Movies:
Indiscreet
- Rating:
- Genre: Mystery
- Movie Type: Detective Film
- Director: Marc Bienstock
- Main Cast: Luke Perry, Gloria Reuben, Peter Coyote, Lisa Edelstein, Adam Baldwin
- Release Year: 1998
- Country: US
- Run Time: 110 minutes
- MPAA Rating: R
Plot
An alcoholic cop turned private eye falls for the woman he's hired to investigate in this thriller produced for cable network HBO. Monied Zachariah Dodd (James Read) wants to divorce his wife, Eve (Gloria Reuben), so he hires recovering drunk Michael Nash (Luke Perry) to spy on her, hoping to prove she's an adulteress. Michael instead learns that she's a kindly woman who takes care of her elderly mother -- and endures physical abuse at Zachariah's hands. When Eve tries to commit suicide by drowning herself, he rescues her. Soon, the investigator and his subject find themselves caught up in a passionate affair. One night, Eve shows up claiming to have killed her husband after another domestic incident. Michael helps her cover up the crime and soon finds himself under suspicion of murder. Only attorney Beth Sussman (Lisa Edelstein), Michael's friend and employer, can save him from the meticulous detective (Peter Coyote) who's out to get him. Director Marc Bienstock previously collaborated with screenwriter Vladimir Nemirovsky on another thriller, 1997's The Beneficiary. Nemirovsky himself appears in the cast of Indiscreet, alongside Beverly Hills 90120 vet Luke Perry and ER actress Gloria Reuben. Indiscreet bears no relation to any of the earlier films of the same name -- not even the 1931 musical starring a different Gloria -- Gloria Swanson. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie GuideReview
This workmanlike thriller features some decent acting, nice camera work, and OK plot twists, but its atmosphere is more daytime-soap than pitch-black noir. Former pinup Luke Perry continues to age well, parlaying his lined forehead and world-weary demeanor into a believable ex-alcoholic role. Meanwhile, Gloria Reuben, who often seemed to be virtue personified in her distinguished role on television's ER, gets to play a character with a few more layers. Peter Coyote is never less than professional in a generic cop part, while Lisa Edelstein brings considerable charisma to her supporting role. The rest of the cast is adequate, but the real problems are the script and direction, which merely plod through standard genre fare rather than doing anything new with it. (Steven M. Stern's overwrought score doesn't help much.) As far as made-for-TV thrillers go, however, Indiscreet in is above average and certainly no hardship to watch. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie GuideCast
James Read
