Review of Jonathan Stone: Threat of Innocence

There is a scene in this about half way throughout where accused killer Richard Crenna looks on at the funeral of the wealthy man he was wrongfully accused of murdering. Like "Reversal of Fortune's" aerial shot over the Long Island mansions at the beginning, the camera work reveals a chilly element to those at the funeral making it appear to be a social event with photo op's rather than a tribute to a man they probably all hated. Beverly D'Angelo, who had befriended Crenna in his time of need, tells him the sordid stories of all of them, indicating a group of self centered but deeply unhappy people whose wealth doesn't do anything to soothe their misery.

This film however suffers from the flaw of poor execution, with its talented leads suffering at the hands of a poor script that brings in too many supporting characters and never fully gains the audience's interest. Jennifer O'Neil has a small role as Crenna's dying wife, and Stephen McHattie and Robert Desiderio try their best in supporting roles as detectives on the case. I stuck with this mainly because of D'Angelo (I would watch her in anything) who commands every scene and is only topped by Crenna when he tells her, "It's a stakeout. We're supposed to eat crap" over her disgust by what he brings her to eat when they do their own investigating. The whole film suffers from thinking it's smarter than it is, and bores the audience in the process.