L'amour brisé

I bought this movie with Denzel Washington on the cover and a title of License to Kill. It even says "full screen" and the back said "unrated." Well, it was unrated all right, because it was a TV movie and Denzel Washington had a minor part in it. All I can say that Denzel must have had some time to kill before he started A Soldier's Story and made this in a day. It was certainly a complete ripoff by Echo bridge Home Entertainment to package the trash as it did and take my money. It should be sold at the dollar store for a buck. It was a Lifetime movie, pure and simple, and there is nothing I can say that is worse that that.

These people ripped me off.

There's really not a whole lot to say about this low budget made-for-TV drama about two families whose lives intersect as a result of an accident involving a young girl and a drunk driver. The courtroom sequence in the second half contains some tension. And the overall acting is decent.

Maybe in its day the movie had some merit as a propaganda tool. But a generation later, the film's blunt, too-direct theme is highly off-putting. The story is not particularly entertaining. Indeed, it is something of a downer. Characters are all cardboard cutouts, lacking any degree of complexity. The family of the victim is highly respectable and squeaky clean. The head of the other family is an arrogant businessman named Tom Fiske (Don Murray) who is easy to dislike. The film's plot is trite and predictable. Script dialogue contains very little subtext. And the film's low-key piano score reeks of cheap elevator music.

I can think of no reason to recommend "License To Kill". Its thematic message of don't-drink-and-drive has long since been pounded and beaten into Americans, the highly moralistic theme belabored, ordained, and codified in countless other ways. To find films with relevant social themes, the viewer will need to look elsewhere.

DUI, Driving Under the Influence and killing someone is MURDER!!! Premeditated MURDER! This film portrays the choices we make when we make the decision to drink and drive; and it does it well. ANYONE that has EVER had a drink, and then driven a motor vehicle should watch this film.

I paid a buck to see this film. Yep, Denzel Washington did not have a spectacular part. I will recommend this film for it's great message. Denzel Washington does well in portraying the helplessness that must often be felt by people who are wronged and have to wait for justice to be done. Perhaps they feel justice does not get done. The tragedy and heartache suffered by the offended and by the offending persons in this film is well portrayed. Don't buy it, rent it for $1.04 like I did. (Is that ten lines yet?) Nope, it wouldn't let me go. So I'll repeat some things for emphasis. I paid a buck to see this film. Yep, Denzel Washington did not have a spectacular part. I will recommend this film for it's great message. Denzel Washington does well in portraying the helplessness that must often be felt by people who are wronged and have to wait for justice to be done. Perhaps they feel justice does not get done. The tragedy and heartache suffered by the offended and by the offending persons in this film is well portrayed. Don't buy it, rent it for $1.04 like I did.

A box showing current Denzel Washinton with an automatic gun and a synopsis that let's you expect a film like Man on Fire looked promising.

But despite what the cover promises, you end up with a badly dubbed (at least German version) below standard lawyer TV film without any surprises or tension. Denzel Washington appears for just a few scenes, playing a overburdened attorney without the possibility to show his brilliancy as actor and the rest of the cast is acting uninspired either.

Granted, for a 80s TV film, it might not be that bad, and without the feeling of being cheated to buy it, but watching it on TV on a very boring day, the rating would be a 3 out of 10. Given the circumstances, this shameless attempt to get another buck out of a low budget production deserves the worst rating of all.