Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Antonio Sabato Jr. | ... | John Hawkins | |
Maury Chaykin | ... | Dr. Richard Boggs | |
Brad Dourif | ... | Gene Hanson | |
John Walsh | ... | Self | |
Anne De Salvo | |||
Erich Anderson | |||
Sally Murphy | |||
Alexandra Wilson | |||
David Keith | ... | Det. Peter Stanford | |
Lee Arenberg | ... | Mover | |
Andre Rosey Brown | ... | Black Buddah | |
Todd Bryant | ... | Naval Officer #2 | |
Scott Burkholder | ... | Ellis Greene | |
Amanda Carlin | ... | Judge | |
Dylan Chalfy | ... | Guy in Amsterdam Bar |
The true story of John Hawkins, a notoriously elusive criminal profiled on John Walsh's television show 'Americas's Most Wanted'. Hawkin was a sociopathic con man and murderer, who used sex in his scams and had the charm and good looks to do so. After a $1 million insurance settlement on a business partner's death, he disappeared, leading the California detective who pursued him on a wild chase all over the world. Written by Bruce Cameron <dumarest@midcoast.com>
IF LOOKS COULD KILL is a strange TVM . Based on a true story the central premise is fascinating . A bisexual hustler talks his sugar daddy lover into carrying out a life insurance scam in which a real body needs to be produced and so begins a compelling story . The problem is that being a TVM we're treated to umpteen flaws . For example there's scenes that the director thought we're supposed to be sexy but we get these stupid jump cuts that we see in erotic anthology shows like HOT LINE and PASSION COVE that are anything but sexy . The director also manages to get uneven performances from the cast , the lead actor who plays John Hawkins gives a rather shallow performance but I guess Hawkins was shallow as a person in which case it's a good performance but Brad Dourif is very irritating as a neurotic queen with a crap Southern accent
I also have a problem with the script , as I said the premise is good but is never developed to its full potential . Did Hawkins manage to elude the law because he was so clever or was it because the police lacked resources or were just plain incompetent ? These issues are never fully explored and since John Walsh ( If you like many Brits have never heard of him you might like to take the time to research his bio ) is credited as executive producer there's an uneasy feeling that perhaps his involvement in the case is overstated
Overall this is an irritating and unsatisfying made for television movie . With better production values it might have been a darker , more disturbing precursor to CATCH ME IF YOU CAN but as it stands it's rather forgettable and mediocre which is a pity