I Love a Man in Uniform (1993)

Director:

David Wellington

Writer:

David Wellington (writer)

Release Date:

24 June 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Henry Adler lives in Ontario by himself, regularly visits his gruff and critical father, and works in a bank; he's also an actor...

Plot Keywords:

Actor | City | Psychopath | Suicide | Violence

Awards:

7 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Tom McCamus	...	Henry Adler
Brigitte Bako	...	Charlie Warner
Kevin Tighe	...	Frank
David Hemblen	...	Father
Alex Karzis	...	Bruce
Graham McPherson	...	Mr. Pearson
Daniel MacIvor	...	Director
Wendy Hopkins	...	Casting Director
Kirsten Kieferle	...	Anita
Paulina Gillis	...	Janet
Dana Brooks	...	Marilyn
Steve Ambrose	...	Bank Robber
Michael Hogan	...	Detective Itch
Mark Melymick	...	Lt. Edam
Cynthia Gillespie	...	Crimewave A.D

Also Known As:

A Man in Uniform

Runtime:

Spain:97 min | UK:97 min | USA:99 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Germany:16 (re-rating) (2005) | Germany:18 (original rating) | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 (video premiere) | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Alliance Communications Corporation

Goofs:

Continuity: Henry's brand new portable police radio works without having any batteries installed.

Soundtrack:

Radio Show

A Disturbing Tale of Psychological Breakdown

Slick and stylish, Canadian director Wellington's first feature is a tight, mostly unpredictable tale of urban degeneration and psychological breakdown, with a realistic, ominous atmosphere of foreboding throughout. Creating an incredibly human anti-hero, lead actor Tom MacCamus gives an appropriately nervy portrayal of Henry Adler, a fledgling method actor (and bank employee) who lands his first big role as a policeman on a tabloid-TV cop show, only to gradually go off the deep end. He starts mistaking his role with reality when a series of shattering events of urban violence and personal frustrations lead him to the edge of sanity. In the opening scenes, he witnesses a real cop get shot through the stomach on a downtown Toronto street corner in broad daylight. A brutal bank robbery occurs in the branch where he is vault manager. Initially attracted to him, his co-star on the show, Charlie (Brigitte Bako) shuns him when she senses his confused obsessiveness and moral perplexity. His cold and callous father (David Hemblen) dies of a stroke. All of these happenings conspire to make him don his cop outfit, and walk the streets, soaking up the urgent power the uniform provides him. He is so convincing, everyone takes him for a bona fide fuzz. He takes the law into his own hands and encounters the corrupt realist cop Frank (noted Seattle character actor Kevin Tighe) who speeds Henry's descent into a personal hell by showing him the seamy, amoral side of police work, on a tension-filled night journey. Chilling and mordant, the film has few false notes, and is tragedy in the best Aristotelian traditions.