An Early 80's non Bond outing for Sir Roger Moore, slotted neatly between Octopussy and A View to a Kill.
The first thing that gave me some pause that I may not be about watch a masterpiece of cinema was those four words, that a host of movie audiences dreaded seeing in the 80's - Cannon Films and Golan Globus, two people known for torpedoing their own projects and this nearly became another of those casualties. However, to be fair, this film is far from being Superman IV in how bad it is and I actually found it quite entertaining.
Sir Roger Moore Plays Dr Judd Stevens a widowed psychiatrist with his own private practice. However, his life is turned upside down when one of his patients is murdered in what appears to be a motiveless crime and later that same day, his office is ransacked and his secretary is also brutally killed by person or persons unknown,
Stevens is convinced that he is the actual target, but has no idea why and his supicions are confirmed when several assassination attempts are made against him. Just as concerning is the fact that one of the police officers assigned to the case (Rod Steiger), actually view him as the main suspect in the murders, not surprising given that he holds a grudge against the Psychiatrist for his involvement in the defence at the trial of someone who had killed his old partner. His bias and prejudice against Stevens is so blatant that he ultimately gets thrown of the case and his more sympathetic partner (Elliott Gould), takes over.
Stevens hires a low-end gumshoe (Art Carney), to help him uncover who or what is behind these murders and attempts on his life. Who to his credit and ultimately the loss of his own life, makes more progress getting to the bottom of why Steven's has been targeted in a few short days than the police do.
The film is engaging in many ways, but when the real reason is divulged as to why these events have transpired and he has been targeted, it all seems a little too absurd and the movie somewhat destroys whatever momentum it has managed to build up.
The great thing about this movie is Sir Roger Moore, playing very much against type. The wry comedy he was known to usually inject into his roles is totally absent which is great to see and he plays this role as straight as an arrow. Also, unlike Moore's two most famous characters, Simon Templar and James Bond, Dr Stevens is definitely not a man of action and it is great to see Moore play a character well and truly out of his depth when faced with hit men and having to fight to try and defend himself.
On the flip side, there is some bad things to say. The first and most noticeable is Rod Steiger. Already well known for being a bit of an over-actor even on his good days, he is literally chewing the scenery here and lays it on with a trowel and as a result you get a character that you neither like or have any sympathy for.
Carney's performance is also brilliant, but he is so underused here, that for the amount of time he is actually on screen, the producers could have got a lesser known actor to play such a small part for half the price.
There is also an appearance by Sir Roger's close friend David Hedison, and another close friend Bryan Forbes was hired to write and direct.
All in all, it's an entertaining and engaging movie with a few red herrings smattered about to keep you guessing. However, and I sure I'm not alone on this, I feel that the move should have ended 20 seconds earlier than it did as what happens at the very end, needn't have happened and it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
Give it a go. Enjoy!
The first thing that gave me some pause that I may not be about watch a masterpiece of cinema was those four words, that a host of movie audiences dreaded seeing in the 80's - Cannon Films and Golan Globus, two people known for torpedoing their own projects and this nearly became another of those casualties. However, to be fair, this film is far from being Superman IV in how bad it is and I actually found it quite entertaining.
Sir Roger Moore Plays Dr Judd Stevens a widowed psychiatrist with his own private practice. However, his life is turned upside down when one of his patients is murdered in what appears to be a motiveless crime and later that same day, his office is ransacked and his secretary is also brutally killed by person or persons unknown,
Stevens is convinced that he is the actual target, but has no idea why and his supicions are confirmed when several assassination attempts are made against him. Just as concerning is the fact that one of the police officers assigned to the case (Rod Steiger), actually view him as the main suspect in the murders, not surprising given that he holds a grudge against the Psychiatrist for his involvement in the defence at the trial of someone who had killed his old partner. His bias and prejudice against Stevens is so blatant that he ultimately gets thrown of the case and his more sympathetic partner (Elliott Gould), takes over.
Stevens hires a low-end gumshoe (Art Carney), to help him uncover who or what is behind these murders and attempts on his life. Who to his credit and ultimately the loss of his own life, makes more progress getting to the bottom of why Steven's has been targeted in a few short days than the police do.
The film is engaging in many ways, but when the real reason is divulged as to why these events have transpired and he has been targeted, it all seems a little too absurd and the movie somewhat destroys whatever momentum it has managed to build up.
The great thing about this movie is Sir Roger Moore, playing very much against type. The wry comedy he was known to usually inject into his roles is totally absent which is great to see and he plays this role as straight as an arrow. Also, unlike Moore's two most famous characters, Simon Templar and James Bond, Dr Stevens is definitely not a man of action and it is great to see Moore play a character well and truly out of his depth when faced with hit men and having to fight to try and defend himself.
On the flip side, there is some bad things to say. The first and most noticeable is Rod Steiger. Already well known for being a bit of an over-actor even on his good days, he is literally chewing the scenery here and lays it on with a trowel and as a result you get a character that you neither like or have any sympathy for.
Carney's performance is also brilliant, but he is so underused here, that for the amount of time he is actually on screen, the producers could have got a lesser known actor to play such a small part for half the price.
There is also an appearance by Sir Roger's close friend David Hedison, and another close friend Bryan Forbes was hired to write and direct.
All in all, it's an entertaining and engaging movie with a few red herrings smattered about to keep you guessing. However, and I sure I'm not alone on this, I feel that the move should have ended 20 seconds earlier than it did as what happens at the very end, needn't have happened and it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
Give it a go. Enjoy!