Her Alibi (1989)

Phil has writer's block after 30 detective novels. In court for inspiration, he sees a cute Romanian murder suspect. He provides her alibi. She stays with him. Will he live to write another novel?

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 Ionescu
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.

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Plot Keywords:

kneed in the groin | detective | writer's block | romanian | hairy chest | 

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Taglines:

Tom Selleck is [Her Alibi]

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the major detective character that mystery writer Phillip Blackwood (Tom Selleck) had created and was famous for writing mystery novels with was "Peter Swift".

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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 Roger Ebert's review of the film:

"But 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."

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Quotes

Phil Blackwood: [Narrating a passage of his upcoming book out loud - more than a little embellishing the truth] Despite the dozens of ravishing creatures begging to be part of his life, Swift had lived alone since his wife... was incinerated several years before, when the microwave went berserk during a thunderstorm.

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Connections

Referenced in Psych: Juliet Takes a Luvvah (2013)

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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

Heavenly Angel

Her Alibi is a very enjoyable movie with a little intrigue and the most beautiful girl in the world. I have been madly, passionately in love with Paulina Porizkova since seeing her in Vogue in about 1985. I envy Tom Selleck. Paulina can cut my hair any time. The thing I like is how natural she acts. She seems more relaxed than some of the other more experienced actresses. I have seen other models try screen acting with disastrous results. Tom Sellick plays his part well; that of a man so besotted with this heavenly creature that he finishes up doing silly things. That happens to many men in the same situation.

A good movie topped off with a divine woman.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Romanian Spanish

Release Date:

3 February 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Her Alibi

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,037,047, 5 February 1989

Gross USA:

$18,699,037

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,699,037

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1