When makers of American TV films borrow ideas from "high concept" Hollywood blockbusters, results usually aren't very impressive. In most cases, TV films look cheap and uninspired. One of the rare examples of TV film not faring that bad in comparison with similarly themed Hollywood blockbuster is Murder in My Mind, 1997 thriller directed by Robert Iscove.
The protagonist of this film is Callain Pearson (played by Nicolette Sheridan), FBI agent who tries to catch serial killer specialised in targeting young blonde women. Her task seems hopeless because the obvious enmity of her superior Cargill (played by Stacey Keach) and the complete lack of any valuable clues about the killer. Pearson's husband Arthur Lefcourt (played by Peter Coyote) is a scientist who has much more luck in his line of work - his experiments with rat brains showed him the way to transplant memories. In desperation, Pearson decides to try this dangerous procedure on herself and take memories of one of the killer's comatose victims. Experiment is successful and Pearson finally gets some important breaks in the case. On the other hand, the procedure has some nasty side effects and the killer, feeling endangered, decides to mark Pearson as his next target.
Inspired by Unforgettable, disappointing John Dahl's thriller, Murder in My Mind is definitely not worse than its predecessor. But it isn't much better either. Tom Swale's script carefully follows all cliches of serial killer movies and television director Robert Iscove, despite all his experience, can't overcome low budget and not particularly glamorous look of the film. Murder in My Mind is, on the other hand, superior in its casting - stunning looks of Nicolette Sheridan are matched by good acting from the more experienced players like Stacey Keach and Peter Coyote. That, however, isn't enough for Murder in My Mind to escape the fate of Unforgettable - both films, although watchable, won't stay in audience's minds for long.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on February 4th 2004)
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