Color of Night (1994)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Richard Rush

Writers (WGA):

Billy Ray (story)
Matthew Chapman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 August 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

Five Suspects. Two Lovers. One Killer. Nothing is what it seems... except murder.

Plot:

A color-blind psychiatrist Bill Capa is stalked by an unknown killer after taking over his murdered friend's therapy group, all of whom have a connection to a mysterious young woman that Capa begins having intense sexual encounters with.

Plot Keywords:

Patient | Psychologist | Suicide | Man Tied To A Bed | Insanity

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 8 nominations

Cast

Bruce Willis	...	Dr. Bill Capa
Jane March	...	Rose
Rubén Blades	...	Lt. Hector Martinez
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Sondra Dorio
Scott Bakula	...	Dr. Bob Moore
Brad Dourif	...	Clark
Lance Henriksen	...	Buck
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Casey Heinz
Andrew Lowery	...	Dale Dexter
Eriq La Salle	...	Det. Anderson
Jeff Corey	...	Ashland
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Michelle
Shirley Knight	...	Edith Niedelmeyer
John Bower	...	Medical Examiner
Avi Korein	...	Bouncer

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality, violence and language. (also director's cut)

Runtime:

121 min | USA:140 min (director's cut) | Argentina:133 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Philippines:R-18 | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | Italy:VM14 | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 (director's cut) | Germany:16 | Norway:18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Argentina:18

Filming Locations:

11400 Olympic Boulevard, West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cinergi Pictures Entertainment

Trivia:

MAXIM magazine had named this film's sex scenes as the best sex scenes in film history.

Goofs:

Plot holes: It's highly unlikely that Mrs. Niedelmeyer would know that Richie hanged himself since Dale buried the body and Rose assumed his identity. This is corroborated by the fact that Rose is going to therapy as Richie.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Michelle: I don't like my reflection. I much prefer the view from outside
Dr. Bill Capa: MICHELLE!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 52nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Just to See You

Grisly Nonsense

I have to believe there was some studio meddling to make this more of a conventional thriller, because everyone seems to agree that this represents a major step backwards from the man behind the brilliant "The Stunt Man" - Richard Rush. There are little reminders of his talent early on when Willis' psychiatrist is getting to know the mercurial Jane March. Rush has a knack for making the viewer feel like they're being caught up and swept along in someone's feverish dream - the editing and camera placement seem haphazardly designed to make you feel a little dizzy and open to suggestion.

But otherwise, "Color of Night" is episodic, dim-witted, way over-long, and wildly overblown. There is a lot of over-emoting in this film, especially from that queen of over-emoters - Lesley Ann Warren. The movie's idea of excitement is to have various repellent characters scream the F-word a lot, have tears run down their cheeks and threaten to go off the deep end but never quite do. And there are downright idiotic chase scenes, particularly the one that takes place in the parking garage: for some reason, instead of just running him down, the mysterious Camaro driver pushes a parked car off an upper level and tries to time it so that it will land on Willis on the bottom level. And then of course in the very next scene, Willis is behaving as if nothing really traumatic has happened. In fact, Willis is tentative and under-directed throughout the film.

There is one interesting footnote however. Has anyone else noticed the similarity to "The Sixth Sense", at least as far as basic premise? True, the films couldn't be more different in terms of development of story or quality, but to wit: Both star Bruce Willis as a psychiatrist who feels tremendous guilt over a patient he's failed, and they both highlight the color "red". Hmmmm.