My review was written in March 1993 after a screening in Manhattan's Kips Bay neighborhood.
A terminally dull would-be thriller, "Hear No Evil" has a perfunctory story with the gimmick of a deaf damsel-in-distress grafted on uncertainly. Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin's talents are wasted.
Matlin plays a physical trainer in Portland whose client (John C. McGinley) hides a rare stolen coin in her beeper before being nabbed by the cops.
McGinley's car blows up and corrupt cop Martin Sheen starts harassing Matlin to retrieve the coin. McGinley's pal D. B. Sweeney takes Matlin under his wing and the duo finally bring in the FBI to catch Sheen.
There's a lame duck final twist to this trivial story, but by then nearly all TV viewers will have tuned out. At least in theaters, where the film opened without press screenings, the audience is trapped into sticking it out.
Director Robert Greenwald and his scripters show little flair for suspense, nuance or even elementary thrills; the villain and nearly all story particulars are laid out in the opening minutes. In the final reel Matlin has a cat and mouse sequence with the killer, but unlike such effective films as "Wait Until Dark", her handicap (deafness) is not used as an equalizer but instead merely increases her jeopardy.
Supporting cast, particularly Martin Sheen as the zero-dimensional villain, performs with little involvement. Maitlin is sexy but not given a chance at characterization. Film's technical credits are subpar in an obvious B-movie exercise to fill out Fox's release schedule with a minimum of effort or commitment.
A terminally dull would-be thriller, "Hear No Evil" has a perfunctory story with the gimmick of a deaf damsel-in-distress grafted on uncertainly. Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin's talents are wasted.
Matlin plays a physical trainer in Portland whose client (John C. McGinley) hides a rare stolen coin in her beeper before being nabbed by the cops.
McGinley's car blows up and corrupt cop Martin Sheen starts harassing Matlin to retrieve the coin. McGinley's pal D. B. Sweeney takes Matlin under his wing and the duo finally bring in the FBI to catch Sheen.
There's a lame duck final twist to this trivial story, but by then nearly all TV viewers will have tuned out. At least in theaters, where the film opened without press screenings, the audience is trapped into sticking it out.
Director Robert Greenwald and his scripters show little flair for suspense, nuance or even elementary thrills; the villain and nearly all story particulars are laid out in the opening minutes. In the final reel Matlin has a cat and mouse sequence with the killer, but unlike such effective films as "Wait Until Dark", her handicap (deafness) is not used as an equalizer but instead merely increases her jeopardy.
Supporting cast, particularly Martin Sheen as the zero-dimensional villain, performs with little involvement. Maitlin is sexy but not given a chance at characterization. Film's technical credits are subpar in an obvious B-movie exercise to fill out Fox's release schedule with a minimum of effort or commitment.