Illegally Yours (1988)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers:

Max Dickens (writer)
M.A. Stewart (writer)

Release Date:

13 May 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Everything's admissible in courtship.

Plot:

Called up for jury duty, Richard Dice finds his first crush and only real, but unrequited love, on trial for murder...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Jury Duty | Crush | Jury | Sleuth

Cast

Rob Lowe	...	Richard Dice
Colleen Camp	...	Molly Gilbert
Kenneth Mars	...	Hal B. Keeler
Kim Myers	...	Suzanne Keeler
Marshall Colt	...	Donald Cleary
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Wally Finnegan
George Morfogen	...	Judge Norman Meckel
Linda MacEwen	...	Ruth Harrison
Rick Jason	...	Freddie Boneflecker
Jessica James	...	Mrs. Evelyn Dice
Ira Heiden	...	Andrew Dice
Tony Longo	...	Konrat
Howard Hirdler	...	Harry Crumrine
Louise Stratten	...	Sharon Woolrich (as L.B. Straten)
David Reeves	...	Arnie (Blackmailer)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Certification:

West Germany:12 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - One S. Castillo Drive, St. Augustine, Florida, USA

Company:

Crescent Moon

Quotes:

Mrs. Evelyn Dice: I used to worry about my kids if they came home late at night. But today, as I saw my eldest son on the news exposed as a common criminal, I felt nothing.

What I Did For Love

When Rob Lowe decided to wear his glasses for real in this film (in real life he's quite nearsighted) I think it was his and director Peter Bogdanovich's homage to Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby. Would that Bogdanovich had as good material as Howard Hawks had with Grant and Katharine Hepburn.

Rob's a near do well here, living at home with mother Jessica James and brother Ira Heiden and sometimes whomever mom's current boyfriend is, in this case it's Harry Carey, Jr. in one of his very few roles not in a western. Rob gets a jury duty notice and like most of us, he considers it one royal pain. But when he's chosen for the jury trial of Colleen Camp it's an opportunity he's been waiting for since grade school. Back in those childhood years he was crushing out on Camp big time and now she's on trial for attempted murder.

I wrote a review for 12 Angry Men in which I said the film was flawed because of what Henry Fonda did, going to the accused's neighborhood and buying a switchblade similar to the murder weapon. That was absolutely nothing compared to what Lowe does while he's not deliberating on the evidence to prove the object of his affection is innocent.

The film has its moments, but I'd have to say it was more silly than funny. Colleen Camp is not quite Katharine Hepburn, though Lowe does give a good try at a Cary Grant type comedy part.

Still fans of Rob Lowe will like it.