Apology (1986) (TV)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Robert Bierman

Writer:

Mark Medoff (writer)

Release Date:

27 July 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

An experiment in art leads to an experience in terror...

Plot:

For her newest sculpture artist Lily has an unusual idea: During the exhibit she wants to play anonymous apologies...

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Artist | Telephone | Psycho Thriller | Manhattan

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lesley Ann Warren	...	Lily
Peter Weller	...	Rad Hungate
George Loros	...	Frank
John Glover	...	Philip
Jimmie Ray Weeks	...	Claude
Harvey Fierstein	...	The derelict
Charles S. Dutton	...	Asst. District Attorney (as Charles Dutton)
Skye Bassett	...	Anna
Garrett M. Brown	...	Gordon
Ellen Barber	...	Patty Garretson
Reathel Bean	...	Lt. Arnold Goodson
Chris Noth	...	Roy Burnette
Diana Reis	...	Jean
Joe Zaloom	...	Street vendor
Jay Devlin	...	Truck driver

Also Known As:

Apology for Murder (UK)

Runtime:

Canada:98 min | Germany:97 min | USA:93 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

ASAP Production

Soundtrack:

Alone In The Night (title song)

who says sorry seems to be the hardest word?!

This thriller benefits from strong direction by Robert Bierman and a top music score by Maurice Jarre. It's rare to find a score attached to this genre that isn't exploitative or overdone, and Jarre is an unusual choice which pays off, though adding lyrics to his theme and having it sung over the credits is a definite mistake. Apology is the name of conceptual artist Lesley Ann Warren's latest project, a phone service she has created to complement her latest "piece". It's basically an answering machine which you can project your guilt onto, but considering this is New York, it's not long before apology means confession and absolution to a nutter, and LAW becomes a woman in peril. Thank goodness she meets Peter Weller as a cop. Weller is such a steadfast presence that it's hard to believe him being psychoneurotic, which he is initially accused of. Warren is more the psychoneurotic type, but then she's an artist. You can guess that writer Mark Medoff doesn't miss any cliches with her conceptual artist role - she is styled badly, has lost custody of her child, and has an attitude. LAW has never been a strong performer. Perhaps only someone like Alan Rudolph in the way he presented her in Choose Me, knows how to overcome her flakiness. Here she is lit unflatteringly, her character is charmless (even given her predicament), and she seems to climax as soon as Weller touches her. Even her Apology project is lousy, where she plans to play the taped confessions, while her audience is trapped in a contraption the size of a train carriage. It doesn't occur to her that she hasn't told the apologisers how their confessions will be used, but then that's her life lesson. Medoff also throws in a sub plot about a serial gay killer (known affectionately in the force as the "schlong biter"), then quickly abandons it. While some late slo-mo sequences are a bit too cute, Bierman builds the chase with cross-cutting, but doesn't really give us a satisfactory conclusion. John Glover and Harvey Fierstein appear to little effect, and Chris Noth can be seen in an early small role.