Undue Influence

The acting is great.

The plot is predictable, but it is still well executed.

Jean Smart and Patricia Richardson sharing a screen is timeless.

Thanks to a top-notch cast and wonderful acting, Undue Influence was a slightly above average miniseries back in the day.

It stars Brian Dennehy, Patricia Richardson, Richard Masur, and Jean Smart. During a terrible custody battle between Laurel and Jack Vega (Richardson and Masur), Jack's new wife is murdered, and Laurel is arrested.

Laurel insists that her brother-in-law Paul Madriani, take her case. Paul is grieving over the loss of his wife and Laurel's sister Nikki, and is determined to be there for his young daughter. But he takes the case.

Most of this plot is easy to figure out, and you keep wondering why Madrani hasn't. We find out later that he has, and for reasons made clear later, he doesn't reveal what he knows.

Dennehy as always is marvelous. I was privileged to see him on stage in Long Day's Journey. Though physically miscast, he did a beautiful job.

The powerhouse performance belongs to Richardson, a desperate woman on trial for her life and determined to have a say in her own defense.

Jean Smart is a knockout as a redhead and brings her usual strong acting chops to her role.

Worth seeing for the performances.

A very beautiful lady, Jean Smart, with auburn hair is absolutely magnificent in this film and this alone is one excellent reason not to miss it ! Seriously though, This film is definitely good, as are the vast majority of films involving Brian Dennehy, whom I adore as an actor ! The plot, of the "whodunnit" type is not complicated but there is a lot of side-tracking and red herrings which have nothing to do with the truth. Some of this side-tracking, notably everything concerning the Merlo family is rather confusing and one gets the impression that it's there as padding to make the story much longer than it would have been but without any real relevance to the story itself. In spite of these plot holes and script defects, the film makes for excellent watching.

Denneyhy's daughter is really cute, and the scenes between him and here about her recently departed "Mummy" are very touching indeed, both from Dennehy and the young lady herself who acts the part very very convincingly. I had watery eyes during all these scenes.

I enjoy this sort of "courtroom-drama-made-for-tv" movie which only the USA seem capable of producing. I luckily found it issued on DVD in the UK and certainly didn't regret my purchase. I have seen the film previously on French TV under the title "Abus d'Influence".

Highly recommendable entertainnment then to be watched curled up before the fire on a cold wet and windy winter's afternoon !!

I just saw this on Tubi, I'm not usually one for courtroom dramas but this movie had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I did not find it predictable at all, lots of unexpected turns.

I have to come up with 200 more words but I'm not good at excruciating detail and like I said, others wrote a great synopsis, I don't feel the need to add to it.

I just saw this on Tubi, I'm not usually one for courtroom dramas but this movie had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I did not find it predictable at all, lots of unexpected turns.

I have to come up with 200 more words but I'm not good at excruciating detail and like I said, others wrote a great synopsis, I don't feel the need to add to it.

First off, I'm a huge fan of Brian Dennehy. Both ladies gave good performances as well as the supporting cast. And of course, Dennehy was a very interesting attorney. We are drawn into his personal life as a multi-faceted man. He is so adept at showing a honest range of emotions, personality, and character. This is a good twisty mystery. Yes, it is a longer film, but includes plenty of drama both in and our of the court room.

If you are viewing as a TV movie, I'd recommend recording if you have a recorder device to speed up your viewing pleasure (commercials). Interesting plot developments and some good ethical questions were presented. Even if you guess the guilty, you will enjoy this mystery.