Fatal Beauty

I like this movie. It has a very good cast. The storyline is good. The action moves along well. The Mustang is very nice except for the color. It has one of my favorite actors. Brad Dourif. He is excellent in every role. Since Richard Lynch passed he has taken over as my favorite bad guy.

A good movie that was overlooked and deserves more recognition. A forgotten movies from the 80's. Especially when it was sandwiched between 2 other Tom Holland movies such as FRIGHT NIGHT and CHILD'S PLAY.

I do love what Whoopi Goldberg does with her character Rizzoli as an undercover narcotics cop. But the term Fatal Beauty is for a certain deadly designer drug that she is tracking down the source of. Nevertheless Whoopi proves to be quite fatal to any number of the characters in the film. But this film suffers from a really muddled script and the distinct possibility that the several bad guys who want this shipment of this nasty Fatal Beauty stuff are imbibing a bit too much of it themselves. Whoopi's target is Harris Yulin a big New Orleans contractor who is deep in the narcotics trade unofficially. But Yulin himself has troubles in his own ranks. Sam Elliott's character as Yulin's bodyguard and enforcer is also a mystery. I couldn't figure out what his function is as he keeps saving Goldberg. Whoopi is fun to watch especially slugging it out with rich society woman Jennifer Warren. But the film is just too murky.

Director Tom Holland attempts to bring the "Whoopi Goldberg caper comedy" into a new era by adding more serious, dramatic content, drugs and violence. The picture ends up being a murky hybrid of different styles, with Goldberg cast as a cop in Los Angeles tracking down a narcotics ring dealing in killer drugs (isn't that redundant?). Sub-plot romance between Whoopi and fellow cop Sam Elliott never gets off the ground (mainly because Holland keeps most of this story-thread off the screen), while Goldberg tosses in a few sassy asides to reassure us she hasn't become Dirty Harriet. The end result shows definite signs of post-production tinkering, and very little of it is successful. *1/2 from ****

Enjoyable movie, albeit a bit violent for my liking. Whoopi shows sentiment and goofiness at the same time. She and Sam Elliot are an odd combination tho, but it seems to work. Whoopi plays a drug cop who made some poor choices as a young mother. She is attempting to pay back society for her mistakes by being a caring cop. She tends to be the butt of the department, but her devotion to her job is endearing. Sam Elliot is self-righteous and not entirely believable, I mean, who would be a body guard for a drug baron and then for a drug cop? Just a bit of a stretch. Still, the movie is better than middle. Bottom line - I wouldn't rush out and buy the DVD, but I do enjoy watching it when it comes on TV.

Whoopi Goldberg succeeds in adding spunk, wit, and a little heart in what could have been a boring pro forma shoot-em-up. Tired cop movie clichés suddenly seem fresh with a woman, especially one as charismatic as Whoopi in the lead role. She and Sam Elliot have an undeniable chemistry that's evident from the moment they appear on screen together for the first time. Go figure! The film is pretty climatic; shoot outs where the bad guys miss and the good guys don't, and some moments where the hero's in a jam but their partner appears out of nowhere to save the day, etc. But the film is full of solid, engrossing performances, particularly Goldberg, Elliot, and Dourif, and an engaging, albeit derivative plot. Overall not a bad way to kill an hour and some change. 6.5 stars.