Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Aristides-2 This will be a "Why" review which will then provide some "Answers". Why: does the college teacher teach a class from an elevated proscenium stage? Answer: The location manager of the film forgot to book a classroom on the day the scene was to be shot. College graciously allowed them to use their theater for a couple of hours. Why: are some of the students in their thirties? A: The "main" student in the scene, an older man, was chosen because he's related to one of the producers. The director, seeing him at lunch with his producer friend, realizes that he will stick out like a sore thumb and therefore tells her casting person to cast most of the class with, errrrh, older actors. Why: does the Berenger character, a former cop for god's sake, act like a virginal nincompoop when he speaks to almost anyone else in the film? A: B., without a strong director, he directed himself and decided to play dumb-naive Southern. Why: does the missing waitress appear from time-to-time as a fantasy-image? A: to show audiences that the prof is a "famous writer" who desperately needs a muse......to write true crime crap yet! Why: does the scene with the muse, riding on the external front of prof's car, have the background moving backwards? A: because the director, cinematographer and script supervisor forgot or didn't know that when you have a camera axis change from scene to scene what appears forward-going will project backwards. Why: does the color of the prof's car change on a car surveillance sequence? A: See previous answer and add property master, teamster and key grip to the answer. One of these people should have caught the error Why: and how could the town's newspaper know, the day after the murder, that "the waitress" was in the car with the victim? No one saw them together. A: a thing like this will happen to a hack writer grinding out a script under time pressure. Why: does the prof. keep injecting a yellowish fluid into his arm? A: Maybe his body doesn't provide enough urine for his every six hour evacuations and so he has to add it to his system. Why: didn't the savvy ex-cop, investigating a missing person who was present at a murder, make the connection that a huge hole being dug by two retards (set in the South so of course common folk are all perverted, repressed morons) near the site of the crime scene take days if not weeks to think that it might be a place to bury another murder victim. (This burial site is next to the murderer's house which is located near huge swamps which would be perfect to get rid of a body; oh the inbreeding that takes place Down South and the damage to the intellect!.) Much, much more but only time for one more Why. Why was this movie made? A: They thought with Berenger in it they could market it into profitability. As if that would be enough given the illogical script they were planning on filming. Too, he probably got more money than they wanted to spend and started cutting costs in many ways that unfortunately turned up on the screen.

alitosca From the first frame, this film glues you to the screen, with a gripping plot that is full of potential. As we learn more about the victim's wife and the university professor she employs in the role of reluctant detective, we are determined to delve further into the minds of this mysterious woman and the laconic southern gentleman, who is forced to confront his own past demons.Regrettably, this strong foundation is undermined by the failure of the film to shine any light on the personalities of the victim or his abducted companion - elements that are essential to understanding the fate which overtakes them. And sadly the denouement is glaringly obvious - a limp ending to what should have been a superb thriller.

gridoon "An Occasional Hell" is a low point in Tom Berenger's career. His acting in this picture is so lifeless that when people refuse to tell him what they know about the case he's investigating, he looks as if he's about to say "Fine, what do I care anyway?". The script is so slow-moving that at times it doesn't seem to be moving at all, and the direction is so pedestrian that, without the brief flashes of nudity, this could easily pass off as a TV movie. Apparently everyone associated with this movie was just too tired to even try making something good out of it. Everyone, that is, except Kari Wuhrer, who is incredibly sexy as always, and gives the film its only spark; sadly, her role is all-too-brief. (*1/2)

The Boz This is not a stellar performance by Tom Berenger. This obvious low-budget movie does not make an impression. The plot seems to have many holes and the story line never really comes together. Berenger, a former cop, and now college professor is lured into finding the killer of a woman's husband and also tries to find the husband's lover. The movie's flashbacks are confusing and never make things that clear. The movie jumps around too much and it never gives the viewer a chance to get comfortable with any one character or situation. This movie falls short of expectations and is one of Berenger's saddest roles and performances. He never seems to be comfortable with his character and it seems way too obvious in this movie.