***MAJOR SPOILERS*** With both his wife Elizabeth and 9 year old daughter Amy, Genevieve Bujold & Wanda Blackman, kidnapped and held for a $500,00.00 ransom a frantic Michael Courtland, Cliff Robertson, will do anything in his power to get them released even give into their kidnappers demands. Told instead by Police Inspector Brie, Stanley J. Reyes, to let his New Orleans police rescue them Michael allows a homing device put into the briefcase with the $500,00.00 of his real-estate development firms money to track them down. The plan goes terribly wrong with the kidnappers finding the device-which wasn't hidden at all but right in front of them when they opened the briefcase-and in being chased by the police they end up crashing into an gasoline delivery truck killing themselves together with Elizabeth & Amy.
It's now 16 years later-1975-and Michael still hasn't gotten over his wife and daughters deaths and has been under psychiatric care all that time. What Michael had also done is erect a massive monument to his wife and daughter that prevented any real-estate being developed into luxury condos on the Pontchartrain Estates outside the city of New Orleans that he and his good friend and business partner Robert Lasalla, John Lithgow, own. Going on a leisurely business trip to Florance Italy Lasalle talks the reclusive Michael into tagging along with him for some R&R, rest and recreation, that he so desperately needs.
As things turned out Michael's trip to Florence was anything but uneventful for him. It was there at a local 13th century cathedral, where in fact he met Elizabeth after the war, that he spotted young Sandra Portinari, also played by Miss. Bujold, who's the spiting image of his long deceased wife Elizabeth! With his mind already seriously damaged over Elizeabth death the sight of her look-alike twin Sandra made it short circuit! Like a man totally obsessed the glassed eyed and zombie-like Michael went after Sandra who's young enough to be his own daughter not leaving her along for a moment to the point where his friend Lassale almost wanted to have him committed before he ends up doing something that can land him behind bars.
This crazed obsession finally has a very confused and at the same time impressed, in Michael having the hots for her, Sandra give in to him and accept his proposal of marriage to her! Now back home in New Orleans and with the big wedding-with some 200 invited gusts-just days away Sandra is kidnapped and held hostage for the same amount of randsom-$500,000.00-that Michael's wife and daughter were some 16 years ago!
**SPOILERS*** By now it should have become very apparent to Michael that somethings not quite kosher, besides the shrimp gumbo and pork ribs he's been eating, in what's been going on since he first met Sandra back in Florance Italy. Right down to her being kidnapped under the very same conditions that his both wife and daughter were back in the spring o 1959! Thinking that this is his second chance for him to redeem himself in saving his dead wife and daughter Michael again gets his friend Lasalle to give him- from their Pontchartrain Estates investments-a half million dollars to get his fiancée Sandra freed. As things turned the results are the same as before in getting the ransom money to the kidnappers which they never got, or did they?, but the ending in what eventually happens to Sandra is a whole lot different!
Very predictable surprise ending that Michael should have easily figured, like almost everyone else watching did, out but didn't until the last fleeing seconds of the movie. This could be explained in that Michael was so traumatized and confused over the events that lead up to it that he ceased to use his God-given brain properly but gave into his obsession instead! Not just about Sandra in being the reincarnation of his late wife Elizabeth but what he later suspected she was planning for him all this time even before he met her in Florance!***MAJOR SPOILER*** The films perfect ending not only brought Michael and Sandra together but ironically prevented their marriage from both happening and being consummated! If in fact that happened Michael as fragile and emotionally unstable as he was before would have ended up going straight off the deep end! WIth him ending up either being put away for life in a local loony bin or putting a gun to his head and blowing his brains out!
It's now 16 years later-1975-and Michael still hasn't gotten over his wife and daughters deaths and has been under psychiatric care all that time. What Michael had also done is erect a massive monument to his wife and daughter that prevented any real-estate being developed into luxury condos on the Pontchartrain Estates outside the city of New Orleans that he and his good friend and business partner Robert Lasalla, John Lithgow, own. Going on a leisurely business trip to Florance Italy Lasalle talks the reclusive Michael into tagging along with him for some R&R, rest and recreation, that he so desperately needs.
As things turned out Michael's trip to Florence was anything but uneventful for him. It was there at a local 13th century cathedral, where in fact he met Elizabeth after the war, that he spotted young Sandra Portinari, also played by Miss. Bujold, who's the spiting image of his long deceased wife Elizabeth! With his mind already seriously damaged over Elizeabth death the sight of her look-alike twin Sandra made it short circuit! Like a man totally obsessed the glassed eyed and zombie-like Michael went after Sandra who's young enough to be his own daughter not leaving her along for a moment to the point where his friend Lassale almost wanted to have him committed before he ends up doing something that can land him behind bars.
This crazed obsession finally has a very confused and at the same time impressed, in Michael having the hots for her, Sandra give in to him and accept his proposal of marriage to her! Now back home in New Orleans and with the big wedding-with some 200 invited gusts-just days away Sandra is kidnapped and held hostage for the same amount of randsom-$500,000.00-that Michael's wife and daughter were some 16 years ago!
**SPOILERS*** By now it should have become very apparent to Michael that somethings not quite kosher, besides the shrimp gumbo and pork ribs he's been eating, in what's been going on since he first met Sandra back in Florance Italy. Right down to her being kidnapped under the very same conditions that his both wife and daughter were back in the spring o 1959! Thinking that this is his second chance for him to redeem himself in saving his dead wife and daughter Michael again gets his friend Lasalle to give him- from their Pontchartrain Estates investments-a half million dollars to get his fiancée Sandra freed. As things turned the results are the same as before in getting the ransom money to the kidnappers which they never got, or did they?, but the ending in what eventually happens to Sandra is a whole lot different!
Very predictable surprise ending that Michael should have easily figured, like almost everyone else watching did, out but didn't until the last fleeing seconds of the movie. This could be explained in that Michael was so traumatized and confused over the events that lead up to it that he ceased to use his God-given brain properly but gave into his obsession instead! Not just about Sandra in being the reincarnation of his late wife Elizabeth but what he later suspected she was planning for him all this time even before he met her in Florance!***MAJOR SPOILER*** The films perfect ending not only brought Michael and Sandra together but ironically prevented their marriage from both happening and being consummated! If in fact that happened Michael as fragile and emotionally unstable as he was before would have ended up going straight off the deep end! WIth him ending up either being put away for life in a local loony bin or putting a gun to his head and blowing his brains out!