D.O.A.

US, 1988, 96 minutes, Colour.
Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, Charlotte Rampling, Daniel Stern, Jane Kaczmarek, Rob Knepper.
Directed by Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton.

D.O.A. is a remake of the 1949 thriller, directed by Rudolph Mate, with Edmond O'Brien as a man who came to the police to report a murder, his own.

The film has been glossily updated, set in Austin, Texas, in the academic and affluent world of society there. Dennis Quaid gives an effective performance as a burnt-out and complacently cynical English professor who has to cope with one of his students and with his own murder. Meg Ryan is lively, Charlotte Rampling is a wealthy Texas woman. Daniel Stern is a student with a novel that has its own mystery.

In fact, there are several plots all woven together, smart dialogue and the audience has to pay attention for unravelling the various aspects of the mystery.

1. Interesting thriller? Murder mystery? The title, the remake, the original?

2. The settings in Austin, Texas, the academic world, the world of the students, the bars, police precincts? The world of wealth and high society? The contemporary society? Musical score, songs?

3. The original and its being in black and white? Dexter, his arrival, the announcement to the police, the attitudes of the police, his recounting his experiences, the development of the mystery? The end?

4. How effective was the film as a murder mystery: the various deaths, clues, intertwining of the strands, the resolution?

5. Dennis Quaid as Dexter: his lectures, cynical attitudes, his past publications, the admiration of Sydney, Nick and his wanting the approval of the novel? Friendship with Hal Peterson, his love for Gail but their separation, the meeting, their wanting him to sign the papers? Nick's novel and his giving it and Dexter not reading it? Nick's fall to his death? The party, Mrs Fitzwaring and her reaction, Gail's collapse? His going on the town, meeting Sydney at the bar, meeting Bernard Cooke? Suspicions? The collapse, Sydney looking after him? His going to the doctor, his wife's death? The police, his escape, trying to retrace his steps, glueing himself to Sydney, the dangers, the chases and the shooting? Going to Mrs Fitzwaring? Bernard and the daughter, the drive, their deaths? The puzzle? Discussion with Mrs Fitzwaring, the flashback to the truth, her killing herself? His realising what had happened, the collapse, with Sydney, the sexual encounter? Farewell? Ringing Hal, confronting him, discussing the reasons? Hal's death? his going to the police? His own death? his coming alive through his death?

6. Nick, the novel, his story, his death, Hal killing him because of the quality of the novel, Mrs Fitwaring and her sponsorship, her reference, Gail and the affair, the funeral service, the truth and the story of Mrs Fitzwaring, her two husbands, her children, their deaths? Her killing herself?

7. Gail and Dexter, her wanting him to look after his talent, the separation, her sadness at Nick's death, her own murder?

8. Sydney and youthful, admiration for Dexter, going out, looking after him, the glue, the chase and the danger, her dress, finding the film again, the sexual liaison?

9. Hal and his friendship, at the funeral, seeming to help, the confrontation, his madness, greed about the novel, the irony of 'publish or perish,' his motivations for killing, his own death?

10. The police and their cynical attitudes, interrogations?

11. How well did the film work as a mystery, as a portrayal of evil, the story of a man coming alive in his own death?