Search - Arthur Hailey's Detective on DVD

FATHER COP

Michael Butts | Martinsburg, WV USA | 01/28/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Although based on Arthur Hailey's bestseller, DETECTIVE doesn't live up to its pedigree.
The story gets muddled at times; a former priest turned detective is assigned to track down a serial killer who kills elderly couples in some sort of religious frenzy. His partner and lover is the Councilman's daughter, and the cop himself is estranged from his wife and son. Their personal crises intermingle with the murder plot, and although you will maintain your interest, it's a little long in the tooth with only average performances.
Tom Berenger as the detective gives a relatively dispassionate performance; Annabeth Gish phones in her partner performance' Cybill Shepherd as the wife gives the most effective performance but she's not in the movie much. Charles Durning and Sean O'Bryan round out the cast. This could have been much better with a shorter script and more impassioned performances from its leads."

Silly Arthur Hailey books make for silly movies.

Robert P. Beveridge | Cleveland, OH | 05/22/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Detective (David Cass, 2005)

Detective is based on an Arthur Hailey novel, which should tell you all you need to know. If you're not familiar with Arthur Hailey, he was a writer of potboilers back in the day, probably best-remembered these days for writing the novel on which the original Airport was based, the film which started the glut of seventies disaster films. Which, if you're of the I suspect most of you are, you also don't remember. In any case, Hailey;s books are quite forgettable. As is this movie--so much so, in fact, that I started writing this review ten minutes before the movie was over; I knew if I let it go, I'd forget the movie entirely.

The detective of the title is Martin Ainsley (Tom Berenger), a former priest turned cop who's investigating a series of murders after the killer topped a councilman and his wife. Ainsley's having problems with his wife (Cybill Shepherd), in no small part because the daughter (Annabeth Gish) of said murdered councilman has been getting uncomfortably close to Ainsley. Problem is, once they get the guy, he confesses to all the murders except councilman etc. Which sets up the big twist ending you can see coming from a mile away.

Cass, better known as an actor (Tron) and stuntman (Tequila Sunrise) than a director, got beind the camera in the late nineties and started cranking out junk like this at an alarming rate. Well, I guess there's a market for it, as evidenced by the talent they got to appear in it. Still, actors are only as good as the material you give them, and this by-the-numbers mystery is as vapid and predictable as they come. If you're the kind of person who's surprised by the end of Jodi Picoult novels and Lifetime Original Movies, you may find some suspense to be had here. Otherwise, steer clear. *

"