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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Robert T. Megginson (written by) &
Gregory Fleeman (written by)
Release Date:
7 February 1986 (USA) more
Tagline:
Murder by Illusion more
Plot:
A movie special effects man is hired to fake a real-life mob killing for a witness protection plan, but finds his own life in danger. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination more
User Comments:
Fairly Effective more (34 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Bryan Brown | ... | Roland 'Rollie' Tyler | |
| Brian Dennehy | ... | Lt. Leo McCarthy | |
| Diane Venora | ... | Ellen | |
| Cliff De Young | ... | Lipton | |
| Mason Adams | ... | Col. Mason | |
| Jerry Orbach | ... | Nicholas DeFranco | |
| Joe Grifasi | ... | Mickey | |
| Martha Gehman | ... | Andy | |
| Roscoe Orman | ... | Capt. Wallenger | |
| Trey Wilson | ... | Lt. Murdoch | |
| Tom Noonan | ... | Varrick | |
| Paul D'Amato | ... | Gallagher | |
| Jossie DeGuzman | ... | Marisa Velez (as Jossie deGuzman) | |
| Jean De Baer | ... | Whitemore | |
| M'el Dowd | ... | Joyce Lehman (Miss Lehman) (as M'eL Dowd) |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
F/X - Murder by Illusion
Murder by Illusion
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
109 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1986) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Spain:T | Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
A movie poster for Zombi 2 (1979) is seen hanging up in Rollie Tyler's apartment in several scenes. Also, the film Poor Albert and Little Annie (1972) is mentioned (refered to by its alternate title 'I Dismember Mama'). more
Goofs:
Continuity: The car's condition when it is being deliberately smashed up. more
Quotes:
Ellen:
Nobody cares about making movies about people any more. All they care about is special effects.
Rollie Tyler:
[ironically] I'm gonna cry.
more
Soundtrack:
THE HEART OF ROCK AND ROLL more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (34 total)
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What we have here is a classic noir arrangement -- characters are ground up in the machinery of fate. But there are several interesting embellishments.
Overtly, it is a movie about movie-making; underneath this, there is a effortless feel to how it alludes to its genre components: monster flicks, sci-fi, slasher/horror, gangster shoot 'em ups. The opening 'movie within a movie' sequence references "The Godfather" and forms the template for the 'murder'. "Scarface" (both of them) is heavily quoted.
The premise is largely the "Mission: Impossible" TV series -- everything revolves around actors playing characters who assume identities and then abandon them; identities defined by cosmetics.
The parts that engage are the detective genre borrowings carried by Dennehy. He is our surrogate within the story. Both he and Brown defeat the noir machinery, mostly by prestidigitation and illusion. The main story and the detective story dovetail together quite neatly.
What held this back is the mediocre visual narrative - it doesn't assume its life as a director's vision, but as a written work. Mandel isn't up to the task - this could have been special in the right hands.