Terry Lambert (Steve Guttenburg) is having an affair with Sylvia Wentworth (Isabelle Huppert), who just happens to be married to his boss Collin (Paul Shenar). Late one night (long after midnight) Sylvia witnesses a red-headed man assaulting a young woman outside of Terry's bedroom window. Trying to do the right thing – without implicating Sylvia's faithlessness – Terry calls the Baltimore police. He provides the two detectives who visit him (Quirke = Carl Lumlee, Jessup = Frederick Coffin) the assailant's description as provided by Sylvia. But it is not smooth sailing for Terry, as he obviously cannot identify the suspect at the police line-up in the presence of the victim Denise Connolly (Elizabeth McGovern). On a hunch, Terry follows one of the suspects, Carl Henderson (Brad Greenquist) to his workplace at the Patapsco Shipyard. After that, he tails Henderson to the Fells Point Saloon, where an active and wild blonde (Sara Carlson) dances on tables and gets everyone's attention. By the next day the sexy blonde is dead. A serial rapist- murderer is on the loose.
Terry returns to the police headquarters and makes a statement to help the lawmen obtain a search warrant on Henderson. But it seems that no one remembered Henderson at the bar, as he remained in the background drinking a beer all alone. Furthermore, nothing incriminating was found at Henderson's place – no fingerprints, no blood samples, no fibers. There is no proof that Henderson is a rapist/murderer. But at least there is the assault charge as reported by Terry that will drag Henderson in court and probably put him behind bars for a while.
At court we finally discover that Terry wears contact lenses. Yikes! What was he thinking when he called the police in the first place? Didn't Sylvia know this fact? Of course his testimony doesn't hold up, despite the attempt of Sylvia (as a spectator) to coach him. The case is dismissed for insufficient evidence and the police are ticked off. What Terry does not know is that Sylvia's feeble attempt at coaching was noticed by both the victim, Denise, and the suspect, Henderson.
Returning to his apartment, Terry is approached by a woman – a neighbor – who tells him detectives came by and asked questions about him. Some of what she said contradicted some of Terry's previous statements. Then Denise stops by and tells Terry that she saw Sylvia's actions in the courtroom. Denise was not amused. Meanwhile police suspicion has focused on Terry, who is in a dilemma, while Sylvia, who was of no help, says goodbye. She (sort of) confesses to her husband, Collin, about her affair and he forgives her. At a formal ballet, in which the principals in the movie attend, Henderson stabs Sylvia to death to remove a potential witness against him. How Henderson knew she was there is beyond understanding. Of course, people in attendance believe that Terry is the assailant, so he flees. He ends up in Denise's apartment, and she decides to help him. They talk a good deal and work out a single-minded scheme to trap Henderson.
They call the detectives and tail Henderson to Edgar's Solid Gold, a dive. Denise will be a lure to smoke out the murderer. You just know something will not go as planned. It gets a little ridiculous, and there are strange coincidences that pop up. To name just two: (1) the large beer truck delivering late at night that obscures vision and (2) the dim-wit who just happens to hog the telephone booth at the worst possible time. In the end there is a wild fight between the protagonist and the antagonist.
Steve Guttenburg is no Jimmy Stewart, and Isabelle Huppert is no Grace Kelly. Furthermore, Huppert's character is totally unlikeable because of her adultery, selfishness, and detachment. There is nice on- location shooting in Baltimore (also, Wilmington and Winston-Salem) and we are spared any gory details about the murders. But because the script has holes, the intriguing main premise degenerates into a credibility problem. This feature is best watched only on a surface level.
Terry returns to the police headquarters and makes a statement to help the lawmen obtain a search warrant on Henderson. But it seems that no one remembered Henderson at the bar, as he remained in the background drinking a beer all alone. Furthermore, nothing incriminating was found at Henderson's place – no fingerprints, no blood samples, no fibers. There is no proof that Henderson is a rapist/murderer. But at least there is the assault charge as reported by Terry that will drag Henderson in court and probably put him behind bars for a while.
At court we finally discover that Terry wears contact lenses. Yikes! What was he thinking when he called the police in the first place? Didn't Sylvia know this fact? Of course his testimony doesn't hold up, despite the attempt of Sylvia (as a spectator) to coach him. The case is dismissed for insufficient evidence and the police are ticked off. What Terry does not know is that Sylvia's feeble attempt at coaching was noticed by both the victim, Denise, and the suspect, Henderson.
Returning to his apartment, Terry is approached by a woman – a neighbor – who tells him detectives came by and asked questions about him. Some of what she said contradicted some of Terry's previous statements. Then Denise stops by and tells Terry that she saw Sylvia's actions in the courtroom. Denise was not amused. Meanwhile police suspicion has focused on Terry, who is in a dilemma, while Sylvia, who was of no help, says goodbye. She (sort of) confesses to her husband, Collin, about her affair and he forgives her. At a formal ballet, in which the principals in the movie attend, Henderson stabs Sylvia to death to remove a potential witness against him. How Henderson knew she was there is beyond understanding. Of course, people in attendance believe that Terry is the assailant, so he flees. He ends up in Denise's apartment, and she decides to help him. They talk a good deal and work out a single-minded scheme to trap Henderson.
They call the detectives and tail Henderson to Edgar's Solid Gold, a dive. Denise will be a lure to smoke out the murderer. You just know something will not go as planned. It gets a little ridiculous, and there are strange coincidences that pop up. To name just two: (1) the large beer truck delivering late at night that obscures vision and (2) the dim-wit who just happens to hog the telephone booth at the worst possible time. In the end there is a wild fight between the protagonist and the antagonist.
Steve Guttenburg is no Jimmy Stewart, and Isabelle Huppert is no Grace Kelly. Furthermore, Huppert's character is totally unlikeable because of her adultery, selfishness, and detachment. There is nice on- location shooting in Baltimore (also, Wilmington and Winston-Salem) and we are spared any gory details about the murders. But because the script has holes, the intriguing main premise degenerates into a credibility problem. This feature is best watched only on a surface level.