In 1930s Hamilton, Ontario, after her husband's corpse is discovered in the woods without its head or limbs, beautiful would-be socialite Evelyn Dick (Kathleen Robertson) is arrested by Canadian police for the murder. Her ever-changing jailhouse testimony leads Inspector Woods (Callum Keith Rennie) in various directions as the devoted detective tries to piece together a coherent chain of events and motives. But once Dick's manipulative mother (Brenda Fricker) is implicated in the scheme, Dick's story changes again, this time with twist that leads to a tragic denouement. Her future in grave danger -- her sentence could be death by hanging -- Dick hires attorney J.J. Robinette (Victor Garber) for one last attempt at freedom. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Review
Based on the true story of Canada's "trial of the century," Torso: The Evelyn Dick Case is a crackling good yarn thanks to the knowingly sultry performance of Kathleen Robertson as the lead, a woman whose pout changes to a purr in the time it takes to say "howdy." The grim murder mystery becomes taut courtroom drama about midway, and while the story never catches fire the way it must have when it was actually transpiring, the events managed to hold interest, despite a clear-cut villain. Though there is none of the delicious jail-cell sexual tension of, say Gregory Peck and Alida Valli in The Paradine Case, shapely and seductive Robertson still gets across the double meaning of the title. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
