FINAL APPEAL

Brian Dennehy

FINAL APPEAL (1993 telefilm). Director: Eric Till.

Christine Biondi (JoBeth Williams of Poltergeist) is accused of murdering her husband, Ed (Tom Mason), and taking a shot at his skank nurse mistress, Delores (Ashley Crow). She claims the shootings were in self-defense, but an ambitious prosecutor (is there any other kind in these movies?)  named Dana Cartier (Lindsay Crouse) wants to hang her. A bigger problem for Christine is that her lawyer is her alcoholic brother, Perry (Brian Dennehy of Righteous Kill), who seems too tired to make an "objection" when his sister's life is on the line. But with the help of a sympathetic cop, Detective Ayers (Eddie Jones), who knows there was a cover-up in the investigation, Perry may yet win the day. Final Appeal's main strength is in the incredibly sharp performances by Williams and Dennehy, and virtually everyone else in the cast, including the talented youngster who plays Christine's young son, Zach (Keegan MacIntosh). Although this is supposedly based on a true story, some elements seem strictly fictional, such as Perry, whose license has been suspended, getting it back temporarily so that he can defend his sister. The production has to be taken with a large grain of salt, but it is absorbing and full of interesting developments.

Verdict: Well-done "true" crime drama with outstanding performances. ***.

RIGHTEOUS KILL

De Niro and Pacino

RIGHTEOUS KILL (2008). Director: Jon Avnet.

Homicide detectives Turk (Robert De Niro) and Rooster (Al Pacino) try to discover whoever it is who is murdering sociopaths and low lives. One of the detectives narrates the story in flashback, sort of stripping the film of suspense -- the twist at the end comes a little too late. It's a great idea to combine Al Pacino and Robert De Niro [Raging Bull] in the same movie, as they were in the excellent Heat, but someone should have come up with a workable script. Righteous Kill is far-fetched and may have the members of the audience scratching their heads at the ending. John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg are wasted as younger smart-alec detectives, Brian Dennehy [The Challenger Disaster] has some good moments as the cop boss, and Carla Gugino has a thankless role as a fellow detective who is also sleeping with Turk. Avet also directed 88 Minutes, which is better than this.

Verdict: Poor suspense film. **.

THE CHALLENGER DISASTER

Professor Feynman (William Hurt) confronts a general

THE CHALLENGER DISASTER (2013 telefilm). Director: James Hawes.

If you're expecting to learn anything about the people who died when the Challenger exploded in 1986, be forewarned that most of their names aren't even mentioned. Instead this TV movie relates how Professor Richard Feynman (William Hurt of The Village), a physicist, was called in to sit on a panel investigating possible reasons for the disaster. Things are complicated by bureaucracy, the missile's "crazy engineering," as Feynman puts it, and the fact that NASA seems to be in conflict with the Air Force. Is it possible the former was warned not to launch the challenger missile in temperatures below 53 degrees, and did so anyway? A man named Macdonald (Robert Hobbs) comes forward to offer compelling and damaging evidence, and then disappears. Feynman, who is dealing with serious cancer issues of his own, cuts through the red tape and cover-up at a televised press conference (some of which is shown at the very end of the movie). Hurt's portrayal of the professor is perhaps overly rumpled and fussy in an attempt to add a little flavoring, but he basically gives a solid performance. Brian Dennehy [The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone] is fine as the head of the commission, as is Hobbs as Macdonald, and Bruce Greenwood [Nowhere Man] as General Kutyna.

Verdict: Small-scale but effective. ***.

THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE (2003)

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (Cable; 2003). Director: Robert Allan Ackerman.

The cable remake of 2003, with a teleplay by Martin (Bent) Sherman, stars Helen Mirren and Olivier Martinez as Karen and Paolo, both of whom are superior to Leigh and Beatty in the 1961 version. Mirren is simply superb and Martinez, a fine actor, doesn't just play Paolo like Beatty does (however well); he is Paolo. Brian Dennehy is excellent as Karen's husband, as is Anne Bancroft as the Contessa, although she is nowhere near as good as Lotte Lenya in the original. The Meg character has been replaced with a male gay playwright who seems based on Tennessee Williams and is given some of Meg's lines with less caustic delivery. Roger Allan is very good in the part but the real Tennessee Williams wasn't as epicene as Allan plays him. This version is, of course, more sexed-up than the original, with the two leads sexily pounding away in a Cadillac out in the country at one point. There is also more of a political subtext to the movie, with Karen Stone representing the wealthy American invaders of Rome, American prosperity in general, during the difficult post-War period when so many Italians were living in poverty, which, of course, gives more impact to, and a strong basis for, Paolo's contempt for her. The handsome tramp or Angel of Death who follows Karen around (played by Rodrigo Santoro) is introduced snatching a discarded piece of pizza from the street and stuffing it hungrily into his mouth. [Unfortunately, this emphasis on his starvation and misery creates the impression that at the end of the movie he will be less interested in raping or killing Karen than he will be in raiding her refrigerator for a sandwich!] In this version, as in the original, the ending just doesn't convince. Mirren, like Leigh, seems much too strong and collected to throw her life away the way she throws her keys down to the man who's been stalking her. And neither film version today can quite escape the dated quality of the novel when it comes to older woman/younger man relationships. Still, both films are very good and worthwhile seeing. The cable remake has the slight edge due to the superior acting of the leads, as well as more scenes delineating Paolo's character, but the original does have the wonderful Lenya – an absolute force of nature! -- as well as an evocative Richard Addinsell score.

Verdict: See it! ***1/2.