![]() But she’s coerced into the deal by her husband, Tom ( Dermot Mulroney, what the heck are you doing in this?), who’s secretly made some bad investments and, well, they need the money (and also, apparently, a shiny Range Rover and a trophy house).īut pity poor Mary, who can’t juggle writing, mothering her twin son and daughter, and being a good wifey to Tom, so she hires a nanny - in an egregiously cursory way - to pick up the slack. Mary is resistant - something about strange things happening to her when she writes. Kristin Davis ( “Sex and the City”) plays Mary Morrison, a supposedly bestselling author who, after a long hiatus, is coerced back into the book world by a megabucks offer from her needy publisher. (Violence, profanity.Movies don’t come much clunkier than “Deadly Illusions,” an unconvincing mishmash of psychodrama and erotic thriller filled with silly plot holes, obvious dialogue, and risibly bad actions and reactions. And maybe it's just that thrillers and action films have become so ferociously violent since F/X's release in 1986 that nothing short of gut-busting brutality registers, but FX2 seems hopelessly wimpy. In fact, many things seem dumb, and not endearingly so-using an automatic tennis ball pitcher to heave hot dogs at the dobermans guarding a Mafia mansion is a prize-winning idea by humane society standards, but there are easier ways to put the dogs out of commission-that's what ![]() Naturally, Bluey is used in fight scenes, and Bluey looks astonishinglyĭumb. And where F/X delivered some fairly effective illusions, FX2's biggest effect is a life-sized, articulated clown named Bluey, who mimics the actions of anyone wearing a special operator's suit. But while F/X opened with an all too believable scene-a mob rubout in a Chinese restaurant-FX2 opens with a killer android in drag on the rampage Like the first film, FX2 opens on a reality/illusion joke: we see something violent, then the camera pulls back to reveal that we're on a movie set. FX2 really suffers from being a sequel there's no novelty to Rollie Tyler's act, and the act itself has worn thin. In addition, stars Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy are enormously ingratiating actors their combined charm went a long way to keeping the whole business afloat. The first time, seldom work exactly the way they're supposed to, and are totally dependent on angles and lighting-but the picture moved quickly enough to keep viewers' minds off its implausibility. True, the stupendous dependability of his tricks flew in the face of what anyone who's ever worked with effects knows-that they never work But they persist, discover the location of the medallions, and use Rollie's arsenal of special effects to confront the bad guys and come out of it alive.į/X was a harmless, undemanding thriller, and the gimmick of a special effects artist using the illusions of his trade to escape real-life danger was novel. The police to the Mafia determined to teach them to mind their own business. Rollie and Leo find themselves on the hot seat, with everyone from They realize Mike was on the verge of solving the case, and that his death was part of a conspiracy to keep it in the closed file drawer. Together they uncover an unsolved crime, the theft of ten invaluable religious medallions. Though retired, Leo can still get the inside scoop on departmental matters. Rollie calls in Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy), his old buddy on the police force. ![]() Replaying the tape he made of the event, Rollieīecomes suspicious: the whole thing looks like a set-up, expressly designed to get Mike killed. Rollie agrees reluctantly, after being assured there's no way anyone can get hurt. Mike asks Rollie to help him set up a sting operation, designed to catch a peeping tom who's been threatening a model. It all seems too good to be true, and it is. Even her ex-husband Mike (Tom Mason), a detective, comes around to Rollie's charm. Rollie has a new girlfriend, Kim Brandon (Rachel Ticotin), whose small son Chris (Dominic Zamprogna) thinks Rollie is a pretty cool guy. He'd rather design elaborate, high-tech toys to delight andĪmuse children. He's also retired from working with the police, since his last real-life effects adventure was too violent for him. Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown), ace special effects designer, has retired from creating illusions of mayhem for the movies. FX2 is like a party guest convinced he's a real card, regardless of all evidence to the contrary it's a movie that revels in its own cleverness without being clever enough by half.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |