MASQUERADE

(director: Bob Swaim; screenwriter: Dick Wolf; cinematographer: David Watkin; editor: Scott Conrad; music: John Barry; cast: Rob Lowe (Tim Whalan), Meg Tilly (Olivia Lawrence), Kim Cattrall (Brooke Morrison), Doug Savant (Mike Mcgill), Eric Holland (Chief of Police), Dana Delany (Ann Briscoe). John Glover (Tony Gateworth); Runtime: 91; MPAA Rating: R; producer: Michael L. Levy; MGM; 1988)

“A vapid damsel in distress Gothic romantic thriller set in the wealthy summer resort of Long Island’s Hamptons.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A vapid damsel in distress Gothic romantic thriller set in the wealthy summer resort of Long Island’s Hamptons. Bob Swaim (“Le Balance”/”Half Moon Street”) keeps it swimming along with plot twists. While Dick Wolf laboriously writes the screenplay.

The naive recently orphaned college-aged heiress Olivia (Meg Tilly) was left a fortune by her deceased mom, but must deal with her scheming wicked and drunk step-father Tony Gateworth (John Glover), mom’s fourth hubby, whom she dwells with in her mom’s Hamptons Beach mansion. Olivia, a lover of yachts, falls for the bland but handsome and ambitious racing yachtsman captain, the indigent Tim (Rob Lowe), working for a wealthy yachtsman with a hot wife (Kim Cattrall). Mike (Doug Savant ), a young Hamptons cop Olivia has known since childhood, has a crush on her and warns her against Tim. But she still marries him anyway, believing he’s interested in her and not her money. Swaim presents it as modern-day film noir, involving gold diggers, a love tangle, multiple murders and a vulnerable poor little rich girl being duped by a guy with evil intentions. There’s an underlying warning for the upper-class to be wary of their inferiors who are only trying to snatch from them their wealth, which shows how misdirected is this visually pleasing film with eerie music.

But if you can overlook its faults, you may find it modestly entertaining. The film’s best line has Lowe telling his lover Cattrall “Money’s only good for making a boat go faster.”

REVIEWED ON 1/1/2019 GRADE: B-   https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/