THE FRONT
US, 2010, 90 minutes, Colour.
Andie Mac Dowell, Daniel Sunjata, Ashle Williams, Joe Grifasi, Dane De Haan, Diahann Carroll.
Directed by Tom Mc Loughlin.
The Front is based on a novel by Patricia Cornwell and adapted for the screen by John Pielmeier (Agnes of God) and directed by Tom Mc Loughlin. They were the team who brought the previous film from a Patricia Cornwell novel to the screen, At Risk.
Andie Mac Dowell is the tough and unscrupulous district attorney in Boston. Daniel Sunjata is a star detective. He teams with Ashley Williams as another detective whose leg has been amputated after an accident when she was supporting the district attorney. The film focuses also on Dane De Haan (Chronicle, Lawless) as a student with ambitions to be like his idol, the Daniel Sunjata character. Diahann Carroll appears as Sunjata’s grandmother as she did in the first film.
As in the first film, there is a threat to the district attorney and her campaign. There is a murder, echoes of the Boston Strangler, speculation that there were two stranglers. There is also another murder, a copycat which the police are investigating. The student, however, ingratiates himself with the district attorney, is revealed to be insane, aspiring to be the detective – murdering, causing his own downfall.
The film is interesting as a police investigation, a cat-and-mouse pursuit by police of a killer.
1. Patricia Cornwell, her novels, police investigations, mysteries? Adaptation for television?
2. The use of Boston, the city, Watertown area, the precincts, homes, class distinctions? The musical score?
3. The title, explanation, a variety of meanings?
4. The continuation of At Risk: Monique, her campaign and speeches, her personality, hard, her treatment of others, her being photographed and the clip on You Tube, sexuality, her promises? Win and his work? Supporting Monique, clashes? Roy and this being used by Monique? The governor and his relationship with her? The setup?
5. The background of Win’s parents, his grandmother, the murders, his being orphaned? The Boston Strangler, memories, discussions about methods, alibis? The murder from the past, the copycat murder? Other deaths? Investigations, comparisons?
6. Monique and her speech, her slogans, Win and his encounter with Cal? Cal talking with Monique? The photo in the rest room, YouTube?, her percentage points? The mayor, arranging the assignment, being photographed? Cal and his photographing Win and Stump? Photographing the grandmother?
7. Win and his investigation, his clash with Stump, her later explaining her story and the connection with Monique? Her owning a shop? The FBI agent, her posing as a living statue (and Win’s talking to her)? The discussions with Stump, Cal and her death? Stump and the clash of personalities with Win, their sexual relationship? Photographed? Working together, the discovery of the truth about Cal, the confrontation at the end, the bullet in her stump, the rescue?
8. Cal as a person, his age, his mother and her charity work, his killing her? His studies, his aims, Win and the souvenirs, the chair, the photos? The sexual relationship with Monique, her abandoning him? The FBI agent and her being outwitted with the gun? Cal as smart, murdering the old lady, copycat style? Photographing Win’s grandmother? The past murder, ringing the victim’s brother in England, assuming she was blind, his conclusions as to who did it? His explanations to Win – and Win proving him wrong?
9. Win, the visit to Zeffirelli, the discussions, Zeffirelli in the house, with the dead girl, Zeffirelli’s stroke, going to the hospital, the truth?
10. The various hypotheses about the old murder, the victim’s eyes, her not being blind, her boyfriend in England, coming to America, the sympathetic neighbour, Zeffirelli and her being a witness to his crimes? Her turning out the lights, not being blind, murdering her, the neighbour discovering her and being blamed, suicide?
11. The build-up to the confrontation, Monique and her being tied up, Win and his being tied to the bed? Cal, his explanations, his errors, his arrogance? The fight, his fall, shooting Stump in the leg, his death?
12. The ingredients for a popular television murder mystery police investigation?
