A Thief of Time (2004) (TV)

Director:

Chris Eyre

Writers:

Alice Arlen (writer)
Tony Hillerman (novel)

Release Date:

11 July 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Plot:

Officers Leaphorn and Chee search for a missing anthropologist suspected of stealing artifacts from a burial site.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Gary Farmer	...	Captain Largo
Adam Beach	...	Jim Chee
Ernest Tsosie III	...	Dispatcher Clem Allison
Wes Studi	...	Joe Leaphorn
Sheila Tousey	...	Emma Leaphorn
Kelly Byars	...	Delbert Tsosie
Alex Rice	...	Janet Pete
Beth Grant	...	Ranger Mildred Luna
Natowa Garcia	...	Larry
Kenneth White Eagle Wings	...	Pete Etcitty
Dawn Lewis	...	Maxie Davis
Graham Greene	...	Slick Nakai
Lee Tergesen	...	Randall Elliot
Susan Conklin	...	Marcia
David House	...	Dumont's Butler

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Esperanto

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Granada Film Productions

Movie Connections:

Follows Coyote Waits (2003) (TV)

I wish I could get a refund for the video rental; but nothing can repay me for the time I wasted watching this blah movie.

The action was episodic and there was no narrative thread to tie the episodes together and move the story forward. The plot plods along. With few exceptions (e.g., Graham Greene) the acting was uninspired, and pedestrian at best. The actors seemed to have something on their minds, other than the scene they were in. It is boring to observe a man driving a car through the semi- desert country of this movie's setting, whether he drives poorly or well. Such scenes are typical of the level of tension in the video. So there was nothing about this video to engage or draw the observer in, to make him or her care about the characters and the out comes. I am doubly disappointed because I rented this movie based on the reputations of the executive producer (Redford) and the writer of the novel on which it was based (Hillerman). I note that the jewel box reports that funding is provided by PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well as Carlton International. I would hope that this video was as disappointing to them as it was to me and my wife, to the point that they will not fund any more disasters coming from the same source.