This is a good, but not great modern film noir where police detective Tom Berenger is assigned to Manhattan socialite Mimi Rogers as her bodyguard after she witnesses mobster Andreas Katsulas murdering a friend of hers at a nightclub, threatened by him to not finger him. Berenger and Rogers clash at first, but as they let each other's guards down, they begin to communicate. He's married to the much different Lorraine Bracco (upset because Rogers bought him a designer tie to take him to an event at the Guggenheim museum), but after a while, his working relationship with Rogers takes a twist especially as he sees the severity of her situation and becomes more determined than ever to protect her.
While Manhattan has been used as a location for many movies, not every movie gets it right, but this one does. It's not the first time that piece of Gershwin music has been used to express the magic of the Big Apple, but here, it also expresses the danger. Sting sings the song over the opening credits in a very haunting way. Jerome Kerns beautiful "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is also heard as are some beautiful classical instrumentals. There's a lot of humor, but like other thrillers of the time is very intense. Rogers is chilly at first, mainly out of suspicion and fear, but slowly reveals that she's just as vulnerable and scared as everybody else, her icicle facade hiding the real deal.
The humor mainly focuses on people's reaction to Berenger as a bodyguard, from the wise-cracking officers in his precinct (overseen by Jerry Orbach) to guests at the various social events he attends. One of Roger's acquaintances, veteran New York model Meg Mundy ("The Doctors"), has a nice flirtatious exchange with him, which is followed by sequence with a much more bold broad obviously making a pass. Berenger makes no bones about the fact that her bluntness completely turns him off.
I was gripped with this from the beginning till end even though I've seen very similar movies, and did think that Berenger and Rogers had a nice chemistry. This is probably her best role. Bracco is also very good, adding multiple sides to what could easily have been a very stereotypical tough NY wife and mother role, her realization that this case has changed the dynamics of their marriage quite touching. Berenger is the best of the three leads, quite honorable even with his tough facade and Katsulas is quite a scary villain. Definitely worth seeing for the first time, and certainly worth a revisit nearly 35 years after I first saw it, giving me the chance to up my rating from 5 to 7.
While Manhattan has been used as a location for many movies, not every movie gets it right, but this one does. It's not the first time that piece of Gershwin music has been used to express the magic of the Big Apple, but here, it also expresses the danger. Sting sings the song over the opening credits in a very haunting way. Jerome Kerns beautiful "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is also heard as are some beautiful classical instrumentals. There's a lot of humor, but like other thrillers of the time is very intense. Rogers is chilly at first, mainly out of suspicion and fear, but slowly reveals that she's just as vulnerable and scared as everybody else, her icicle facade hiding the real deal.
The humor mainly focuses on people's reaction to Berenger as a bodyguard, from the wise-cracking officers in his precinct (overseen by Jerry Orbach) to guests at the various social events he attends. One of Roger's acquaintances, veteran New York model Meg Mundy ("The Doctors"), has a nice flirtatious exchange with him, which is followed by sequence with a much more bold broad obviously making a pass. Berenger makes no bones about the fact that her bluntness completely turns him off.
I was gripped with this from the beginning till end even though I've seen very similar movies, and did think that Berenger and Rogers had a nice chemistry. This is probably her best role. Bracco is also very good, adding multiple sides to what could easily have been a very stereotypical tough NY wife and mother role, her realization that this case has changed the dynamics of their marriage quite touching. Berenger is the best of the three leads, quite honorable even with his tough facade and Katsulas is quite a scary villain. Definitely worth seeing for the first time, and certainly worth a revisit nearly 35 years after I first saw it, giving me the chance to up my rating from 5 to 7.