It’s a far cry from Schlesinger’s work in the 1960’s and 1970’s (even Day of the Locust in 1975 is much much better than this) but this is an underrated film
It opens with a shocking (no pun intended) tragic accident—intense as hell
Martin Sheen is strong in the lead but the ensemble rounds it out nicely too. Malick Bowens is fresh off Out of Africa in 1985 and is haunting here, especially when they give him those blue contacts, Jimmy Smits is good, Robert Loggia is perfectly cast as the “hit me again” (to the bartender) NYC cop (Jimmy Smits also a cop-perfect). Harris Yulin—creepy, powerful- (he and Loggia are together again in after 1983’s Scarface)
Malick Bowens is fresh off Out of Africa in 1985 and is haunting here, especially when they give him those blue contacts
Some real pain here between Sheen and his son as they grieve
The narrative does take some leaps but it is never unintelligent and certainly never uninteresting or unengaging. I’m not sure about Sheen’s character trusting this counselor who is suspected by the police
The girlfriend (played by Helen Shaver) has her Jeff Goldblum from The Fly scene with her face decomposing
The girlfriend (played by Helen Shaver) has her Jeff Goldblum from The Fly scene with her face decomposing
Again, it isn’t Rosemary’s Baby (there’s some similarities in narrative) but it absolutely does not deserve to get crushed like it did by Ebert and Canby
Again, it isn’t Rosemary’s Baby (there’s some similarities in narrative) but it absolutely does not deserve to get crushed like it did by Ebert and Canby
Recommend- though not terribly close to the top 10 of 1987
[…] The Believers – Schlesinger […]