3/5 Watchable modern noir, but forgettable story
  by L. Shirley (fountain valley, ca United States)
This review refers to the VHS edition by Orion
I really wanted to and really thought I was gonna love this one. It had some really great credits to wet my appetite for a good mystery. It was written by Arthur Miller(The Misfits) , starring Debra Winger, Nick Nolte ,Jack Warden and Will Patton. But alas, The sparks just did not fly.
Here's the story...Tom O'Toole(Nolte) is private eye,who at first appearance you might take him for a young Columbo,but Columbo he's not. He takes on a case from the beautiful and charming Angela Crispini(Winger), who claims to have information that could free a man unjustly convicted of murder. Angela wraps Tom around her little finger,throwing him little bits of information about the case,implying that not only do they have the wrong guy, but there are corrupt politians who are involved as well. She says cryptically, "This case goes all the way to the top of the mountain." She seduces him till he can't think straight. Angela's got a little bit of a personality problem, the problem is she's got three of them(personalities).
Tom is never really sure who he is dealing with.
As Tom digs futher into the case he must deal with the most taxing array of lunatics, all living in the same town. The main suspect,Jerry(Patton)is an ex-drug runner(for the man who was killed), turned religous fanatic, and he is surrounded by a wild group of bikers who worship a dead civil war hero. There's the D.A. that worked the case originally, he's Angela's ex, and the Judge that would like to know Angela better.
Okay stop laughing, this is not a comedy(At Least I don't think it was).
Although the story seemed a little far fetched,there are a few good points that are worth the view though, the story had lots of twists and turns, and was not totaly predictable. The actors performances were good. I must admit Debra Winger did a good job portraying mulitple personalities,Nolte as the in the dark detective, and Patton as a psychotic also gave fine performances. I really liked the soundtrack, mostly by Leon Redbone, and lastly the Vhs itself in Hi-Fi stereo looked and sounded good. So you might want to give this one a try, espcially if you are a fan of Arthur Miller, or any of these actors, just to get a taste of something a little different.
Check it out......Laurie

1/5 The worst film ever...period!
  by
Sometimes a story can be so farfetched and uninvolving that it's not even funny. The characters here are EXTREMELY undeveloped that sometimes you start thinking this is a comedy or satire. It's with Nick Nolte being assigned a case by a prostitute and he goes from one oddball scene to another. All the stars, primarily Winger and Nolte, lack the kind of edge and downbeat charm that makes them so likeable in the first place. A real talkathon (only film ever that made me go to sleep). God it's awful!

5/5 Debra Winger is brilliant
  by
I love Debra Winger. Her interpretation of Angela Crispine is consumately complex and enigmatic. The movie is about corruption integrated into American political life, but the real passion of the film is the great dynamic between Nolte and Winger. Miller's screenplay is beautiful. Check out this film, and look up Pauline Kael's review if you think perhaps my enthusiasm is misplaced. I adore Debra, and wish she'd make another film soon. Oh, why, why do American actresses lose

leading-lady status at 40?