Instant Favorite.

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

not a bad movie. just not a good one. it is tolerable, the kind of movie you will end up watching if you are sick in bed and can't find the remote. it's a "movie of the week" paced like a mini-series event scheduled during sweeps. Tom Berenger is good (as he always is) and Cybill Shepherd is, well, Cybill Shepherd. Annabeth Gish is totally wasted. She seems to actually be absent through most of her performance except for the occasional shrill outburst towards the end. You can't really blame the actors because the real flaw is the story line and script: back-to-back pointless and clichéd conversations that do nothing to move the plot along.

Tom Berenger plays Malcolm Ainslie, a former priest turned detective, and he has one big case on his hands. A madman is killing elderly residents in gruesome fashion and his actions seem to be somewhat borrowed form The Book of Revelations. As a former priest, Ainslie might just prove to be the perfect one to solve the case.Mixing in Ainslie's troubled personal life, Detective has a good story throughout it's running time. I can't help thinking this could have been even better had it not been a Hallmark presentation. There's no gore here (but plenty of opportunities) and the suspense seems to watered down somewhat, especially during the climax. It's totally got that TV feel to it, but director choirs are well handled by David Cass, a seasoned television director.The cast is mostly good. Tom Berenger is good as Ainslie, handling all aspects of the character well. Cybill Sheperd is fine as his wife but Annabeth Gish is completely stone-faced all the way through. It's fun to see Charles Durning but his role is a small one.Had this movie gotten the theatrical treatment it could have been one hell of a thriller. Sourced from a good book by Arthur Hailey, it really cries out for better production values and some bloody set pieces. Still, it's quite good all the same.

This is story about and ex-priest homicide detective who struggling to solve serial murders which they had references to holy bible..besides his personal relationships and problems with separated wife ( Shepherd ) and love affair with his partner ( Gish ).Although having some good and talented actors like Berenger , Gish and Shepherd this mini - series one of the worst I'd ever watched on TV recently.Nothing goes on well.Where is drama ? where is thrilling.so awful script ( characters , dialogs ) so awful directing...perfect example of third class - cheap film which has been made of American cable TV...besides sad see Cybill shepherd so old gained pounds so much...stay away...if you are not a great time waster or film masochist...and what frank Whaley is looking for such bad movie in a very useless role..

Detective Sergeant Malcolm Ainslie (Berenger), a Catholic priest turned distinguished homicide investigator for the Miami police, has been summoned to hear the confession of Elroy Doil. The convicted serial killer-who Ainslie himself was responsible for catching, is scheduled to be executed the following morning. Suspected of the string of murders but convicted on only one count, Doil wants to come clean and reveal everything he knows. Ainslie can't refuse the crimes, committed four years before, still sear his memory. The victims: the elderly. The deaths: barbaric. The killer: a self-proclaimed avenger of God. But Doil's motives are more troubling, and more baffling than just that—for his own scars cut deep. So does the whole unknown story of the crimes that Doil has promised to reveal to Ainslie. What unfolds between the two men is a serpentine trail into both their pasts—one that questions everything they think they know about each other, about crime and punishment, about truth and justice.