THE COURTYARD (1995) A "Turkey of the Week" film review by Justin Felix Copyright 1998 Justin Felix
Rating: *** (out of five)
Written by Wendy Biller and Christopher Hawthorne. Directed by Fred Walton. Starring Andrew McCarthy, Madchen Amick, Cheech Marin. Rated R (contains violence, nudity, and profanity) 103 mins.
Synopsis: A New York architect moves to L.A., rents an expensive apartment, meets really weird people, sleeps with a mysterious woman carrying a parasol, and plays detective rather than work on his project when his neighbors start dying.
Comments: THE COURTYARD is a better-than-average cheap murder mystery. It's a made-for-cable feature (Showtime produced it) which is enjoying a second life in video rental outlets. In fact, a subtle in-joke is played toward the end of the film: flipping through a stack of bills, the main character glances at an envelope from Showtime.
THE COURTYARD plays out as a basic whodunnit, although the plot does become more involved as the movie progresses than is typical of thrillers of this kind. A multitude of suspects are presented, and a number of successful red herrings throw the audience off as to the killer's identity. Many suspense movies make the mistake of not developing their supporting characters, but not THE COURTYARD. The Shangri-La apartment complex, as it has been christened, is populated by interesting, though strange, tenants, and it's rather fun to slowly learn more about them (they all have secrets or something to hide).
Andrew McCarthy and Madchen Amick are adequate as the lead characters. The supporting cast, however, are the real stars here. Cheech Marin (half of the popular Cheech and Chong comedy duo) humorously plays an L.A. detective who likes to eat while examining murder crime scenes. Vincent Schiavelli and David Proval, both veteran actors, appear as some of the architect's creepy neighbors and do a good job of it.
Wendy Biller and Christopher Hawthorne's screenplay, though it is not perfect, does provide some nice details. As stated before, the characters are uniformly well-developed (no cardboard cutouts here). Some of the dialogue is memorable; for example, Cheech Marin's detective groans about his caramel sundae and informs the architect about the caramel / chocolate chip debate in L.A. The movie obviously did not have a particularly big budget, but that doesn't seem to hinder it much.
THE COURTYARD ends tritely (everything is just a little *too peachy*). The architect unveils his design for a new mall modeled directly off of his apartment complex. He then claims that it's the most original thing he's ever done. One has to wonder about that statement. Overall, however, THE COURTYARD is an entertaining little thriller and makes a suitable rental choice if you've already seen your fair share of blockbuster theatrical releases.
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