Le piège

Here's an idea. If you are going to load a "who done it?" with intriguing suspects, don't give away the obvious murderer in the first reel, and then continue to cloud the water with "red herrings". Unfortunately that is the sad case with "The Soft Kill". Thus suspense and logic take a back seat to sex scenes, some of which border on being X rated material. I really like the late Brion James, and here he has quite a meaty part. It's just a shame that the script isn't fully developed. This plays more like an episode of "Columbo" than a mystery thriller, because like "Columbo", everyone knows right from the start who done it. - MERK

When one of easily aroused officer Michael Harris (as Jack Ramsey)'s sexual conquests turns up strangled, he becomes a prime suspect. It's apparent (to viewers) that Mr. Harris is being framed, as the killings continue. Harris' police pal Brion James (as Ben McCarthy), who recovers from hangovers exceptionally well, is an odd ball; perhaps, he is involved? Victim's sister Carrie-Anne Moss (as Jane Tanner), who can be roughed-up before sex (with Harris, anyway), has a secret; perhaps, she is involved? Or, is it someone else? The killer's identity is almost as explicit as the sex. Whatever those dopers paid Johnny Medina (as Manny Ortega) wasn't enough.

*** The Soft Kill (1994) Eli Cohen ~ Michael Harris, Brion James, Carrie-Anne Moss

Private investigator and former police detective Jack Ramsey (Michael Harris) is enjoying an affair with the local district attorney's wife, but when she is strangled not long after he has departed following a session of amorous activity, Ramsey is pegged as the primary suspect due to "clues" obviously planted at the murder scene in order to incriminate him, and additionally because of a zealous detective (Matt McCoy) who has personal reasons for disliking the former policeman. As Ramsey tries to clear his name, the sister (Carrie-Anne Moss) of the deceased shows up, and soon she and Jack begin their own affair that is complicated by subsequent homicides and by Jack's former police partner, performed by Brion James, ostensibly, despite private devils, the sole individual Ramsey can trust as additional evidence mounts against him despite entry of other suspects. Harris, a charismatic player who has created excellent roles, can do but little with a script that defeats as well the rest of the cast, hindered by a wandering plot that is clichéd and predictable from the film's opening while, despite helpful cutting, there remains an obligatory slow motion love scene, as well as embarrassing emoting from McCoy, Moss and James that is made unduly prominent because of faltering direction.

Michael Harris is a PI and former cop with a lot of women in his past and present. When the married woman he is carrying on an affair with is murdered, his name comes to the top of the list of suspects. Fortunately, his former partner, Brion James, catches the investigation and shields him. He also uses Harris in the current investigation. Meanwhile, Harris becomes involved with Carrie-Ann Moss, who's came to town when her sister died and left her the sole heir. But the question remains, who killed Harris' lover, and are the subsequent murders that come in related?

It's easily solved from the audience's viewpoint early on, although waiting for the evidence to show up requires waiting until the end. Although it attempts to show subtext about the issues of right and wrong, it's rather ham-handed in its scripting, with little for the performers to do except try to get through their parts in a workmanlike fashion.

This is a very contrived and predictable thriller, and without giving too much away, lets say the obvious bad guy isnt the special guest star, and you can spot the bad guy right away. And no, the lead isnt Brion james, nor Corbin Bernsen, who is prominetly billed in the box, but Michael Harris (aka MK Harris) who is weak as a leading man.

But for all the die hard Carrie Ann Moss fans from MATRIX, you can see not only an early performance of her, but to see her topless in a sex scene! I believe its her first and only nude scene! but thats about it, and her scene isnt much compared to former TV star Kim Morgan Greene, who goes full frontal in the beginning of the film.