V.I. Warshawski (1991)

A female PI babysitting for a boyfriend gets stuck with his daughter and the case of her murdered father.

Director:

Jeff Kanew

Writers:

Sara Paretsky ('V.I. Warshawski' novels), Edward Taylor (screen story)

Stars:

Kathleen Turner, Jay O. Sanders, Charles Durning

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kathleen Turner	...	Vic
Jay O. Sanders	...	Murray
Charles Durning	...	Lt. Mallory
Angela Goethals	...	Kat
Nancy Paul	...	Paige
Frederick Coffin	...	Horton
Charles McCaughan	...	Trumble
Stephen Meadows	...	Boom-Boom
Wayne Knight	...	Smeissen
Lynnie Godfrey	...	Sal
Anne Pitoniak	...	Lotty
Stephen Root	...	Mickey
Robert Clotworthy	...	Philip Pugh
Tom Allard	...	Big Eddie
Mike Hagerty	...	Babe (as Michael G. Hagerty)

Storyline

Victoria "V.I" Warshawski is a Chicago based private detective who agrees to babysit for her new boyfriend; then he is murdered. Being the detective type, she makes the murder her next case. In doing so she befriends the victim's daughter, Kat, and together they set out to crack the case.

---

Plot Keywords:

camera shot of feet | foot closeup | female stockinged feet | pantyhose | chicago illinois | 

---

Taglines:

Killer eyes. Killer legs. Killer instincts.

---

Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Mystery

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and moments of violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

V.I. Warshawski, Detective in High Heels

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$11,128,309

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV, Chestnut Hill Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was originally meant to spawn a franchise for Kathleen Turner, but the film's dismal US box office performance soon put an end to that.

---

Goofs

Late in the film, Victoria "V.I." Warshawski (Kathleen Turner) returns to Smeissen's (Wayne Knight) hideout to get some information out of him. She goes upstairs to his office and, as a warning, fires her gun at a bowl of walnuts sitting on his desk. The film cuts to a reaction shot of Smeissen, then back to the wide shot. Several items on the desk have moved on their own. Most notably, the red file folder has gone from sitting under the bowl of walnuts to sitting next to it. The phone straightened itself out, and the walnuts that flew out of the bowl have drastically changed positions.

---

Quotes

Victoria "V.I." Warshawski: My face got betrayed by my mouth.

---

Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Drew Barrymore/Kelis (2004)

---

Soundtracks

Sittin' On Top Of The World
Written by Renée Geyer and James Reyne
Performed by Saundra Alexander (as Saundra "Pan" Alexander)

User Reviews

A GOOD movie, (despite the panning awarded by a number of reviewers)!

I have just seen Kathleen Turnjer in "V.I. Warshawski" for the third time and, for the third time, am at a total loss to understand the panning/overall rating of 4.3 awarded to it by previous reviewers. I think the movie DOES reflect a lot of the Paretsky original novels and think Turner does a good job in portraying "the dick from the dock" in a manner which combines both respect for the literary character and the kind of gritty, down-to-earth film noir genre which the film obviously pays its debts to. This latter aspect is particularly apparent in the DIALOGUE, much of which my wife and I found hysterical and easily on a par with such remakes of Chandler as the "Farewell, My Lovely" version of the 1970s with Robert Mitchum and Charlotte Rampling. Like the letter, "V.I." is not going to be rated as "The Maltese Falcon" or "The Big Sleep" of the 1990s, but I still think it is a sound, entertaining and engaging piece of work, which does not deserve the reviews mentioned above. Now that we are past the "Blow 'em up / SFX-dominated" fayre of "Die Hard 27"or whatever, is it time for a follow-up to what was, in my view, sadly, Turner's sole donning of the red glitter shoes of V.I. with another actress in the role?