: Domestic Disturbance
This is a John Travolta film I’d never heard of, but it wasn’t that bad. The story’s light but filled with potential (unfortunately minimally realized). It deals with a young boy who’s parents have split and she’s getting remarried. The boy is struggling with this when he accidentally witnesses his new step-dad murder someone. But no one will believe him: they all think this is his way of acting out against the marriage. Only his dad believes and starts an investigation, eventually leading to the step-dad revealing his true colors and being arrested. Predictably done, but I liked the whole “kid against the unbelieving world” syndrome (similar to the murder witness in Rear Window). If Hitchcock had done this he’d have had the kid be the main character instead of the dad (Travolta) and had him figure out a way to out-smart the villain. As it is, the dad really doesn’t do much (which is lame): when he starts his investigation, that prompts the bad guy to attempt to kill him, which opens things up and spoils the “did he or didn’t he” subtlty that was so appealing. There’s also a scene near the beginning where Travolta querries one of the bad guy’s friends rather aggressively, almost as if he suspected there was something fishy about the guy (who is later murdered). Like the whole movie, it could have been much better handled, but on the whole a neat idea.
Topic: [/movie] |
