When I see names like Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson and Andy Garcia all in the same film I automatically think the movie is going to be at the very least decent, but then I start to think about the careers these three have led and the movies they have turned in.
As for Jackson, Pulp Fiction may be the highlight of his career and, along with Judd, 1996’s A Time to Kill just may be the last good movie the two of them made. As for Andy Garcia, the best movie of his I can think of was Ocean’s Eleven, in which he was a secondary character with a somewhat larger role. Yeah he starred in The Godfather III, but it’s generally agreed that was the worst of the three.
So, from these waning film careers comes a terrible movie with an ending you can see from the beginning of the film.
Now I have been a little harsh on our three stars, but they are not completely to blame for this bad film, but the screenwriter should be hiding in a hole somewhere. The beauty of a thriller such as this, are the twists and turns it takes you on as you try to figure out who the killer is. Unfortunately, the “subtle” hints in this one aren’t so “subtle” and the killer is revealed if you are willing to pay just the slightest amount of attention.
Ashley Judd plays Jessica Shepard, a female police detective who has just made homicide, but on her first day she gets assigned to a case where she discovers all the murder victims are her past one-night stands. Her partner on this particular murder case is Mike Delmarco (Garcia), who is consistently acting in a peculiar manner.
I won’t give too much away but she has been raised by John Mills (Jackson) ever since her father went on a killing spree, which ended with him killing her mother and then himself.
Now this movie was originally titled The Blackout Murders about a year ago and the reasoning for that is because every time a murder is committed Jessica finds herself passing out in her apartment after drinking heavy amounts of wine. It is at this time that the clues to the killer are thrown in your face.
The film is all too convenient and poorly paced as murders spring up here and there, and then there is Jessica’s past lover, Jimmy Schmidt, a fellow cop from before she was promoted who continually just shows up in her house, often times angry and aggressive.
Ashley Judd is just too cute and too likeable to carry off the role of a nymphomaniac, angry drunk cop and the story falters every step of the way.
