Unlawful Entry (1992)

psychological thriller
directed by : Jonathan Kaplan
featuring : Kurt Russell - Ray Liotta - Madeleine Stowe - Roger E.Mosley - Ken Lerner
running time : 1 hour 47 minutes
After their Los Angeles suburban house is burglarized, Karen and Michael Carr (Madeleine Stowe and Kurt Russell), are assisted by policeman Pete Davis (Ray Liotta). At first, Davis seems helpful and polite, even helping the Carrs when he is off duty. Soon, it becomes apparent that the policeman has developed an obsession for Karen, and he begins terrorizing the couple, with the intent of killing Michael and running away with Karen. Though the plot is fairly predictable, Unlawful Entry is highlighted by fine performances by all three lead actors.

Jonathan Kaplan's Unlawful Entry is not good enough to salvage three performers who try their hardest to make the stale story work. Liotta is effectively menacing, Russell does a fine variation on Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs, and Stowe's wide eyes convey both intelligence and fear. Sadly, whenever they speak the by-the-numbers dialogue written for them, any credibility they have established with the audience vaporizes. Although the film works at the most basic genre level, a cast this good should be able to bring something special to such a familiar set-up. The screenplay just does not give the performers enough room to find inspiration. kaplan's direction is professional, but he seems as weighed down by the obvious screenplay as the actors do. Although many films suffer from going through too many script revisions, Unlawful Entry would have benefited greatly from one more pass through the typewriter.