Retro Film Review: Third Degree Burn (1989)
Experienced film goers are sometimes burdened by their experience, since disappointments for them come in all shapes and sizes. This is due to their expectations not being based solely on Hollywood hype and the fact that many really good films came from the places an average film goer would ignore - low budget studios, exotic countries, or even cable television. One of such examples of relatively obscure yet disappointing film could be found in Third Degree Burn, 1989 cable television thriller
directed by Roger Spottiswoode.
The protagonist of the film is Scott Weston (played by Treat Williams), former policeman, private investigator and hopeless womaniser. Despite such reputation, he is hired by rich businessman to follow his wife and check her fidelity. At first, Weston wants to adhere to professional standards, but the object of his investigation – Anne Scholes (played by Virginia Madsen) - is stunningly beautiful and he simply can't resist her. Soon two of them are involved in torrid love affair that would become even more complicated after husband's murder.
Despite being made for cable television, Third Degree Burn looked somewhat more promising than its low budget origins would indicate. Director Spottiswoode had couple of good titles in his filmography, cast was made out of capable character actors and Seattle locations seemed refreshing. Unfortunately, the screenplay by Duncan Gibbins and Yale Udoff was drowned in film noir cliches, while Spotiswoode failed to truly exploit erotic appeal of Virginia Madsen in the role of femme fatale. Treat Williams in the cliched role of private investigator was also weak, thus giving another explanation why this potentially promising little film sank into well-deserved obscurity.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on August 20th 2002)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/112478-third-degree-burn?language=en-US
Critic: AA
Sounds like the protagonist is a womanizer like James Bond, lol, would you agree? When you talk about the good films out there, what comes to my mind is not only some fan films, some parodies like Space Balls perhaps, but especially indie films.