HEAR NO EVIL
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Date Released: 3/26/93 Running Length: 1:37 Rated: R (Violence, language, sexual situations)
Starring: Marlee Matlin, D. B. Sweeney, Martin Sheen,
John C. McGinley
Director: Robert Greenwald
Producer: David Matalon
Screenplay: R. M. Badat and Kathleen Rowell
Music: Graeme Revell
Released by Twentieth Century Fox
Marlee Matlin plays Jillian, a deaf exercise instructor. One of her clients (John C. McGinley) comes into possession of some information that leads him to a stolen ancient coin valued at $1 million. When a crooked police officer (Martin Sheen) who wants the coin for his "retirement fund" gets close to it, McGinley's character hides it among Jillian's possessions, right before a car he borrows from one of his friends (D. B. Sweeney) blows up. Soon after, Jillian is assaulted and nearly killed. Only the timely arrival of Sweeney's character saves her. Over the next few days, they get to know each other, overcoming the hearing barrier that separates them while working to find the coin and stay alive.
When it comes to character development (at least that of the primary characters), atmosphere, and a relatively-intelligent portrayal deafness, HEAR NO EVIL is a good movie. However, consider a little thing like plot and the film is in trouble. The storyline for this picture is an amalgamation of cliches, coincidences, contrivances, and plot holes.
During the writing process, all of the thought and energy apparently went into making HEAR NO EVIL's two main characters seem like real people - and they do. Marlee Matlin's Jillian is especially effective - a mixture of sensitivity, humor, and strength. She's not the typical screaming female-in-danger who has to wait for the nearest man to save her (although that does happen once).
When it comes to dealing with the issue of deafness, HEAR NO EVIL is no CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD, but it is effective. There are several "scenes of silence" which purport to give Jillian's perspective on events by turning off the audio. These don't work as well as they could have, principally because they aren't completely silent - there's an annoying background tinkling, as of distant wind-chimes ringing. However, at times the movie does a good job creating a sense of almost-claustrophobic isolation.
In some ways, this movie is similar to JENNIFER 8. That film deals with a blind woman being stalked. In this one, it's a deaf woman. Both targets are rendered more vulnerable because of their disability, but neither movie is exploitative or condescending. JENNIFER 8 and HEAR NO EVIL sincerely attempt to present the audience with a sense of what a victim experiences when she's cut off in some way from the rest of the world.
Where HEAR NO EVIL fails is in the story it has to tell. The plot is riddled with holes, and when it tries to plug some of the more obvious ones, it widens them. It's astonishing how little of the script makes sense. There are far too many contrivances and coincidences for this picture to be credible. The writers should have given the audience credit for some intelligence. Instead of going for a slick ending with an abysmal twist, they should have stuck to a straight thriller. Maybe then they would have avoided a few of the pitfalls that tripped them up.
Fortunately, the stalker element of the plot doesn't take up all the screen time. A fair amount is devoted to the developing relationship between the two main characters. These scenes, often sweet (but not cloyingly so) and almost always genuine-seeming, are strong and almost make up for a lot of the other rubbish that clutters up this movie.
At least HEAR NO EVIL doesn't give us yet another clone of FATAL ATTRACTION and/or THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE. Lately, it seems that every thriller fits into this category. Unfortunately, while HEAR NO EVIL goes in another direction, it doesn't blaze any new trails. There is potential here, and good acting and a few decent characters to go with it, but the story lets everyone down - especially the audience.
Rating: 6.3 (C, **)
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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