Defenseless (1991)

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is not a bad little thriller complete with spooky garages and a scary fall down the elevator shaft scene although it's sometimes hard to figure out just who is who. The plot has many murky twists and turns (although I imagine the continuity suffered in being cut for television.) Nor do I understand why our lawyer/lover drives a beat up Karmann-Ghia. But this is obviously one of those films that took handouts from big tobacco. Everybody smokes everywhere. The good guys smoke. The bad guys smoke. The good guys who turn out to be bad guys smoke. The bad guys who turn out to be good guys smoke. The cops smoke. I'm surprised the judge and the jury didn't light up. The whole damn film is one big choking cloud of smelly blue smoke. Because of that I knocked my rating down two points.

This films opening scene takes place with a young girl cheerleader entering the mens locker room which turns out to be a porno film being produced. The story gets very complicated with murder and romance and the web of mystery keeps you spellbound through out the entire picture. Barbara Hershey(Thelma T.K. Knudsen),"Lantana",'01, is a lawyer who falls in love with a married man and gets deeply involved with his family and finds out that her best friend is married to him. There is a fight and the ice cubes seem to fly all over the place, besides blood in the mens bathroom which becomes a complete mess. There is even a fight in an elevator shaft and Sam Shepard (Detective Beutel),"Blind Horizon,",'04, comes to Thelma's assistance. Beutel is madly in love with Thelma but suspects her of not telling the truth about what is going on and feels she is becoming a number one suspect. This is a very enjoyable film worth viewing.

Technically well-made but ordinary, unremarkable little mystery thriller. The script tries for ambiguity and succeeds most of the way, but ultimately goes for the predictable resolution. Martin Campbell's direction shows care and knowledge of the genre, but lacks style and seems mostly by-the-numbers. Barbara Hershey, although somewhat aging, still shines, and Walsh, Hurt and the actor who plays the brutal, deranged father offer excellent supporting work. But Sam Shepard just looks bored and disinterested. (**)

Police try to solve the murder of a businessman. Unknown to them, the man's attorney is implicated and, of course, she wants to keep her involvement secret. This leads to the wrong person being charged, causing the lawyer to go looking for the real culprit. Good mystery with lots of action and tense drama.