Guilty as Sin (1993)

[GrahamS. 803]

First of all, RIP Sidney Lumet. Director of Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Prince of The City, Network (possibly my favorite movie EVER), Running on Empty, Fail Safe, to name a few. His last film was Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Albert Phinney (RIP, gentlemen) Ethan Hawke and Marisa Tomei. It was a two hour long gut punch of a film. Sidney Lumet was a legend who worked with legends and made great work.

But in the 90s, he made Guilty as Sin from a ridiculous, pulpy Larry Cohen (again, RIP) screenplay that probably would have been better directed by Larry Cohen himself (by the way, there’s a great doc on Cohen called King Cohen that’s streaming on Shudder). Sidney Lumet doesn’t quite seem comfortable sinking to the trashy depths of 90s stalker movies.

But Don Johnson (as a womanizing cad accused of pushing his wife out of a window—by his wife’s letter sent to the police, no less) serves this fucking movie up and eats it with a motherfucking spoon. HIS performance alone makes this film with an episode. The scene where he loses his shit while making a LARGE sandwich (he’s upset that Rebecca DeMornay—who plays his lawyer—won’t represent him anymore) is a sly camp masterpiece along the lines of Sharon Stone’s performance in Basic Instinct.

unfortunately they don’t have that scene on YouTube, but they do have a scene from later in the film—when the stalking starts—that is awesome. Here it is:

Here’s the preview. It does an awesome job of capturing his performance.

This movie does start slow (with a REALLY bizarre opening computer graphic that I guess is supposed to represent the wife falling to her death??) but it’s worth hanging in there. It’s currently on HBO and it deserves recognition in the HDTGM pantheon, In my humble opinion. Court adjourned.:)

[GrahamS. 803]

OK, sidebar. I also wanted to say that from Eastbound and Down, Django Unchained, Cold In July and other recent work, Don Johnson has become one of the unsung MVPs of supporting actors (in my opinion). Obviously, he’s getting hired, but I haven’t heard a lot of people (in general) really sing his praises.

To an actor whom I thought for too long as Crockett from Miami Vice, I apologize.

Ok, I’ll shut up now.

[muttnik 476]

10 hours ago, GrahamS. said:

It’s currently on HBO

Well, I know what I'm watching tonight.

[GrahamS. 803]

I just HAVE to quote a couple of choice lines of dialogue.

“Killing with gloves on would be like fucking with a rubber.”

“EXHIBIT A: YOUR SKIN UNDERNEATH MY NAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

[muttnik 476]

Oh wow. Wowie, wow, wow. Wow. So yeah, that sandwich scene was nuts. This movie was great, and I'm surprised I've never seen it before considering these types of movies were always on HBO when I was a kid, and I was obsessed with Don Johnson for a while (/shame). Wow.

There was so much wildly distracting background stuff (for me). So many weird mustaches on extras. That weird blue office building. The LOUD marble in the courthouse. The spaghetti foley!

What really did me in was the last minute or so. That was crazy. I literally sat up and threw my hands into the air. Wow.

And she's never walking again, let's be real.

[GrahamS. 803]

On 8/21/2019 at 12:57 PM, muttnik said:

Oh wow. Wowie, wow, wow. Wow. So yeah, that sandwich scene was nuts. This movie was great, and I'm surprised I've never seen it before considering these types of movies were always on HBO when I was a kid, and I was obsessed with Don Johnson for a while (/shame). Wow.

There was so much wildly distracting background stuff (for me). So many weird mustaches on extras. That weird blue office building. The LOUD marble in the courthouse. The spaghetti foley!

What really did me in was the last minute or so. That was crazy. I literally sat up and threw my hands into the air. Wow.

And she's never walking again, let's be real.

The more I think about it, the more I LOVE THIS FILM. It truly gives you want from the premise and is willing to get surprisingly nasty. I still think Larry Cohen would have been a better director (who made such B classics as It’s Alive, Q: The Winged Serpent, and The Stuff) but Sidney Lumet  does direct the shit out of the DeMornay/Johnson cat-and-mouse scenes and seems to be having more fun when things DO get ugly.

I’ll see your observations, muttnik, and raise you these ones:

—Stephen Lang looks like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons come to life with a mustache. Or if not Sideshow, you have to at least admit that he looks cartoonish.

—I loved Jack Warden in this. (*spoiler here*) I just wished his character had taken advantage of the ETERNITY he had to escape. 

—The climax is bonkers. It Just rolls up on you and is like WHAM! The end. I choose to be more optimistic but you’re probably right. But I believe in movie magic!

I will probably watch this another time or two before it leaves HBO. Alright, I’ll be real: I’d watch it again tonight!

For those who haven’t watched it yet, I would advise against watching the preview if you want to be surprised (even though I posted the YouTube Link). The upside is that it boils down all the movie’s craziness to two minutes, the downside is that it has spoilers. I would recommend watching the scene from the movie (which comes around the 40-minute mark) I posted instead. You can also see Stephen Lang in his full mustache Sideshow Bob-esque glory in that clip, so that’s a bonus!

[muttnik 476]

1 hour ago, GrahamS. said:

Stephen Lang looks like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons come to life with a mustache.

I see it. His mustache was very distracting to me as well. As was when they shared the water bottle while eating dinner. Bleh.

I was surprised given this type of movie that there weren't any real sex scenes, save for the mini one at the beginning. It's better for it, but man, just getting Don Johnson in a towel feels like a cheat.

Like the whole last ten minutes were wild. Without getting too much into it, I knew it was going to have to happen, but the way in which it happened was amazing.

If we're magicking in Cohen for directing (RIP), I'd like to add Michael Moriarty to the mix. I'd swap out Lang for Moriarty.

[ackeyjo 15]

Yeah I love this one. Demornay just kickin' out the jams. This & Hand that Rocks the Cradle are both gems.