Movie Type: Psychological Thriller, Crime Thriller
Themes: Writer's Life, Serial Killers
Main Cast: Lou Diamond Phillips, Clancy Brown, Cecilia Peck, Richard Bradford, Willard E. Pugh, Grace Zabriskie
Release Year: 1991
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
Lou Diamond Phillips stars in this contrived but entertaining thriller (which he also wrote) as Mitchell Osgood, an aspiring writer who runs a Los Angeles bookstore. When a heartfelt book about his father Haing S. Ngor fails to win him a publishing deal, Osgood decides to write something more eye-catching -- a book about recently-released serial killer Albert Merrick Clancy Brown. The media beats him to it, so the ruthlessly ambitious Osgood decides to spur Merrick to commit more crimes, hiring him to work at the bookstore and playing cruel mind games in hopes of setting Merrick off. He does, but the results are quite different from what Osgood had anticipated. Phillips' performance is weak, and the screenplay is predictably bland, but the film remains worthwhile thanks to a terrific job by Brown as the killer. Brown has turned in a number of fine psycho performances, but he has rarely been better than he is here, building from understated diffidence to full-blown psychosis in expert fashion. Grace Zabriskie and Willard E. Pugh co-star with Cecilia Peck. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Katherine Armstrong - Roseanne; Dr. Haing S. Ngor - Tatay; Maria Rangel - Female Dancer; Teresa Bowman - 1st Media Reporter; Karen Landry - Woman in Bookstore; Chris Mulkey - Man in Bookstore; David Allyn - Nondescript Man; Bert Conway - Gruff Man; J.D. Cullum - Jack; Maggie Egan - Anchor; Wayne Federman - Wiseass; Randy Hall - Male Dancer; Robert Harvey - Merrick's Attorney; Ken Kerman - 2nd Prison Gaurd; Diana Michelle - Long-Haired Hooker; Michelle Milantoni - Middle-Aged Woman; David Burton Morris - Man in Corvette; Anita Ortega - Hispanic Woman; Daniel Robbins - Waiter; Mik Scriba - 1st Prison Guard; Aaron Seville - 3d Media Reporter; Kevin Shaw - Co-Worker; Steve Whiteford - 4th Media Reporter; Celeste Yarnall - Beverly Hills Shopper; Jake Jacobs - Suit and Tie Man; Lou Diamond Phillips - Mitchell Osgood; Rick Scarry - 2nd Media Reporter; Cathy Sandrich; Julie Hutchison; Amanda Mackey-Johnson
Credit
Tony To - Associate Producer, Cheryl Goetschius - Associate Producer, Gwen Field - Co-producer, Diah Wymont - Costume Designer, Scott D. Goldstein - Director, Scott D. Goldstein - Editor, Leonard Rosenman - Composer (Music Score), Marek Dobrowoiski - Production Designer, Jeff Jur - Cinematographer, Tony To - Production Manager, Richard Johnson - Producer, Lauren M. Gabor - Set Designer, Jeff Cadiente - Stunts, Lou Diamond Phillips - Screenwriter
