Assassinato no Presídio

"Murder At The Presidio" is a routine mystery. Lou Diamond Phillips plays James Chandler, a detective who is looking into the murder of a woman on a navy base. When he gets too close, the Army becomes an enemy for him.

Lou Diamond Phillips is very charismatic in the role. Jason Priestley is underused. The story and characters are mostly one-note. You know their every word and action ahead of time.

It's a little more suspenseful then "The Presidio" but that's not saying much.

In the end: If you like LDP, it's worth seeing, but that's it. "Renegades" or "Boulevard" are better choices.

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Another reviewer put it best with the title for his review: "made for TV" One of the problems with made-for-TV movies is that some producer or network executive comes up with a concept and then hires by commission the writer and director; and if they are 'professionals' - in TV-industry terms, which has just about nothing to do with film-making, although the two industries do feed on each other for talent - they will slog through a couple weeks production whether they care about the concept or not.

The script here is most to blame - while 'professional' enough so that it's difficult to quote bad lines, it is a completely moronic story, utterly unbelievable - without knowing anything about the 'true story' this hypes itself as being 'based upon', I can guarantee that the one true thing you can say of this film is that it is not based on a true story. People with personal problems do not make good detectives; and one has to get into the story by assuming that every officer and non-com at the Presidio is engaged in a cover-up, or some other form of corruption? And talk about gratuitous - i.e., wholly unnecessary (and exploitatively filmed)- sex scenes! As if these characters had ever shown any real interest in each other in the first place.

However, as with most anything made for television, I was able to have this run in the background while doing something else (cleaning house), so I didn't have to pay much attention to it. That's the only good thing I can say about it.

Not a movie that will go down in history, but if you're looking for something to keep you interested for 90 minutes, you could do a lot worse than watching "Murder at the Presidio". It's a murder mystery set at a military base, and even though the script (based on a true story) gets too soap-opera-ish at times, the handling is solid in a somewhat old-fashioned way. Lou Diamond Phillips portrays the determination of his character to get to the truth convincingly (when someone asks him "You'll find the murderers, right?" and he responds "Yes. I will", you believe him), and Victoria Pratt is fit, sweet, sexy and beautiful - very close to my perception of the ideal woman (she may be somewhat miscast though - she looks too strong for what happens to her character at one point). The rest of the actors are mostly unknown, but they do the job. As does, in general, the film. Other reviewers have mentioned inaccuracies in the depiction of military life, but the majority of viewers will neither notice them, nor care. (**1/2)

I had to go back to the beginning of the movie to view the stock footage again to make sure this movie wasn't about the Presidio of Monterrey. It turns out that not only was the story really about the Presidio of San Francisco, but that also it 'missed it' in at least three main areas, in a made-for-TV production. As noted elsewhere, the comparison to realistic military living is off. I could only wonder with a dropped-jaw how a single Military Police corporal had such extravagant living quarters, and consider with rolled-eyes how the military post was inaccurately depicted as having a guarded entry gate. Further, none of the sets were created to accurately show the real beauty of the post, it's landscape makeup, or how the buildings were really constructed. Sure they showed enlisted family housing very near the water, but it is a beach and not near the yacht harbor. Finally, interesting talent was cast for the telling of the story, but beyond that the film direction demonstrated a lack-luster effort at best. After viewing it, the movie left me feeling disappointed, betrayed, and even a little upset about the loss of time spent viewing it. So frankly, as also noted in another place here, this crime story really about a place that is not at the Presidio.

Too many rather obvious errors in military matters prevent Murder At The Presidio from achieving any great status. Still as a murder mystery it's not a bad one. It is set in the final days of the Presidio in San Francisco being an operational military installation. And in those final days a murder is committed.

The wife of Sergeant Martin Cummins is murdered by home invaders which is a really odd concept other than the fact that the housing for the base personnel is nearly empty. Only one other unit was occupied in the building that Cummins and his wife lived in.

Lou Diamond Phillips plays a CID investigator and apparently as such doesn't have to wear a uniform. He's already assigned to a case involving theft at the Presidio of military equipment, but wants this homicide. The head of the Military Police Eugene Clark doesn't want him and that leads to a running conflict throughout the film. Phillips gets more than moral support from Victoria Pratt another MP.

The two cases at first not connected get connected during the course of the film.

Some nice supporting performances also come from Leslie Esterbrook as Cummins's partying mother, Daniel Roebuck as the base commander, and Jason Priestley as very hostile brother-in-law to Cummins.

About halfway through we know who did it. After that it's just a question of gathering evidence. Canadian locations stand in for the Presidio as it is now a national park and shooting there would be problematic.

Lots of goofs and errors, but the basic plot is a good one.