True Crime (1996)

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Mary Giordano (Alicia Silverstone) is a Catholic high school senior whose deceased father was a cop. She loves mysteries and detective magazines (which are seriously some of the creepiest magazines out there since the Apter wrestling magazines stopped featuring apartment wrestling). Now, she's doing her own detective work, investigating the death of a classmate's sister.Detective Jerry Guinn (Pittsburgh's Bill Nunn, Radio Raheem from Do the Right Thing) is her mentor, trying to keep her away from the dark world of being a cop. However, police cadet Tony Campbell (Kevin Dillon) is too willing to bring her along as they try to find the killer.This film feels giallo-esque in storyline, if not in tone. There are red herrings galore, plenty of sex, lots of gore, hands being hacked off, carnival freaks...it has a lot going for it. And it squanders it all at every single opportunity. This is a rough film to get through, but one that I hung on and made to the end.I'd recommend you take whatever running time this film has and use it to better yourself. Have a great meal. Read a book. Learn how to paint. Anything but suffering through this.

This movie was a mystery movie and I love to solve things before the movie solves things, like cases, murder, etc. Alicia Silverstone has acted good especially when she was crying. And Kevin Dillon (also the brother of Matt Dillon) has been really good. In the movie, I realized that something was familiar with Kevin. And so I went on the net and saw the name of his brother. When the movie started, I knew Tony (Kevin Dillon) was the murderer all along. It was really obvious because of the way he has been acting around Mary (Alicia Silverstone). He also has been spying on Mary and following her. This movie is quite good, though it was a really easy case to solve. I like this kind of mystery movie.

Alicia Silverstone is looking for a killer. The sick twisted type. See she's a big fan of those 'True Crime' magazines hence the title. Now I've never been able to grasp the interest of these magazines, but that's of no consequence here. It seems very likely a murder is going to happen and she'll naturally investigate. Along the way hooking up with a police cadet (Kevin Dillon) who's off doing his own investigation. They form an unofficial partnership and from there things proceed pretty much how you expect in these sorts of movies. More bodies show up, as do many suspects, including the police cadet, cue the sexual tension. Can you say predictable yet?The problem with True Crime like many movies is it has nothing new to say. It's watchable, but you've seen it all done before and to better effect. The premise could be decent, but there is no follow through. It's just another cookie-cutter thriller with way too many red herrings thrown at you and a scene that happens early in the middle half of the movie just ruins it all. I call it the "point of no return". Without giving away too much I'll say this: She ends up investigating a house and finds hard incriminating evidence in and outside the place. Then she gradually seems to forget about it. Time passes and attention shifts to other suspects but why!? Eventually we end up back at square one and yup you guessed it. The person's house which she found all that evidence at turns out to be the killer. Laughable.True Crime is just below average in the end. The cast is passable, there's a creepy moment or two, but the end of the movie is a joke. Unless you're a big fan of Alicia Silverstone or have lowered expectations for thrillers you should pass. Especially with the blunder the movie makes that means you can easily predict who the killer is going to be. Nevermind the fact that a 16 year old girl is smarter than all the police officers in town put together. True Crime this is not.

This is the best made-for-TV movie of all-time! Am I saying this because I'm a huge Silverstone fan? Partially, but even without her, I'd still see it. I'm a fan of serial killer genre films, and believe this to be a great entry in that category. Also, Mary Giordano easily ranks among Alicia's top five character creations. Totally memorable - like she really exists. I'd have her on my side, too, if there was a mystery to be solved. She plays the character, like she does with her real life, with complete confidence in everything she does. Seems sweet, honest, nice...just like she is in real life. So is that acting? Yes, indeed, she's sort of a rebel once again. This time she's not bad, she's too good and a bit afraid to do things that seem above the law. But she doesn't do things the normal teenager would do. Instead, she spends her time reading detective mags and solves crimes. A cliche abounds: she's sort of avenging her father's death, in a different way than vigilante-style. At the time, Alicia seemed to be playing the same characters: rebellious, seductive, without a parent, a loner. This happens here, too, but she's a bit nerdy this time around. That doesn't matter; she's still cool as a nerd. Check this out soon, or else Giordano will be investigating why you haven't...