Mortal Thoughts (1991)
Grade: 80
"Mortal Thoughts" is an excellent crime drama. It is also an unhappy and tense film.
"Mortal Thoughts" stars Demi Moore and Glenne Headly as two lifetime friends who together end up murdering Bruce Willis, Headly's reel-life and Moore's real-life husband. They try to cover up their crime, but are all too aware that they are unlikely to get away with it.
One can argue that Willis has it coming. He is one of filmdom's worst husbands. He is drug-using, abusive, sponging, and obnoxious. He also makes unwanted passes at Moore without taking no for an answer. Clearly, Willis relishes the role.
The story is told mostly in flashbacks. At the start of the film, Moore is under police interrogation by Harvey Keitel. As she gets into increasing trouble attempting to explain her actions, flashbacks take her back to the scenes she is describing. This technique has been used in other crime dramas, such as "Double Indemnity (1944)." There is also a plot twist or two, which is almost mandatory for the genre.
Director Alan Rudolph does fine work. He does has a fascination with slow-motion, particularly when the camera is focusing on Moore.
"Mortal Thoughts" sags a bit in the middle. This may be because we lose all sympathy for Moore and Headly's characters, who are both guilty of various serious crimes.
"Mortal Thoughts" has violent scenes. Other scenes have large amounts of blood everywhere, so it is not for children or the squeamish. One question that has to be asked: Is the violence and blood necessary? I think it is, in this case, because it gets across the point that it is a terrible crime to murder someone. Murder is not glorified in this film.
"Mortal Thoughts" has not received the attention or aclaim that it deserves. I hope that this is not due to the presence of Moore and Willis, who may have made other poor career decisions, but are well-cast here.
http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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