A Major Disappointment

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Richard Thomas is so good in this part it's scary. The first time I saw this I thought, he can't be that good an actor, he must be a maniac in real life. He does a very effective job, playing a techno geek who becomes obsessed with a coworker. He takes it from being just an annoying pest through the stalker stage, into the full blown maniac stage. Even when he is walking around with a shot gun he is very believable. No Rambo type violence, just a seemingly normal person who happens to be treating life like a video game. It is disturbing and you ask yourself, what would you tell your daughter or friend to do in that type of situation. All the legal avenues seem to make it worse. There are no easy answers. It definitely made me want to look into the case this is based on. Thomas was expected to carry the movie and he did. Brooke Shields was perhaps at her best in this part, but the whole movie hinges on if you buy into Thomas as the stalker and it does it quite well!

This is a truly frightening story of a real stalking case. In fact, the story this movie revolves around pioneered the anti-stalking law in California and likely inspired other states to do the same.Richard Farley (played by Richard Thomas, in a role at the other end of the spectrum from his role in The Waltons) is an office nerd-of-sorts who thinks he has a shot with Laura Black (Brooke Shields), a new co-worker at a Northern California high-tech firm. Farley ruthlessly pursues Black in spite of her rejections. In spite of Black's protests, Farley keeps up his pursuit, even sending letters to her at her parents' home in VA. (This event actually happened).*SPOILER FOLLOWING*Farley continues his pursuit until, after threatening the HR people at his company (another real event), he is fired and banned from the property. However he still pursues Laura until he is served with a temporary restraint order keeping him away from her. What follows is a terrifying attack against his old employer. In a sequence that shatters actor Thomas' wholesome image, he goes 'postal' and ruthlessly guns down several people, including Laura, who managed to escape. This segment seems to follow the real story almost right down to the last detail, including those surrounding Farley's surrender.I have heard of the story surrounding Laura Black, and this movie fit most of the particulars almost to a T. The depth of the writers' attention to the details of the Laura Black stalking made this movie that much more frightening. It is better than most TV movies which take a fair bit of dramatic license with their writing. Unlike those, this one sticks very close to the actual story.

A factual account of a young man who has gone berserk after failing to garner the attentions of a female co-worker. Richard Thomas is as far off from his "John Boy" image as he get get. What a great performance. Brooke Shields is adequate as the stalked girl. The culmination of Thomas' rampage ends with his entering his former workplace armed to the teeth. Too bad it's not on video. If it ever is, catch it and have a "thrilling" time watching it.

This movie was fun to watch because I get to see Brooke Shields. I didn't know it was her till later but I loved the movie even then. I don't think Brooke Shields' acting was bad. She just had to play the role of the victimized women. She did seem kind of cold though. In real life, she should have given the guy a chance. Go out just one date. But then, Richard was extreme in his actions. He should just find another girl. So I don't think he really loved her. He was just obsessed. But don't analyze everything too much. Just watch it. :)