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Director Yates and writer Steve Tesich's follow-up to Breaking Away might have been an intriguing romantic drama, but is instead a contrived thriller with unbelievable romantic overtones. It's about a janitor (William Hurt) who intimates he knows more about a murder than he actually does in order to get close to a woman reporter (Sigourney Weaver) on whom he has had a crush for years. This, of course, makes him a target himself. With overdramatized characters (absolutely everyone has issues), lots of red herrings, a political tie-in to Jewish refugees, and a couple of cops who seem to believe the stakeout is a police officer's raison d'etre. Star-studded, however: in addition to Hurt and Weaver, the cast includes Christopher Plummer, James Woods, Steven Hill, and Morgan Freeman.
Director Yates and writer Steve Tesich's follow-up to Breaking Away might have been an intriguing romantic drama, but is instead a contrived thriller with unbelievable romantic overtones. It's about a janitor (William Hurt) who intimates he knows more about a murder than he actually does in order to get close to a woman reporter (Sigourney Weaver) on whom he has had a crush for years. This, of course, makes him a target himself. With overdramatized characters (absolutely everyone has issues), lots of red herrings, a political tie-in to Jewish refugees, and a couple of cops who seem to believe the stakeout is a police officer's raison d'etre. Star-studded, however: in addition to Hurt and Weaver, the cast includes Christopher Plummer, James Woods, Steven Hill, and Morgan Freeman.