Sat 15 Apr 2017
An Archived PI Movie Review: DEAD AGAIN (1991).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[23] Comments
DEAD AGAIN. Paramount Pictures, 1991. Kenneth Branagh, Andy Garcia, Derek Jacobi, Emma Thompson (and Robin Williams). Director: Kenneth Branagh.
A California home for orphans and indigent children asks a breezy young PI named Mike Church to investigate a strange intruder-visitor there, an equally young woman who is unable to speak, with no memory of who she is, but who has the most violent nightmares after she barricades herself inside her room at night.
With the aid of a friendly hypnotist, together they discover that one of her past lives has apparently converged upon her present one, with an old murder case that made headlines in 1949 at the core of the matter. There are a couple of other twists to come, neither one of which were expected (by me) at all.
This is an utterly marvelous motion picture, a true Gothic neo-noir, but one that I’m sure I would have missed altogether if it weren’t for the private eye trapping. Karma-freak or not, don’t make the same mistake. And while this is Branagh’s movie all the way through, it’s also the first time I have seen Emma Thompson in action. What a revelation as an actor she is. It won’t be the last time I’ll see her in a movie, I can assure you of that.
PostScript: Absolutely incidentally, and for no extra fee, this motion picture also contains the greatest advertisement for non-smoking that you can ever imagine.
April 15th, 2017 at 4:09 pm
Just to prove that we all have our own tastes and preferences, I remember going to see this one year after we got home from England and read all the rave reviews. Can’t remember the details now, but I remember HATING it.
April 15th, 2017 at 4:29 pm
You and I agree on lots of books and movies, Jeff, but no, this time I kind of get the feeling that we don’t.
I don’t remember many of the details myself, just an overall sense of everything fitting together nicely, including the twists. I’m going to have to watch this one again.
April 15th, 2017 at 7:47 pm
If memory serves, this was Kenneth Branagh’s first movie in the USA (correction welcomed).
In any event, Branagh’s first shot on-screen is a neat inside joke:
Mike Church is sitting in a parked car, and a passing driver calls out to him, “Hey, you’re on the wrong side of the road!”
… Well, I thought it was funny …
April 15th, 2017 at 9:07 pm
I couldn’t find anything to contradict your statement that this was Branagh’s first US film, and a I’m fairly sure it was part of the publicity for the film at the time. But my goodness, he was young then, only 30. And Emma Thompson, about the same. Where has the time gone?
PS. I liked your story. Your sense of humor is the same as mine.
April 15th, 2017 at 9:18 pm
You can see quite a bit more of Emma Thompson in “The Tall Guy”. Funniest sex scene ever.
April 15th, 2017 at 10:04 pm
I’ve heard of that movie, viktor. Someone else recommended it to me once, but I never followed up on it. Maybe I will now, given a second prodding.
April 15th, 2017 at 10:17 pm
A top-notch movie, including a bit part from future Hamlet Campbell Scott.
April 16th, 2017 at 12:23 am
Long years ago, our wondrous PBS station here in Chicago ran some episodes of Thompson, a sketch show that Emma Thompson did with then-husband Kenneth Branagh, accompanied by a troupe that included Thompson’s mother Phyllida Law, Imelda Staunton, Robbie Coltrane, and various and sundry actors in the Branagh orbit.
There were sketches (Ken & Em as Robin & Marian having a bedtime tiff; Em doing a commercial, with Ken as a mumbling floor director, etc.), musical numbers (Imelda Staunton has a helluva singing voice), and all kinds of other stuff.
The show opened and closed with Thompson doing a free-form dance to the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Unsquare Dance”; one of my all-time favorites.
Channel 11 had (has) an approach to scheduling that might best be described as catch-as-catch-can; I tried as best I could to tape this series, to little avail. If there’s a DVD set of Thompson available (I have a region-free DVD player), I’d love to find one .
April 16th, 2017 at 12:32 am
There are some other people who remember that show and are looking for it too:
http://ask.metafilter.com/90613/Looking-for-Emma-Thompson-TV-series
There were only six episodes (according to IMDb) so it’s never going to be commercially released. Someone may have taped it from their own PBS station, and who knows, it may show up unofficially someday.
It’s tough to Google the series. Most of what comes up are references to the TV show FAMILY with Sada Thompson.
April 16th, 2017 at 3:31 am
This like TWILIGHT with Paul Newman is a wonderful underappreciated private eye film, this one with a wicked almost subversive sense of humor.
It’s the kind of film Altman should have made of THE LONG GOODBYE if he wanted to send up Marlowe and Chandler instead of the mess he did make.
April 16th, 2017 at 5:39 am
Yes on THE TALL GUY. And one more with Thompson to recommend: the 6-part Scottish series from 1987, TUTTI FRUTTI. A “legendary” Scottish rock & roll band is on the verge of their “Silver Anniversary” tour when lead singer Big Jazza is killed in a car crash. Their devious manager (played by Richard Wilson of ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE fame) gets Jazza’s younger brother (both played by Robbie Coltrane) to join the band as the new lead singer, and Thompson, a classmate of his, joins as a guitarist.
I’m not sure if this was ever shown in this country. We saw it in England and bought the DVD set (Region 2) when it was released in 2009.
April 16th, 2017 at 1:07 pm
Here’s a four minute clip from TUTTI FRUTTI, thanks to YouTube:
April 16th, 2017 at 1:11 pm
Those without all-region DVD players might check out ioffer.com for a seller that has the complete series for sale. I don’t know the seller, but he/she has a very good rating.
April 16th, 2017 at 2:41 pm
Just having six episodes wouldn’t be a bar to a DVD release in GB.
I know this because Whoops Apocalypse! (6 episodes) is on my DVD wall (semi-imported bootleg).
This is an off-the-wall spoof thriller about idiot governments all over the world (circa 1980), with an all-star cast: Barry Morse (as the US President), Geoffrey Palmer, Peter Jones (as the British Government), Richard Griffiths (as the Soviet Premier), John Cleese (as International Terrorism), and a whole bunch of others; script by David Renwick (Jonathan Creek) and Andrew Marshall.
Whoops never played here in the USA (or at least not in Chicago), but another Renwick/Marshall Britcom did – Hot Metal, about the Fleet Street tabloids (two sets of six), and I’m looking for those as well.
So much for my Transatlantic shopping list …
April 17th, 2017 at 5:26 am
I loved HOT METAL! Our British friends introduced us to it, the same way they did (over the years) with TUTTI FRUTTI, ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE, WAITING FOR GOD, JONATHAN CREEK, RED DWARF, and many others.
Never heard of WHOOPS APOCALYPSE, though. Will look for it.
April 17th, 2017 at 5:28 am
Richard Wilson was in the second series of HOT METAL, replacing Geoffrey Palmer.
April 17th, 2017 at 10:52 am
Jeff: So you know:
Several years after Whoops Apocalypse!, the TV series, David Renwick and Andrew Marshall reworked the whole concept into a theatrical feature, which did manage to get into US movie houses – but not for very long.
WA!- The Movie has a completely different storyline (storylines, actually) than the TV series.
Also very different casting: the US President is Loretta Swit, the GB Prime Minister is Peter Cook, International Terrorism is Michael Richards, et al.
One interesting corollary:
There’s a running gag about a motormouthed American news anchor, popping up with nutty updates on the action.
In the TV show, this part is played by Ed Bishop, whom the SFites on this site will recall from Gerry Anderson’s UFO series (here you get to see his real hair).
In the movie, this part is played by Roger Grimsby, who was the famously sobersided anchorman for WABC-TV in New York City – and occasional self-spoofer in early Woody Allen movies. (Make of this whatever you will …).
Anyway …
I had a devil of a time getting DVDs of both versions, so be forewarned.
April 17th, 2017 at 11:13 am
Sudden (but necessary) correction:
Just back from IMDb.
Roger Grimsby is not in Whoops Apocalypse – The Movie.
In my own defense, the guy who does play the anchorman looks and sounds an awful lot like Grimsby …
… and Grimsby did do those Woody Allen movies …
You can find WA – The Movie on YouTube, as well as parts of the series.
April 19th, 2017 at 8:49 am
THOMPSON was my introduction to most of its cast. Enjoyed it enormously.
Was a little disappointed by DEAD AGAIN, since I went in with high expectations, but still mildly enjoyed it. One of the few films with an effective trailer — Derek Jacobi intoning “This is all Far from over.” is as sinister as anyone could want.
April 19th, 2017 at 7:11 pm
OVERLOOKED A/V posted tonight has some YT links to THOMPSON episodes.
http://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2017/04/overlooked-av-films-television-and-much.html
April 19th, 2017 at 8:07 pm
Thanks, Todd. Glad you found these.
A direct link to Episode 1, Part 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcSyoRkMiyo
But check out the full list of Overlooked Movies on Todd’s blog, too. It may be his longest one yet.
April 22nd, 2017 at 4:58 pm
I enjoyed DEAD AGAIN although it’s definitely a 1990s film in terms of its preoccupation with “Past Lives” and Reincarnation. Great cast!
April 22nd, 2017 at 9:24 pm
George didn’t mention it, but he just posted his own review of DEAD AGAIN on his blog today, quite independently of this one. Here’s the link:
http://georgekelley.org/dead-again/