Caroline at Midnight (1994)

Simply A Masterpiece

Fantastic!

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Blistering performances.

Phil Gallo (Judd Nelson) and Donovan are corrupt cops. Internal affairs caught them on tape with the help of reporter Jack Lynch. Phil commits suicide before giving up his secret partner Ray (Tim Daly). Caroline calls Jack to meet at midnight but he finds her grave instead. She had supposedly died in a car accident. Jack investigates and begins an affair with her friend Victoria Dillon (Mia Sara) who turns out to be Ray's wife.This is a hard-boiled erotic mess. The story is convoluted done in a messy way. The actors try but the writing is weak. Clayton Rohner is not really leading man material. There are no worthy characters although Mia Sara shows off the goods if that appeals to you. It stops being watchable by the midway point if not sooner. This is a badly-written cheap crime drama.

Enjoyable who-done-it with a good, crime drama script that keeps you guessing how this one is going to turn out, and who the real bad guys are. It was obviously shot in L.A., and the director gives it a nice film noir look. The acting is pretty good. In most of these thrillers you can maybe two recognizable actors, but I counted at least ten familiar faces here. Virgina Madsen looks especially cool playing a slinky drug dealer with black hair. It has a good soundtrack with a kind of bluesy opening written and performed by Mark Snow from X-Files that I downloaded as a ring tone for my cell. I don't think it is out on DVD yet, which is too bad. It is much better than the junk sitting on the shelves at Blockbuster.

This is a pretty good, moody film noir of the 1990s, with a hard edge to it, mostly unlikable characters and some sordidness to it.A part of the film is just a vehicle for Mia Sara to show off her breasts which she does in a few steamy scenes. Actually, I would have liked to see more screen time of Virgina Madsen, who looked very pretty in here.Eric Rohner is the star of the film yet, oddly, gets no mention in the front or back of the VHS cover! I guess he didn't have a big enough "name" to publicize the film. Tim Daly is effective as the sadistic villain.The story gets carried away a bit in the end but overall is entertaining all the way while featuring a good soundtrack of jazz, blues and rock.

A real gem among lower budget films, this extremely well written and stylishly directed entry features excellent performances by many familiar faces who portray the good, evil, and mysterious characters who inhabit the story. Tim Daly shines as a corrupt cop with a twisted sense of humor, Virginia Madsen dominates her scenes as a crime kingpin, and Mia Sara amply displays some great moments... as well as her great body... as the sexy seductress. Along the way, you'll see Judd Nelson, Xander Berkeley ("Leaving Las Vegas"), Paul Le Mat ("American Graffiti"), Zach Galligan ("Gremlins"), and Thomas Wilson ("Back To The Future"). Top it all off with dynamic film score by Mark Snow ("The X-Files"), and you're in for some real entertainment.