Three TV Movies
Film reviews by Chuck Dowling
Copyright 1996 Chuck Dowling
All three of these films are available on home video.
Blind Vengeance (TV-1990) **** - C:Gerald McRaney, Lane Smith, Marg Helgenberger.
An intelligent made for TV movie? Not possible you say? Well, it's true. "Blind Vengeance" is a smart and original TV flick. At first you're led to believe otherwise. Two boys are killed in a small town for unknown reasons by three locals led by Lane Smith. But the three men are found not-guilty because of a legal technicality. One of the boys' fathers (McRaney) come to town to seek revenge on those who murdered his boy. You're thinking that it's just going to be another "Death Wish" clone where the father hunts down and kills the bad guys, but that isn't so. What he does instead is he starts to slowly torment the killers, within the confines of the law, in hopes to get them to turn against each other. The film's only flaw is a completely unnecessary romantic sub-plot. "Blind Vengeance" is well worth watching.
The Great American Traffic Jam (TV-1980) 1/2 - C:Desi Arnaz Jr., Michael Lerner, Rue McClanahan, Ed McMahon, Al Morinaro, Vic Tayback, Abe Vigoda, Lyle Waggoner, Charles Napier, Howard Hesseman.
Absolutely dreadful TV movie with one of the most ridiculous and completely boring stories ever written. A group of characters all get stuck in a big traffic jam and then sit in their cars and talk about their problems. Tense! Gripping! Exciting! Anyway, there's also a stupid subplot about the Traffic Control Center trying different things to get traffic moving again. The characters in the Traffic Control Center keep acting like this traffic jam is the worst catastrophy in human history. This might have been meant to be a parody of the disaster films from the period ("Earthquake," "The Towering Inferno," etc.), but I just can't give a TV movie that much credit. As a comedy it doesn't work, as satire it doesn't work, and it's a complete waste of 100 minutes of your life. Also known as "Gridlock" but who cares.
Not My Kid (TV-1984) **1/2 - C:George Segal, Stockard Channing, Andrew Robinson.
Typical TV movie about the effects of a teenage drug addict on a normal family. After an entertaining first half, the film becomes a series of tearful confessions by teenages in a drug rehab facility. Somehow it ends up being the fault of the father (Segal) and he has to be the one to make the final confession. (!) Be sure to applaud when Segal says the film's title. Irritating music score and a laughable ending.
Have A Question Or Comment? Email Me At chuckd21@southeast.net
-- Chuck Dowling
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