High-flying yuppie lawyer is terrorized by a phone operator to surrender his material and sex filled lifestyle and find 'zen' solace from the traditional family values.
The film is rather weak and the plot not even remotely plausible. Of course the clichéd screenplay instructs his wife to believe the anonymous letters, throwing him to the streets. She won't listen a word from him because that's the easiest way to make the viewer feel frustrated in the situation. On another occasion the lawyer mistakes a wad of money inside an envelope in a situation that is there for a few weak laughs at most. Of course that's just a 'MacGuffin' on a side plot that could have been left out in the editing - at 100+ minutes the film feels tad lengthy, mostly due slow pacing at times.
How the female operator could listen to any calls (from her home) or access the bank details and so forth from her office computer? Is she something more...divine? Later, the lawyer has to confront a black pastor whom he earlier dismissed from jury work because of his skin color. Moved by the sermon the lawyer cries, and starts to change his life for the better. Oh please...! The producers agenda is at most visible in these moments.
Aside from all that stuff I must credit Mr. Laurence whose portrayal of the slimy lawyer is quite good and he's not uncharismatic on the screen. With a worse actor this reviewer wouldn't have granted all those 3 stars to this film. All the other actors including Tobolowsky and Brion James haven't got much to do and play their parts unspectacularly.
Why this film isn't marked as straight-to-video or TV movie is puzzling, as it certainly doesn't warrant cinema screenings!
The film is rather weak and the plot not even remotely plausible. Of course the clichéd screenplay instructs his wife to believe the anonymous letters, throwing him to the streets. She won't listen a word from him because that's the easiest way to make the viewer feel frustrated in the situation. On another occasion the lawyer mistakes a wad of money inside an envelope in a situation that is there for a few weak laughs at most. Of course that's just a 'MacGuffin' on a side plot that could have been left out in the editing - at 100+ minutes the film feels tad lengthy, mostly due slow pacing at times.
How the female operator could listen to any calls (from her home) or access the bank details and so forth from her office computer? Is she something more...divine? Later, the lawyer has to confront a black pastor whom he earlier dismissed from jury work because of his skin color. Moved by the sermon the lawyer cries, and starts to change his life for the better. Oh please...! The producers agenda is at most visible in these moments.
Aside from all that stuff I must credit Mr. Laurence whose portrayal of the slimy lawyer is quite good and he's not uncharismatic on the screen. With a worse actor this reviewer wouldn't have granted all those 3 stars to this film. All the other actors including Tobolowsky and Brion James haven't got much to do and play their parts unspectacularly.
Why this film isn't marked as straight-to-video or TV movie is puzzling, as it certainly doesn't warrant cinema screenings!