Defenseless

Directed by: Martin Campbell

RS: Not Rated

1991 Thriller

Despite some blockheaded dialogue and plot contrivances, Defenseless is a surprisingly entertaining thriller. Occasionally, the actors even make it something to savor. Barbara Hershey plays ballsy lawyer T.K. Katwuller -- a sister in spirit to V.I. Warshawski -- who sleeps with a client, Steven Seldes (J.T. Walsh), and ends up implicated in his murder. George Beutel (Sam Shepard) is the cop on the case. T.K. arouses Beutel's libido and suspicion, but the poor guy doesn't know whom to arrest. As soon as it's revealed that Seldes had a porn business on the side and had filmed himself during sex play with his teenaged daughter, Janna (Kellie Overbey), the suspects start piling up faster than the coincidences in James Hicks's script. Try believing that Seldes's Southern wife, Ellie (Mary Beth Hurt), was T.K.'s roommate at Smith.

The hammering direction, by Martin Campbell (Criminal Law) -- irritatingly matched by Curt Sobel's score -- makes it even harder for the actors to bring nuances to their roles. But they persevere. Walsh slyly reveals the churning evil beneath Seldes's bland fatade, and Hurt is fiercely compelling as a steel magnolia who has closed her eyes for too long. Shepard shambles through his role -- as if he took it to buy paper for his word processor so he could go back to writing plays -- but his easy charm is welcome. It's Hershey who keeps the film charged. Despite award-caliber performances in movies (A. World Apart) and on TV (A Killing in a Small Town), she remains an undervalued resource. Hershey can bring intelligence and wit to the most implausible role. Defenseless proves it.

PETER TRAVERS
RS 613