Wednesday, October 02, 2019

Brief Thoughts - VISITING HOURS (1982)


VISITING HOURS (1982)- Lee Grant plays a television talk show host and commentator who stands up for people she thinks have been wronged. Her latest crusade focuses on a battered wife convicted of an attempted murder of her husband. This stance so angers the nearly silent character played by Michael Ironside that he breaks into her house, kills her housekeeper and tries very hard to filet Miss Grant. It seems he hates women because of his strict upraising but since he seems to hate black people, Mexican people and anyone who isn’t staring back at him from the mirror it’s hard to figure out his fixation on this poor lady. At least he’s an equal opportunity hater. Anyway, Grant spends the bulk of the movie in the hospital as Ironside continues to try to kill her.

I have to be honest and admit the reason I initially checked this out is because William Shatner plays Grant’s boss so I was hoping for a bit of Shatnerama. Didn’t get any of that- in fact the Shat Man is quite good throughout, but it was nice to see his toupee glisten in the stage lights. And in his longest scene with Lee he works a spoon and a plastic cup of pudding like it was Yorick's skull!


The film itself isn’t bad but it isn’t very good either. It’s a competently made, middle of the road film. Nothing special.


No comments: