La rose noire

I'll cut to the chase... I never read the novel on which it's based nor know the writer but saw this TV version because it stars Scott Glenn despite the low score and he often manages to be better than the movies he does, and here it was once again the case.

Elizabeth Tannenbaum (Brooke Shields) is a defense attorney that has just won a case of domestic violence when she is hired by reclusive and shady businessman Martin Darius (Glenn) to defend him against allegations of having murdered many young women, a private investigator and then dumped all the bodies in a construction site because there lots of holes can be covered easily. Unfortunately Darius' past comes back to him and Elizabeth has to race against time for finding the real killer before he can strike again, and she ends up helped by district attorney Alan Page (Lou Diamond Phillips) and Raymond Colby (William Atherton) once he becomes a US Senator and works for the Department of justice.

The idea was good and it could make for a decent TV movie. The problems are that the movie itself was a bit too long: I mean, was there a need of making it 3 hours long? It could have been easily split in a two parts' miniseries. And the subject itself is a bit scary if you think about it.

Not an exceptional TV thriller but still a decent one if you don't have absolutely anything to do.

Terrible TV flick with bad casting except for Scott Glenn, who manages to hold his own in a trivial badly written and directed script. Hard to believe Brooke Shields can do anything important but pose as she does in this. Marilu Henner should stick to comedy.

Some of the situations were so unrealistic and far fetched I began to laugh at the screen. That someone can get away with crashing a police station without being captured is silly and hard to believe. This dame can just enter and kill at her leisure and no one stops her. One gentlemen could have just smacked her across the face and saved his life. That she could over power him is one of the silly nonsense this film expects you to believe.

Don't waste your money or time on this loser. Except to watch Scott Glenn make the best of a bad scenario.

I use to work as a reader (Someone who reads various material and recommends it to be made into a feature film) and this novel was at the top of my list since it first came out years back. So I was all out surprised when I just happened upon it on DVD at the video store a few weeks ago. I was initially apprehension to see how such dark material would be transferred into a T.V. format. However, I then recalled that the novel's plot was fairly elaborate and could only be done justice as a two-part T.V. movie. And after watching this, I did indeed find myself quite impressed with the entire effort -- Acting, directing, writing, even some of the cinematography. This, despite the material being "Lifetime"-enhanced a bit, as well as a pretty bad little plot convenience near the end.

Overall, I recommend the movie and strongly recommend the book.

Have not viewed any films of Brooke Shields in quite a few years and was completely surprised at her great acting performance as a lawyer named Betsy Tannebaum. Betsy is married and has a cute young girl but is separated from her husband. Scott Glenn, (Martin Darius/Peter Lake) is a very wealthy business man who has been watching the great accomplishments of Betsy Tannebaum as a lawyer in winning her court cases and decides to hire her in case he just might need her in any criminal offenses he might be involved in because there was a serial killer who was killing young women and he was going to be a likely suspect. Lou Diamond Phillips, (Alan Page) plays the role as a District Attorney and gives a great supporting role to this great mystery murder story that has many twists and turns and will keep you held in suspense. Great Film, Great Actors, Enjoy.

I saw this movie in the video store but was reluctant to rent for one simple reason,it is three hours long and I don't have that much spare time on my hands. However, since there was not anything else there worth renting Itook it and watched it in intervals. It was worth every second. Actually, the intervals were torture because there is a lot of suspense going on there. The cast is good especially Brookes Shield and all the others. There are many spoilers which I wont disclose. Anyone out there for a good thriller in the "basic instincts" style but without the sex scenes.... got for it. This will keep you on the edge until the final moment.