An entertaining film for a rainy day. The plot is successful without being especially high budget and is carried by a few good scenes.However, the lead actor is noticeably wooden in his approach to the good cop position. The overall plot has a bundle of twists and turns but unfortunately still leaves an uneasy feeling about both characters morals towards the ending.I can't tell if my expectations were too high or the overall feeling afterwards was especially low but this film wasn't as good watching it for the second time. If it's on TV it's probably worth a look otherwise don't go out of your way to see it.
... View MoreWell acted, especially by Sam Neill, who plays a very likable crook in this film. The roles were all well cast, mostly played by character actors rather than people picked for star power or appearance. The plot was twisted, but still easy to follow, and the characters all behaved in character. Mike's wife, at first unsympathetic, became more attractive towards the end, and the hatchet burying rang true. The twists all worked well, pacing was well-maintained, and the cast and characters all did a great job. I appreciated the mostly clean language, too. A lot of films of this kind seem to be trying to attract attention by making all the characters foul-mouthed and unpleasant. Information was dropped as and when it was needed, neither being over-explained or left floating.
... View MoreI watched this as I had seen the original British 4 part series a few years back. This version wasn't bad but was not in the same league as the series which starred Timothy Dalton as Eddie Myers leading a very good cast.Le Plante is a good writer and her stuff is better in either a long movie version or spread over several episodes. This movie for TV version wasn't so good because the story needed longer to tell and cutting down on time and detail just made it look as though it was cheaply made.If you compare it to the 1992 4 hour series it shows just how mediocre it is. Nothing wrong with the acting, just that a good story was badly diluted.
... View MoreI`ve never been a subscriber to the the train of thought that Lynda La Plante is one of the greatest writers in the history of British television . Her success his mainly down down to other people especially to producers like Verity Lambert who has produced much of La Plante`s output . Don`t believe me ? Watch this version of FRAMED then Being an American movie produced for television there`s criteria as to what can and cannot be shown , so out goes the grittiness ...ooopps sorry " grittiness " that La Plante is famed for so we`re just left with the bare bones of La Plante`s original teleplay and it doesn`t hold up to too much scrutiny . NYPD cop Mike Santini arrests international criminal mastermind Eddie Meyers who then turns prosecution witness ? Forgive me for asking but do cops get assinged to look after the same people they arrested on the witness protection program ? Am I alone in thinking Mike is the only cop assinged to looking after Meyers ? and how does Mike manage to afford a big house and swimming pool if he`s a mere detective ? The plot twists and turns which ends up making it not complex but somewhat contrived and there`s a bizarre scene where Sam Neill`s character ( And Neill plays Meyers in a totally camp way ) emulates a scene in a police car that another character played by Sam Neill did 25 years earlier in the movie SLEEPING DOGS . The script is mainly to blame for this mediocre crime tale but it`s not really helped by Daniel Petrie`s directing or the usual TVM restraints on budget . No doubt La Plante afficianados can blame American TVM network regulations on its failure , but if that`s the case shouldn`t other people be getting the credit for La Plante`s British TV successes ?
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