This movie does have some things going for it; above all, the performances of Kathleen Turner and Angela Goethals. Turner fits the profile of her character and is believably tough, sarcastic and funny, while Goethals is one of the best teen actresses I've seen in a while, with a sharp timing that matches Turner; those two make an enjoyable team. And yet something holds the movie back from being anything more than a passable diversion - maybe it's the plot, which is interesting for the most part but gets a little too far-fetched at the end (without spoiling anything, I couldn't easily accept that "person A" was so intent on killing "person B"), or maybe it's the direction, which doesn't have enough style and doesn't make much use of the Chicago locations (apart from a boat chase). It's kind of a shame that this movie didn't get any sequels - they had the right actress for the part, all they needed was a better vehicle for her. ** out of 4.
Review of V.I. Warshawski
