Name: Retro Film Review: Soft Deceit (1994)
Item: Soft Deceit
Rating: 40
Author: @drax

(source: tmdb.org)

Thanks to countless billions of souls that tried to atone their sins through financial contributions, Catholic Church has accumulated a great wealth through the centuries. However, these days spiritual values aren't so strong, and that includes protagonist of Soft Deceit, 1994 thriller directed by Jorge Montesi. Adam Trent (played by Patrick Bergin) is a professional criminal who managed to steal millions of dollars from the Church funds. He is caught by police, but few years behind bars are going to pass quickly with the knowledge of loot safely stashed away. On the other hand, influential Church officials want the money back and the police, under political pressure, sets up a sting operation for that very purpose. The mission is given to atractive lady detective Anne Fowler (played by Kate Vernon) who organises Trent's escape from prison, hoping that the criminal would lead her to his stash. However, the things don't go as planned - Trent seems to always be one step ahead of its pursuers, and Fowler realises that she started to fall in love with attractive criminal.

Script by Jorge Montesi and Roy Sallows had many interesting possibilities, especially those arising from the constant mind games and sexual tensions between two major protagonists. Unfortunately, most of that potential got drowned beneath the sea of cliches and terribly uninspired performance by Kate Vernon, actress whose good looks didn't match her acting abilities, at least in this film. As a result, Soft Deceit, despite few bright moments, is not the film that should be viewed as anything more than forgettable cinema product.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on September 25th 2001)