Descoberta Fatal - Um Desafio à Máfia

My review was written in January 1989 after watching the movie on HBO.

Nico Mastorakis' "Double Exposure" is an oddball comedy-thriller focusing on the a in "t&a". Pic had a brief theatrical run in Miami in fall 1987 and is now cablecast by HBO.

Mark Hennessy and Scott King portray two aimless guys in Venice Beach, California, who decide to take photos of the lovely derrieres paraded daily by beach bunnies in order to come up with a salable photo montage or calendar (film originally was titled "Terminal Exposure") . In homage to the classic film "Blow-Up" they accidentally photograph a murder, with the clue being a rose tattoo on the posterior of a woman holding a gun.

Antics of the duo trying to solve the murder involve mafia hitmen, a wild bachelor party and endless rear end-themed puns. The emphasis is toward comedy rather than thrills, but it's okay (if a bit fetishistic) light entertainment. Amoral attitude is emphasized, especially in film's payoff.

Two lead players are pleasant, abetted by Playboy magazine model Hope Marie Carlton as their beautiful prime suspect. Joe Phelan as a hitman in a black van bears strong facial and vocal resemblance to his brother Martin Sheen.

There's a few funny lines in the movie, but on the whole, it's not a very involving or entertaining flick. "Terminal," in the Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California slang of this movie means "bitchin', cool" (as one of the characters tells us), but the negative connotation suits it better.

Joe Estevez' voice is similar to his brother Martin Sheen's, but his acting, particularly his last scene, is pretty dreadful in this movie. John Vernon plays his usual character. Hope Marie Carlton, a Playmate, does get nude briefly, as do some other minor characters, but there as not as much gratuitous nudity as one might expect in an R-rated '80s comedy.

The two male leads apparently never acted in a film before or since, which is never a terribly good sign.

It's apparently out of print on video, and has never been released on DVD. If that situation stays the same, it would not be a shame at all.

This film essentially begins with two losers by the names of "Lenny Hartigan" (Mark Hennessy) and "Bruce Greene" (Scott King) hanging out on the beach and taking pictures of the young ladies as they walk by. As it so happens, after being accosted by several men on the beach for taking pictures of one particular woman, Lenny accidentally photographs the murder of a man named "Ned Carson" (Patrick St. Esprit) who they had bumped into just minutes earlier. Quite naturally, Lenny Immediately thinks about giving this information to the police to help them in their investigation. Bruce, on the other hand, sees this an opportunity to increase their popularity with all of the eligible females and, to that effect, convinces Lenny that they should conduct their own investigation instead. Likewise, for his part, Lenny also sees this as a chance to exonerate a young woman he met earlier named "Christie" (Hope Marie Carlton) who appears to be the prime murder suspect. What neither of them realize, however, is that their investigation will soon lead them directly into an altercation between two rival crime organizations--with both Lenny and Bruce as their primary targets. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, although the movie had some solid actors and a fairly decent plot, there simply wasn't enough humor to really elevate this comedy ahead of numerous other films of this type. LIkewise, while Hope Marie Carlton and, to a lesser extent, Tara Buckman (as "Mrs. Stacy Karrothers") certainly helped add to the local scenery, their presence simply wasn't enough to offset the overall lack of humor, and I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly below average.

Two best friends in SoCal (Mark Hennessy and Scott King) accidentally capture evidence of a murder on camera and seek a blonde with a tattoo on her derriere (Hope Marie Carlton). Ted Lange plays a literal beach bum and Joe Estevez a grim shady man.

Shot in August-September, 1986, and released the next year, "Terminal Exposure" is a comedy/crime misadventure with focus on youths chasing beach beauties à la "Private Resort" (1985).

I thought the two leads made for an entertaining duo despite being unknowns. Meanwhile Hope Marie is lovely (along with a few other females) and the misadventures are fun. But, like "Private Resort," there's a little too much sleaze in the air for my tastes. Yet this is mostly limited to the first act and the flick drives home the importance of finding the right mate and the corresponding faithfulness despite the guys' obsession with T&A.

The film runs 1 hour, 40 minutes, and was shot in the Los Angeles area, as well as Las Vegas.

GRADE: B-

No, it's not great film-making by any stretch of the imagination, but I fail to see the reason for the animosity that's been directed at this flick. It strives simply to be a goofy, mindless romp featuring likable protagonists, good-looking women, a tissue-thin plot to explain why the guys go from one location to another, cartoonish violence, and a happy ending, and it delivers in all of those areas. Okay, the two lead characters obviously aren't the teens they're cast as, but that's a minor detail. This movie may have been primarily a tax dodge, since I doubt that it received a real release, but it's also not a bad way to kill a couple of hours with your brain in neutral Did I say I liked the ending? Steve.