In a way, having a Porsche in a city like Los Angeles is a clear invitation for car thieves to take them, as demonstrated in "No Man's Land", the 1987 film that has a look of a movie made for television. It's no wonder since its director and writer, Peter Werner and Dick Wolf, are veterans of the medium. Ron Howard is listed as a producer.
"No Man's Land" is worth a look because in spite of its flaws, because it shows an interesting aspect of the complex relationship between a police undercover cop and the young man who is the master mind in the car stealing robberies plaguing the city. The interaction between these two opposites is well played by the two leading actors, B. D. Sweeney, and Charlie Sheen.
Charlie Sheen, gives a restrained performance here. In fact, this actor tends to go for intensity without the proper guidance of a good director. As the slick Ted Varrick, Mr. Sheen shows a subtle side that we don't see too often. B.D. Sweeney is also effective as the undercover man who falls for Ann, who happens to be Ted's sister. Mr. Sweeney has that clean look about him that makes him perfectly suited for the good natured Bill, the mechanic he pretends to be.
Others faces in the film includes Lara Harris who plays Ann, the woman in love with the man hunting her own brother. Randy Quaid is seen briefly as Lt. Bracey, who is responsible for getting one of his men infiltrate the car stealing ring.
"No Man's Land" has the ubiquitous car chases and visual effects of pictures of this genre. The cinematography of Hiro Narita shows us a lot of Los Angeles shopping malls and high priced stores where the car thieves love to steal the Porsches.
