Her Alibi (1989)

A writer of BAD detective novels is in full writers' block. He pretends to be the alibi of a beautiful woman who was arrested for murder at first thinking her innocent, but as she shows ... See full summary »

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writer:

Charlie Peters

Stars:

Tom Selleck, Paulina Porizkova, William Daniels

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Selleck	...	Phil Blackwood
Paulina Porizkova	...	Nina Lonescu
William Daniels	...	Sam
James Farentino	...	Frank Polito
Hurd Hatfield	...	Troppa
Ronald Guttman	...	'Lucy' Comanescu
Victor Argo	...	Avram
Patrick Wayne	...	Gary Blackwood
Tess Harper	...	Sally Blackwood
Bill Smitrovich	...	Farrell
Bobo Lewis	...	Rose
Jane Welch	...	Millie
Austin Hay	...	Oliver
W. Benson Terry	...	FX
Joan Copeland	...	Audrey

Storyline

A writer of BAD detective novels is in full writers' block. He pretends to be the alibi of a beautiful woman who was arrested for murder at first thinking her innocent, but as she shows more and more interesting abilities (such as knife throwing) he begins to doubt his first assessment. He is still falling for her, but more and more nervous as time passes, and there are more close calls with death on his part.

---

Plot Keywords:

detective | writer's block | romanian | hairy chest | bare chested male | 

---

Taglines:

A Romantic Comedy

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery | Romance

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Romanian Spanish

Release Date:

3 February 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mi testigo preferido

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$18,699,037

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the annual clown meeting which was in the memory of the greatest clown of all was "The Funeral of Grimaldi". Several scenes in this movie take place at this event towards the end of the film. Grimaldi refers to real-life clown Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837), who is the most celebrated English clown in history, and just like in the movie, there really is a "Funeral of Grimaldi" held every year on the first Sunday in February, at the All Saints' Church in London. His actual birth and death dates were also reproduced on poster artwork seen in the film, these being Born: 18th December 1778 and Died: 31st May 1837.

---

Goofs

**SPOILERS**

Blackwood and Nina have sex in a house that was destroyed by an explosion earlier in the film. This mistake was so notable it was mentioned in Leonard Maltin's review of the film:

"For a full appreciation of just how much contempt "Her Alibi" has for the audience, reflect for a moment on the movie's last scene, in which Blackwood and Nina are back in the snug Connecticut farmhouse for a big love scene and a fade out. The people who made this movie apparently actually forgot that they blew the house up a half-hour earlier."

---

Quotes

Phil Blackwood: [after Nina crashes out of the garage in Phil's SUV - without having bothered to open the garage door] I thought you said you "drove" in Romania!
Nina: This IS how we drive in Romania.

---

Connections

Referenced in Parker Lewis Can't Lose: Rent-A-Kube (1990)

---

Soundtracks

TUTTI FRUTTI
Written by Little Richard (as Richard Penniman), Dorothy La Bostrie and Joe Lubin
Performed by Little Richard
Courtesy of Dominion Entertainment, Inc.

User Reviews

Under-appreciated suspense comedy

Always likable Tom Selleck is well cast as a mediocre mystery writer (VERY mediocre, based on the samples of his writing we get in the voice-over narrations, which are one of the funniest parts of the movie). He's looking for a plot for his next book and finding it in the person of a beautiful Romanian college student (Paulina Porizkova) who seems to be hiding some big secret. The movie plays like the plot of a bad detective book, with perceptions of the female character shifting from dangerous to trustworthy to suspicious and back. The chemistry between the characters works very well romantically as both characters begin to fall in love despite being wary and suspicious of the various goings-on, and the Romanian KGB agents on Paulina's trail make for useful comic villains.