say, "Nobody could be this dimwitted."

When Lawrence Luckinbill, Leachman's husband in the movie was preparing to strangle her, I was almost hoping the movie was going to improve. What little of Nolte was in this movie, the only thing that was on my mind was if he was wearing a wig or not since the hair didn't move when his forehead moved. Pass on this one folks .. it is so bad it qualifies for its' own death sentence.

This is a TV movie that has Nick Nolte in a minor role. He does not have many lines in this one. If I remember right, Chloris Leachman is actually the star of this film which is a predictable court room drama and is not indicative of Nolte's acting talents at all.

The box for this film has Nolte pictured on it but he is very seldom seen in this film.