V.I. Warshawski
V.I. Warshawski
R | 26 July 1991 (USA)
V.I. Warshawski Trailers

Victoria "V.I" Warshawski is a Chicago based private detective who agrees to babysit for her new boyfriend; then he is murdered. Being the detective type, she makes the murder her next case. In doing so she befriends the victim's daughter, Kat, and together they set out to crack the case.

Reviews
ChanBot

i must have seen a different film!!

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Dotbankey

A lot of fun.

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SpunkySelfTwitter

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

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Fleur

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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Uriah43

"V.I. Warshawski" (Kathleen Turner) is a private detective who is hired by a former hockey player named "Bernard 'Boom Boom' Grafalk" (Stephen Meadows) to investigate some deals involving his two brothers. When her client is murdered she not only inherits the murder case but temporarily gets Bernard's 13 year-old daughter "Kat" (Angela Goethals) as well. Throw in a shady mob figure by the name of "Smeissen" (Wayne Knight), a fatherly cop "Lt. Mallory" (Charles Durning) and a two-timing newspaper journalist named "Murray" (Jay O. Sanders) and what develops is a good action movie with plenty of humor along the way. Now, while this movie certainly has some faults what I liked best about it was the performance of Kathleen Turner who I thought did quite well in spite of some weak dialogue and a couple of rather obvious and predictable scenes. She also had some great legs. In any case, I enjoyed the movie and I rate it as slightly above average.

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jztzt

V.I. Warshawski is essentially a macho film with the exception of the sex of the lead character. Kathleen Turner portrays the titular character, a tough-talking and independent Chicago private detective. Not only does she solve a case in the film, she gets herself into a lot of violent confrontations as well, from people who constantly want to foil her investigative findings concerning the inheritance of a shipping industry. Incredibly, Turner is able to stand toe-to-toe with her male counterparts. She is impressively gruff, tough, seasoned, and weary.There are good and bad elements in the film. As written, the characters' mannerisms and dialogues are too mannered, cute, and artificial. Everyone seems to be wisecracking, yelling, and acting tough all the time. I know that's a common fixture of characters of the detective genre, but it's just too much and too insincere. Some of the characters are quirky but they aren't three-dimensional. There's no shortage of stock, sleazy, and mean spirited characters. I don't care deeply for the characters. They are merely pawns and not fully fleshed out. The film is heavy on dialogue and plot but it could have benefited from more heartfelt and intimate moments, such as exploring the characters' relationships with one another and exploring the inner depths of characters. We rarely glimpse beneath the characters' tough superficial layer and wisecracks. At times, the dialogue is stilted and awkward. There are a lot of feeble attempts at humor and one liners that are quite crude, lame, and inappropriate. The mystery isn't as intriguing or sophisticated as it should be. It's easy to figure out where the story is going as there aren't much surprises. The villains aren't very threatening either. By the end of the film, I still have questions that are left unanswered. I do however, enjoy Turner's gradual rapport with Kat (the young actress overplays the part though), the daughter of a murdered hockey player and who seems to be the key to solving the mystery.At times, the film does display a quirky sense of humor that works, as evident in certain jokes and sight gags. There are also some interesting and high energy set pieces. However, some of these scenes detract from the main plot and have a juvenile mentality to them.Whereas other films have been successful and intriguing in their takes on the film noir and detective genre (e.g. Night Moves, Chinatown), V.I. Warshawski is not inspired.

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Paul Andrews

V.I. Warshawski is set in Chicago where female private detective V.I. Warshawski (Kathleen Turner) meets ex-hockey player Bernard 'Boom-Boom' Grafalk (Stephen Meadows), they quickly fall for each other & as a favour Warshawski agrees to look after Bernard's 13 year old daughter Kat (Angela Goethals) while he confronts his two brothers about dodgy business dealings at their shipping yard. Later that night at the docks a tug boat explodes & Bernard caught in the blast is killed, Kat hires Warshawski to find out who killed her father. Warshawski starts with Bernard's brother's & business partners Trumble (Charles McCaughan) & Horton (Frederick Coffin), soon Warshawski is feeling heat from the local police & the local mobsters as someone doesn't want her to find out the truth...Directed by Jeff Kanew this simplistic comedy thriller based on the V.I. Warshawski novels by Sara Paretsky really is as bad as everyone says, in fact this has to be one of the worst big budget Hollywood thrillers of all time & lets face it there's some strong competition out there. The script apparently took three people to write it, Edward Taylor, David Aaron Cohen along with Nick Thiel & one has to say that for such a by-the-numbers unimaginative film that amazes me. With the collective thoughts of three screenwriters why did V.I. Warshawski turn out to be so bad? Who knows, who cares. The plot is no more complicated or clever than a simple murder mystery in which the killers motive is no more original or imaginative that money, it really is as simple as that. There are no twists, there are no clever red herrings or subplots & the whole story is just the most dumbed down collection of thriller clichés you can think of. I was waiting for some sort of clever twist, some amazing plot development but this film has less intelligence & fewer surprises than the average Scooby-Doo episode. Then of course there's the unbearably unfunny & frankly embarrassing attempts at comedy, from the expected comedy relief bad guy & his goons to someone constantly mispronouncing Warshawski's name to all the sexual innuendo fuelled jokes ('she can handle my hose anytime' or 'your a female dick' sums up the sophistication of, or rather lack of, this film) which are so unfunny it hurts. The one-liners aren't funny, the dialogue isn't funny, the zero dimensional character's aren't funny & to top everything off there's a hugely annoying & irritating child actor just to grate on your nerves even more & make you hate yourself for watching it. There's no two ways about it & there's no nice way to put it, V.I. Warshawski is quite possibly the worst crime thriller I have ever seen, period.Director Kanew turns in an alright looking film, it's competently made but not exactly stylish & the whole one action scene is very flat & unexciting. Basically it's two boats speeding along a river with Warshawski & Kat in one & a couple of bad guy's in the other, that's it, that's the films big action moment. Two boats on a river that never meet or touch. Lame. You know something, I am really struggling to find anything positive to say about this film, I really am. I suppose if you find Kathleen Turner sexy you might like this otherwise I suggest you give it a wide berth. This flopped big time at the box-office when originally released which was probably down to bad word of mouth, the fact it was crap & most people not even being able to pronounce the title V.I. Warshawski let alone know what it meant. According to the IMDb Turner did her own stunts & ended up breaking her nose while shooting this & the producer Jeff Lurie currently owns the Philedelphia Eagles.Technically the film is reasonably well made but lacks any style & is instantly forgettable on all counts. Although set in Chicago the film was shot partly in Chicago & Los Angeles. The acting is pretty poor all round, Turner was in it for the money probably & felt a big Hollywood action film might do her career some good...V.I. Warshawski is a truly awful film, I really don't know how else to describe this dreadfully unfunny thriller that tries to be clever & funny but just ends up anything but. A turkey. Big Style.

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dream-warrior2001

V.I. Warshawski is my all-time favorite movie, and I don't know why people keep butchering it so bad. It's an intriguing mystery that pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the end.Kathleen Turner shines as detective Victoria Warshawksi whom is hired by the 13 year old girl, Kat, she is babysitting to find out who murdered her father. With suspects at every corner, Vic doesn't know who to trust and who not to. Kat joins forces with Vic in a more helpful approach to the situation, getting information that Vic can't obtain herself eliminating suspects and narrowing it down to one. The ending will blow your mind, as it isn't expected.Filmed on Chicago's waterfront, V.I. Warshawski delivers the goods for intrigue, mystery, and top notch action! If you haven't seen it, give it a chance. It's worth the 1.99 rental price - don't listen to anyone who says this movie unbearable to watch because it's an outstanding film and one of Kathleen Turner's best.

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