F/X (1986)

Director:

Robert Mandel

Writers:

Robert T. Megginson (written by) &
Gregory Fleeman (written by)

Release Date:

7 February 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Murder by Illusion

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.

Plot Keywords:

Special Effects | Murder | Witness Protection | New York | Police

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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)

Also Known As:

F/X - Murder by Illusion
Murder by Illusion

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

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:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Dodi Fayed - Jack Wiener

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').

Goofs:

Continuity: The car's condition when it is being deliberately smashed up.

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.

Movie Connections:

Featured in F/X2 (1991)

Soundtrack:

THE HEART OF ROCK AND ROLL

Fairly Effective

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.