Guilty Conscience

Fans of Anthony Hopkins will delight in this carefully staged teleplay. Fans of Blythe Danner will also be pleased to see a favorite character actress given more screen time than usual.

Although the plot is fairly standard and the events mostly predictable, it comes off much better than say your average Perry Mason or Columbo Movie. Hopkins, as a high-priced, high-power attorney, is delightful as he comically and and viciously destroys his own plans for his wife's murder. The play succeeds in its own ability to recognize its weaknesses. Unlike most television mysteries where the audience is asked to ignore the plot holes and revel in the detective's brilliance at spotting the clue and solving the crime, this play takes pride in pointing out its own holes as it goes along. As an audience participation spectacle, it is fun to play along, spotting the holes before the characters do. Overall, it's a bit static, with the vast majority of the action never leaving the main house, and cynics will find fault or boredom with the events leading up to the conclusion. But fans of the genre, or of Hopkins, will no doubt remain intrigued and find the ending quite satisfying. The whole play comes off much like the great Olivier and Caine character study, "Sleuth" and those who have seen that longish masterpiece know what kind of a compliment that is, and will also appreciate that this is 34 minutes shorter.

Mystery fans can do much worse for an evenings entertainment.

As my brother might say, "This has more twists than a bag of pretzels."

I wasn't expecting much and came out with feeling of extreme satisfaction, for this film is great. The beginning is a little slow but it soon picks up speed quickly and then you are on the edge of your seat.

Some people said 'GuiltyConscience' was predictable, but I severely disagree. Not only did Ihave no idea was was going to happen, but I gasped out loud at several points. The plot was simple but complicated. Hopkins was fantastic as the scheming husband and cross examiner. The rest of the cast was excellent as well. Thoroughly entertaining.

Check this film out if you are looking for interesting mystery-drama; you won't regret it.

Hopkins always delivers his svelte, arrogant and yet intimidating and refreshing self to any performance. Blythe Danner as his beleaguered wife, in an unhappy marriage. Hopkins, an esteemed trial attorney, plays the Socratic "what if?" hypothesis game with himself, as he debates how to rid himself of his bothersome wife.

Blythe Danner, however, is an equal match. She is not to be fooled. She utilizes her patrician hauteur and surprise when she discovers his one (of several) mistresses. Swoosie Kurtz portrays a young sometime lover, Jackie, who at first seems to be in league with Hopkins. She plays the damsel in distress, and Danner is intrigued.

There is an interesting twist at the conclusion, which I will not spoil. Suffice to say, well worth watching for murder and mayhem as only Anthony Hopkins can project on the screen. 8/10.

This is a good movie, especially since I am a big Anthony Hopkins buff. I also like Blythe Danner, who plays his loving? wife. It's a fun, quirky and clever mystery with twists and turns. As Anthony Hopkiins makes plans for his future by planning the demise of his wife, he anticipates and participates, in his imagination, how he should perform in Court as he stands trial for murder.

There is a problem, however. I ordered a brand new, factory-sealed VHS by Quality Video and the sound and picture quality were dreadful and unwatchable! I re-ordered it on DVD and it was a little better, but the picture was dull and grainy. It is hard to believe that it is not possible to get a good quality picture and sound for this TV film.

What a shame... It's an interesting and clever movie!

For a TV movie, this is awfully good. Hopkins spends much of the movie playing out scenarios of how his murder trial would play out if he killed his wife, with a portrait of his father playing the judge. He goes through different methods of killing her, and plays out the trial until he finds the mistake in his plan. These one-man scenes are very funny, and Hopkins delivers them expertly, as one would expect.