Physical Evidence (1989)

Waste of time

Excellent, smart action film.

Crappy film

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Physical Evidence (1989) *** (out of 4)Joe Paris (Burt Reynolds) is a disgraced detective who is picked up on a murder charge. Clear evidence is in his room that he committed the murder but he was so drunk that he can't remember a thing. Public defender Jenny Hudson (Theresa Russell) fights to get the case thinking she can save the man but before long her life is in danger as there's much more going on than she originally thought.If you're looking for a hard-hitting courtroom drama then I'd highly recommend INHERIT THE WIND. If you're looking for an "A" quality Reynolds film then I'd recommend DELIVERANCE. If you're looking for any of those things or any sort of art then you're not going to find it here but at the same time as long as you don't take the film too seriously you could get some mild entertainment out of this. There's no question that by this time Reynolds wasn't a "A" list star anymore and this is the perfect example of a "B" movie.I call this a "B" movie because the material isn't very strong. I mean, everything pretty much falls into place without too much logic and the ending seems more like something from Scooby-Doo more than anything else. The entire murder rap has countless bad guys brought into it and any of them could have been guilty so this too works against any sort of logic. I'd even argue that by the film presenting Reynolds as being innocent, it takes away possible drama because it would have played out better if the viewer didn't know if he was guilty or not.With that said, I still found myself enjoying PHYSICAL EVIDENCE thanks in large part to the cast. I wouldn't say Reynolds gives a great performance here but he's at least entertaining and this fits well with the "aftermath" of some of the rough cops he played earlier in his career. He's certainly believable in the role and I thought it was a good fit for him. Russell is good in her role as the woman trying to get him off, although the screenplay doesn't do much with her character and the forced attempted love story is trash. Ned Beatty is always good and he adds some nice entertainment value as does Kay Lenz, Kenneth Welsh and Tom O'Brien. Married With Children... fans will enjoy seeing Ted McGinley here, although his character is yet another weak one.As you can tell, there's a lot of negative things about this picture but it still kept me entertained throughout. I think it's best that you turn your brain off and just watch this on a boring day whenever you just want some light entertainment. This certainly isn't a masterpiece or a very good picture but if you're a fan of Reynolds then you should enjoy it.

"Physical Evidence" has a gripping opening sequence, with a man trying to commit suicide on a bridge, only to find a corpse hidden there. What follows, however, is little different than a TV movie, albeit a well-made and somewhat violent one. Burt Reynolds' character is a walking cliché: he is a burnt-out, suspended cop who "plays by his own rules", has a bad temper, and of course doesn't remember anything about the night he is accused of murdering an old enemy of his. Theresa Russell gives a strangely stiff, buttoned-up performance (except for one cute scene, where she gives Ned Beatty's character the finger). The whodunit aspect is at least sustained until the end, though of course we know all along that Burt is not the killer. There are some funny lines (-"He has a police record longer than my d**k" -"Never been arrested, eh?"), and "Married With Children" fans will have fun spotting Ted McGinley as Russell's rich fiancé, aka "His Gucciness"! ** out of 4.

"Jagged Edge" was quite a success in its day and created a thirst for sexy, mysterious courtroom thrillers, which soon was sated to the nth degree by many imitators. This film first began as a sequel to "Jagged Edge", but when that film's stars Glenn Close and Robert Loggia wisely took a hike, it was reworked with different characters. Reynolds plays a suspended police detective with many brawls in his past and many enemies who is accused of murdering a shady character he'd been tangling with previously. Russell is the public defender assigned to him who is trying to make a name for herself in the boy's club, though Reynolds is often more of a problem to her case than a help. She comes up against various roadblocks and red herrings as she tried to unravel what happened with Reynolds (he blacked out and can't even remember the night in question!) Meanwhile, prosecutor Beatty plays any dirty trick he can and her yuppie boyfriend McGinley whines about how little time she is spending with him. Reynolds was, at this time, in the midst of a string of unsuccessful films which portrayed him as a tough guy despite the fact that his health was failing somewhat and he was no longer able to bring his trademark sparkle to the screen as effectively as he had before. Fortunately for him, the TV series "Evening Shade" would soon rescue him and give him a steady – and award-winning – job for about five years until he made a comeback in supporting roles in feature films a few years after that. If he'd been playing opposite someone more appropriate in age and demeanor than Russell, his performance here probably would have come off better. As it is, he waffles between faint-hearted antagonism and near narcolepsy, battling a preposterous script that wouldn't be worth anyone's effort anyway. Russell is profanely wrong for her role and is often unintentionally funny. Not aided by a severe, all grey and black wardrobe, ugly, over-sized jewelry, tightly-knotted hair and pallid, ghostly make-up, she flounders helplessly as she tries to deliver her lines with anything other than a flat monotone. She seems out of place and shares virtually no chemistry with Reynolds. Beatty (whose "Boston" accent comes and goes) tries to steal every scene he's in and usually succeeds thanks to the lack of opposition on that front. Lenz appears as an ex-love of Reynolds and manages to inject some emotion into her few moments (one of which includes an uproarious Jazzercise get-up.) Gorgeous McGinley is both intentionally and unintentionally funny as the uppity, persnickety jerk with whom Russell lives. His blink-and-miss-it scene walking to their hot tub in some skimpy briefs is about the best thing the film has to offer. Baker, O'Brien and Welsh appear as other potential suspects in the murder (which is revealed in a wacky, tacky prelude involving a suicide attempt.) It's a mind-blowingly idiotic affair that wavers between dullness and jaw-dropping amusement. Though it was routine and inconsequential upon release, at least now it offers up some laughs as McGinley (decked out in the designer gear of the day) and Russell debate the merits of a "cellular phone" and Welsh speaks into one the size of a small Kleenex box! The convoluted plot at least keeps viewers guessing, though it probably left the screenwriters guessing almost as much!

I got a kick out of Reynolds saying to his attorney, "look,I've done a lot of shi%ty thing in my life, but I never killed anyone." Obviously he forgot about his career which slid down hill after he started making stupid movies like 'Cannonball Run.' Physical Evidence was originally supposed to be a sequel to 'The Jagged Edge' that Glen Close sanely rejected. The verdict is in, avoid Physical Evidence.