Crimetime

REVIEW
Tabloid TV gets the Network treatment with this stylish-looking thriller which very nearly sinks in its own smartness. With Marianne Faithfull singing two songs in the opening scene, the film gets off to a good start. Postlethwaite plays a serial killer who picks up his first victim. A rather gruesome murder, it catches the attention of a TV magazine show (run by Black doing her worst Faye Dunaway imitation) which re-stages sensationalistic crimes. Baldwin is the actor who gets his 15 minutes playing the murderer. Alternating between black comedy and suspense, Crimetime becomes more bizarre as the murders continue and Baldwin and Postlethwaite form a bond. Baldwin hasn't mastered the rage scene yet, but looks comfortable in his many nude scenes. Postlethwaite appears to be having fun hamming it up.